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Ancient Redwood "Aradia" Cut
Treesitters forced down, Aradia cut.
Eureka, CA - Treesitters were forcibly removed yesterday from their perches high above the forest floor, and two activists on the ground were arrested in attempts to stop the cutting of old-growth redwoods above Grizzly Creek in the Van Duzen watershed. One of the trees cut, Aradia, has been the site of on-going protests and treesits since before the death of activist David "Gypsy" Chain, who was killed there by a tree felled by a Pacific Lumber logger in September 1998.
The treesitters were removed by Eric Schatz Tree Service, who forcibly extracted more than a dozen activists from trees in the Freshwater area in March and April 2003. Schatz and four other extractors are facing civil lawsuits stemming from those incidents. Pacific Lumber, the company that hired the extractors, is also named in the suit.
Activists reported few police on the scene, but said the area dubbed "Gypsy Mountain" was crawling with loggers and workers from the Oregon-based Columbia Helicopters. One activist said he was tackled by a Pacific Lumber forester, who was dressed in camouflage and hiding in the bushes.
Another activist on the scene commented, “We tried to get to Aradia, but security was in the way. So many of us up there who have a history with Aradia - who have a tale or two to tell about her love - thought she was immortal. We thought we had her well-protected.”
The treesitters were removed by Eric Schatz Tree Service, who forcibly extracted more than a dozen activists from trees in the Freshwater area in March and April 2003. Schatz and four other extractors are facing civil lawsuits stemming from those incidents. Pacific Lumber, the company that hired the extractors, is also named in the suit.
Activists reported few police on the scene, but said the area dubbed "Gypsy Mountain" was crawling with loggers and workers from the Oregon-based Columbia Helicopters. One activist said he was tackled by a Pacific Lumber forester, who was dressed in camouflage and hiding in the bushes.
Another activist on the scene commented, “We tried to get to Aradia, but security was in the way. So many of us up there who have a history with Aradia - who have a tale or two to tell about her love - thought she was immortal. We thought we had her well-protected.”
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Its been a rough year for you guys.
corruption in earth first
the cover up continues! it seems there is an all out effort to cover up the scandal of earth first corruption. with information coming in from all sides earth first "franticly denies" any wrong doings but is at a loss the explain how they came to own a recording company, along with the growing list of other ventures purchased with money from this claimed nonprofit company.
earth first has turned a cold shoulder to members asking for an explanation of
what is being done with money given to fund environmental projects.
earth first so far has refused to explain it's actions or to refund any donations
it has collected.
the cover up continues! it seems there is an all out effort to cover up the scandal of earth first corruption. with information coming in from all sides earth first "franticly denies" any wrong doings but is at a loss the explain how they came to own a recording company, along with the growing list of other ventures purchased with money from this claimed nonprofit company.
earth first has turned a cold shoulder to members asking for an explanation of
what is being done with money given to fund environmental projects.
earth first so far has refused to explain it's actions or to refund any donations
it has collected.
Has anyone consitered that althouth the tree sit has been going for six years with out a serious attempt by PL to log it, as soon as some one had the bright idea to dig a cave in the road, they came in and cut the unit. Perhaps the lialbility of the cave with so many people in it was the straw that broke the camels back. Actually it was Araidias back. Good going guys.
the comments on this posting make me sick. no one managed to firstly mention how big of a deal this is and what kind of an indicator, as well. quick to seek blame. slow to see the bigger picture. many lost a friend. many lost hope. drama and money squabbles are not bringing us together or making us safer. forest defense is the issue. it is not a time to tell us how tough our year has been. the year wasn't tough it was educational. nor blame new tactics. new tactics are in order . nor attack an organizations funding when funding is not what is lacking and ultimately money is not what is going to save trees. compassion is. outreach is. direct action. exposing the issues and relating them to the populace. if we can't even be inviting and kind to one another how do we expect an outside community to find us inviting and kind? love and respect to every single being involved in protecting that tree. time to make them pay for it. in the end she gave us a lot more than planks.
Tree sits have been, at best, a rear guard holding action. Successes have been minor, isolated and token. To really turn around how our society deals with deforestation, mass action is needed. This means mass organizing. As long as forest defenders place a subcultural litmus test on membership in the forest defender community, the cause is doomed.
As it stands today, people who show up to help, or even to learn about the issues, but don’t pass the subcultural litmus test, are generally treated like lepers. Many forest defenders genuinely look down on people who don’t wear tats and piercings, dress out of free boxes, eat vegan, ride bicycles and listen to Phish. They make it eminently obvious to all. This alienates the very people the movement most needs to recruit.
