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MATTOLE FOREST ACTIVIST BEGINS 30 DAY JAIL SENTENCE
Yesterday, A Mattole Forest Defender was sentenced to 30 days in jail for protesting Maxxam/ Pacific Lumber’s liquidation logging in the Mattole watershed. Jemima Lamb, age 20, locked to a schoolbus in a prime backwoods intersection which leads to many Maxxam/PL logging plans.
MATTOLE FOREST ACTIVIST BEGINS 30 DAY JAIL SENTENCE FOR LOGGING BLOCKADE;
Protesters Blockading Maxxam DAILY to Protect Mattole Old Growth Forest
Yesterday, A Mattole Forest Defender was sentenced to 30 days in jail for protesting Maxxam/ Pacific Lumber’s liquidation logging in the Mattole watershed. Jemima Lamb, age 20, locked to a schoolbus in a prime backwoods intersection which leads to many Maxxam/PL logging plans. The Mattole plans are subjecting the land to clearcuts, old growth Doug Fir extinction, herbicide spraying, and cutting on steep slopes- in the most seismically active area of the country.
Ms. Lamb pled “no contest” to a misdemeanor trespass for her non-violent action. She was given an unusually harsh sentence for charges that commonly result in a $10 ticket or a 10-day jail sentence.
On the other hand, Maxxam/PL along with state agencies, California Dept. of Forestry and Dept. of Fish and Game, received NO punishment after being found guilty in 2003 of harmful logging for 5 years under an illegitimate and invalid plan.—The judge gave Maxxam/PL the go ahead to continue the mass deforestation.
Now forest advocates, including Mattole residents, believe that the once extensive old growth Doug Fir ecosystem will be fragmented beyond repair for hundreds of years. Activist Kim Starr explains, “Maxxam/PL is logging the Mattole at an explosive rate.”
In the early mornings before Lamb’s court hearings, Mattole Forest Defenders have been blocking logging vehicles with their bodies at two main entances into the Mattole. This morning, unthwarted by the heavy jail sentence for Lamb, activists staved off logging for over 5 hours. There were no arrests, however activists filed a complaint with the Humboldt Co. Sheriff’s after PL employees/subcontractors trapped in the protesters’ parked van and a PL employee tampered with the van so it could not drive.
Protesters believe that the unique and spectacular old growth forests and adjacent highland meadows of the Mattole are being destroyed for money, by corporate greed. In recent dialogues with Maxxam/PL subcontractors, activists have found that timber workers agree and feel “under the corporate thumb.”
Lamb, starting her jail sentence tonight encourages the community to “…remember the forest in all you do. Even if you do not participate in non-violent direct action, risking your body or freedom, it is crucial to do daily positive actions toward protecting our vital ecosystems.” Vigils and protests outside the Humboldt County Correctional Facility will be held during Lamb’s imprisonment.
Mattole Forest Defenders continue their action camp. To get involved and informed call (707) 825-6598.
Protesters Blockading Maxxam DAILY to Protect Mattole Old Growth Forest
Yesterday, A Mattole Forest Defender was sentenced to 30 days in jail for protesting Maxxam/ Pacific Lumber’s liquidation logging in the Mattole watershed. Jemima Lamb, age 20, locked to a schoolbus in a prime backwoods intersection which leads to many Maxxam/PL logging plans. The Mattole plans are subjecting the land to clearcuts, old growth Doug Fir extinction, herbicide spraying, and cutting on steep slopes- in the most seismically active area of the country.
Ms. Lamb pled “no contest” to a misdemeanor trespass for her non-violent action. She was given an unusually harsh sentence for charges that commonly result in a $10 ticket or a 10-day jail sentence.
On the other hand, Maxxam/PL along with state agencies, California Dept. of Forestry and Dept. of Fish and Game, received NO punishment after being found guilty in 2003 of harmful logging for 5 years under an illegitimate and invalid plan.—The judge gave Maxxam/PL the go ahead to continue the mass deforestation.