There are exceptions, of course. Judi Bari did not fit the mold. She reached out across cultural barriers to the loggers and their families. She ate and drank with them, and listened when they told her what was on thier minds. It made her the most dangerous woman in the woods.
One dangerous woman can’t change the world. It’s too easy to run her off the road, blow up her car or poison her with some chemical carcinogen. But a whole movement of people who are willing to reach out beyond their own marginalized subculture could actually stop deforestation. It is possible, but history has proven conclusively that the movement’s current membership can’t do it alone. There are simply not enough of them.
The anti-deforestation movement needs the active support of the rest of the people who live in the woods. These people eat meat, drink whiskey, drive cars, fly flags, watch sports and punch time cards. The Dixie Chicks are not the only country act whose name they know. Without their active involvement, forest defense will fail. Northern California's magnificent hills will continue to be strip mined of lumber to pay off old junk bonds, the climate will continue to change for the worse around here, and salmon will become things of legend, and not something that poor people could fill up on them when they couldn’t afford food, which is what salmon used to be, and within living memory, too.
Everyone believes their own culture is the best. We all like to dress alike, eat the same foods and listen to similar music, especially when we’re young. It gives us a sense of identity. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It has certainly spawned some great food and music. But any movement that is mono-cultural is doomed to fail. The woods of Northern California are home to more than one culture. Whether or not they all realize it sufficiently, they all have a stake in putting an end to deforestation. Most of them will never realize it, if the forest defenders treat them like lepers. Their hearts will harden, not just against the forest defenders, but against anything the forest defenders have to say.
It is human nature to reject the opinions of people who look down their noses at you. You do it. I do it. Everyone does it. So we have to start looking at each other as equals. The concerns of the loggers are every bit as valid and important as the concerns of the forest defenders. The loggers don’t come and go. They live there. More important, they work there. They don’t have trust funds to rely on. If they don’t work, their kids don’t eat. It’s bad enough that we look down our subcultural noses at them, but to also take food from the mouths of their children is unforgivable. And that’s what the people who live and work in the woods see in the forest defenders, a bunch of stuck up outsiders who want to take food from the mouths of their children.
Where the concerns of forest defenders and the concerns of the loggers overlap is sustainability. While the boom time wages of of the current strip mining frenzy has significant appeal in the short term, they are not sustainable. Once the forests are gone, there will be no logging jobs. Those kids they are feeding today will not be able to find work in the area when they grow up. They’ll have to move away to sustain themselves, and to be able to afford to have kids of their own. That means the the men who are logging to feed their kids today, will grow old alone, and not surrounded by grandchildren. And for what, a decade or two of slightly more money? It’s not worth it. That’s what they need to realize before they will support sustainable logging.
History has proven that sustainable logging is possible. Before Horowitz, Pacific Lumber sustainably logged N. California for generations. Yes, it can be done. No, every tree cannot be saved, nor should they. But the forests themselves can be saved. But it can’t done without the active involvement of the meat eating, whiskey drinking, car driving, flag flying, sports watching, card punchers. Stop treating them like lepers. They are not the enemy. They are most important allies we can possibly acquire. Without them, the struggle is futile.
As it stands today, people who show up to help, or even to learn about the issues, but don’t pass the subcultural litmus test, are generally treated like lepers. Many forest defenders genuinely look down on people who don’t wear tats and piercings, dress out of free boxes, eat vegan, ride bicycles and listen to Phish. They make it eminently obvious to all. This alienates the very people the movement most needs to recruit.
There are exceptions, of course. Judi Bari did not fit the mold. She reached out across cultural barriers to the loggers and their families. She ate and drank with them, and listened when they told her what was on thier minds. It made her the most dangerous woman in the woods.
One dangerous woman can’t change the world. It’s too easy to run her off the road, blow up her car or poison her with some chemical carcinogen. But a whole movement of people who are willing to reach out beyond their own marginalized subculture could actually stop deforestation. It is possible, but history has proven conclusively that the movement’s current membership can’t do it alone. There are simply not enough of them.
The anti-deforestation movement needs the active support of the rest of the people who live in the woods. These people eat meat, drink whiskey, drive cars, fly flags, watch sports and punch time cards. The Dixie Chicks are not the only country act whose name they know. Without their active involvement, forest defense will fail. Northern California's magnificent hills will continue to be strip mined of lumber to pay off old junk bonds, the climate will continue to change for the worse around here, and salmon will become things of legend, and not something that poor people could fill up on them when they couldn’t afford food, which is what salmon used to be, and within living memory, too.
Everyone believes their own culture is the best. We all like to dress alike, eat the same foods and listen to similar music, especially when we’re young. It gives us a sense of identity. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It has certainly spawned some great food and music. But any movement that is mono-cultural is doomed to fail. The woods of Northern California are home to more than one culture. Whether or not they all realize it sufficiently, they all have a stake in putting an end to deforestation. Most of them will never realize it, if the forest defenders treat them like lepers. Their hearts will harden, not just against the forest defenders, but against anything the forest defenders have to say.
It is human nature to reject the opinions of people who look down their noses at you. You do it. I do it. Everyone does it. So we have to start looking at each other as equals. The concerns of the loggers are every bit as valid and important as the concerns of the forest defenders. The loggers don’t come and go. They live there. More important, they work there. They don’t have trust funds to rely on. If they don’t work, their kids don’t eat. It’s bad enough that we look down our subcultural noses at them, but to also take food from the mouths of their children is unforgivable. And that’s what the people who live and work in the woods see in the forest defenders, a bunch of stuck up outsiders who want to take food from the mouths of their children.
Where the concerns of forest defenders and the concerns of the loggers overlap is sustainability. While the boom time wages of of the current strip mining frenzy has significant appeal in the short term, they are not sustainable. Once the forests are gone, there will be no logging jobs. Those kids they are feeding today will not be able to find work in the area when they grow up. They’ll have to move away to sustain themselves, and to be able to afford to have kids of their own. That means the the men who are logging to feed their kids today, will grow old alone, and not surrounded by grandchildren. And for what, a decade or two of slightly more money? It’s not worth it. That’s what they need to realize before they will support sustainable logging.
History has proven that sustainable logging is possible. Before Horowitz, Pacific Lumber sustainably logged N. California for generations. Yes, it can be done. No, every tree cannot be saved, nor should they. But the forests themselves can be saved. But it can’t done without the active involvement of the meat eating, whiskey drinking, car driving, flag flying, sports watching, card punchers. Stop treating them like lepers. They are not the enemy. They are most important allies we can possibly acquire. Without them, the struggle is futile.
The forest has been so ravaged that in order to be sustainable at this point, it would have to be left alone for decades. This is not wishful thinking on the part of what you are describing as extremists but the hard facts.
Neither are any of the other lifestyle choices you mention sustainable (or sane) on the Earth after so much degradation, subjugation, destruction, etc. Let's keep things in context.
Neither are any of the other lifestyle choices you mention sustainable (or sane) on the Earth after so much degradation, subjugation, destruction, etc. Let's keep things in context.
Last month you where screaming that there where only a few hundred old growth trees left followed by a demand that money be sent to you at once. now you claim that thousands of trees are going to be cut down.
BUY LET ME GUESS "YOU NEED MONEY AGAIN"..............
what a surprise, what ever happened to the promise of disclosing what was done with the donations you have already gotten? "remember" accountability to donors??? truth to supporters??? what ever happened to this promise
and lest we not forget to mention the sacred name of David "Gypsy" Chain but only to raise money!
BUY LET ME GUESS "YOU NEED MONEY AGAIN"..............
what a surprise, what ever happened to the promise of disclosing what was done with the donations you have already gotten? "remember" accountability to donors??? truth to supporters??? what ever happened to this promise
and lest we not forget to mention the sacred name of David "Gypsy" Chain but only to raise money!
HEY YOU!!!!
turn off your computer and come outside and play with us in Humboldt!
you don't need to donate money or anything, you just need to be free!
don't believe the hype!
love
turn off your computer and come outside and play with us in Humboldt!
you don't need to donate money or anything, you just need to be free!
don't believe the hype!
love
Hi..I lived up in Humboldt when Headwaters was first getting started in 1990...missing my Humboldt friends.
I'm now living in the desert near Joshua tree...missing the rivers...the trees...the friendship...
God bless you all for your concern and help...found this website today and its uplifting to know that you all are up there fighting the fight....and loving one another.
Sending the love out to you...
I'm now living in the desert near Joshua tree...missing the rivers...the trees...the friendship...
God bless you all for your concern and help...found this website today and its uplifting to know that you all are up there fighting the fight....and loving one another.
Sending the love out to you...
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