Now forest advocates, including Mattole residents, believe that the once extensive old growth Doug Fir ecosystem will be fragmented beyond repair for hundreds of years. Activist Kim Starr explains, “Maxxam/PL is logging the Mattole at an explosive rate.”
In the early mornings before Lamb’s court hearings, Mattole Forest Defenders have been blocking logging vehicles with their bodies at two main entances into the Mattole. This morning, unthwarted by the heavy jail sentence for Lamb, activists staved off logging for over 5 hours. There were no arrests, however activists filed a complaint with the Humboldt Co. Sheriff’s after PL employees/subcontractors trapped in the protesters’ parked van and a PL employee tampered with the van so it could not drive.
Protesters believe that the unique and spectacular old growth forests and adjacent highland meadows of the Mattole are being destroyed for money, by corporate greed. In recent dialogues with Maxxam/PL subcontractors, activists have found that timber workers agree and feel “under the corporate thumb.”
Lamb, starting her jail sentence tonight encourages the community to “…remember the forest in all you do. Even if you do not participate in non-violent direct action, risking your body or freedom, it is crucial to do daily positive actions toward protecting our vital ecosystems.” Vigils and protests outside the Humboldt County Correctional Facility will be held during Lamb’s imprisonment.
Mattole Forest Defenders continue their action camp. To get involved and informed call (707) 825-6598.
For more information:
http://mattoledefense.org
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Hey now, you all got to hang in there and remember what you are doing makes you stronger every day. This timber company is coming down, and when it falls there will be a very loud sound, that everyone will hear. Soon everyone wiil have to become a steward of the earth!
We would like to have a few bicycles out in the Mattole so we can scout out new THPs and any clear cut old growth logging activity we may not be able to see on foot. Bikes would also help us distribute food and water to other activists, preventing spoilage and hunger..
so..
we really need bike donations!! please email
vernalpool [at] riseup.net
if u would like 2 donate bikes 4 Mattole Forest Defense;
We always need treesitters and ground support 4 the Mattole!!
here's a poem about Steve Wills, a trucking/logging contracter who enacts MAXXAM's bidding. Employees are given few options since the layoffs after Maxxam's massive clear cutting operation. Choices for loggers; either work longer hours for less pay and clear cut all these trees or you and your familia are out on the streets. That is the ultimatum given by corporate logging. Clear cut logging is short term intensive and more mechanized labor than selective logging, so only a few contracters remain employed. The layoffs are blamed on environmentalists to set the loggers against the enviros while the corporate elites prosper..
Healthy forests for the future do not include profit based corporations. Loggers and residents need say in the amount of logging and the uses or trade value of the dead tree. No billionaire CEO like Charles Hurwitz or petty tyrant like Steve Wills to demand long hours of their contracted employees and intensive short term clear cutting of the people's forests..
Steve Wills pays MAXXAM's bills..
Steve Wills clear cuts hills,
sediment clogs fish gills,
causes fish kills..
With Steve Wills Mattole life ills..
so..
we really need bike donations!! please email
vernalpool [at] riseup.net
if u would like 2 donate bikes 4 Mattole Forest Defense;
We always need treesitters and ground support 4 the Mattole!!
here's a poem about Steve Wills, a trucking/logging contracter who enacts MAXXAM's bidding. Employees are given few options since the layoffs after Maxxam's massive clear cutting operation. Choices for loggers; either work longer hours for less pay and clear cut all these trees or you and your familia are out on the streets. That is the ultimatum given by corporate logging. Clear cut logging is short term intensive and more mechanized labor than selective logging, so only a few contracters remain employed. The layoffs are blamed on environmentalists to set the loggers against the enviros while the corporate elites prosper..
Healthy forests for the future do not include profit based corporations. Loggers and residents need say in the amount of logging and the uses or trade value of the dead tree. No billionaire CEO like Charles Hurwitz or petty tyrant like Steve Wills to demand long hours of their contracted employees and intensive short term clear cutting of the people's forests..
Steve Wills pays MAXXAM's bills..
Steve Wills clear cuts hills,
sediment clogs fish gills,
causes fish kills..
With Steve Wills Mattole life ills..
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