North Coast Earth First!

"Any time man chooses himself over nature, man loses."

Chooses himself for what? Where do women and children come into this equation? Do you mean man as in one person or man as in humanity?

I think it's in humanity's best interest to look out for natural systems/functions because we rely on them to survive. Therefore "choosing" one's self over nature is sort of a false dichotimy. You can choose to take care of yourself by choosing to act in the best interest of the natural life sustaining processes that surround you.

Whats this all about?
http://www.spoonerdirect.org/
Someone double dipping?

Both websites are legitimate ways to contact the Spooner crew...they have a lot of support...

contact the Spooner, the real NCEF?

then why is shunka asking for money in their name?
we need to redirect our donations to http://www.spoonerdirect.org/

Spoonerdirect asks;

"Where, exactly, the endangered birds will nest if the grove is cut after this year's nesting season is an unanswered question."

found @ (info) section @;
http://www.spoonerdirect.org/

Spooner's direct question is ignored by many of the regulatory authorities who claim to enforce the endangered species laws that protect marbled murrelets. Immediately following marbled murrelet season two years ago, old growth redwood Aradia (part of 'Gypsy' Mountain's old growth grove, bordering Grizzly Creek State Park) was cut by Maxxam/PL contract loggers one fateful Saturday afternoon. Aradia's stump rings were counted following her demise, estimated to be at least over 700 years old. Any murrelets that were looking for nesting sites after Aradia's fall would need to wait several centuries of time for another tree to reach the old-growth status of Aradia, that leaves several generations of murrelets without available old growth nesting habitat..

Up to their northernmost range in BC, murrelets are facing similar challenges from the destruction caused by timber overharvesting..

"The marbled murrelet is the only seabird in the world that nests in old growth forests. Their nest trees must be at low elevations (less than 900 m above sea level) and preferably near the ocean. Once common in the old growth forests that blanketed the west coast of North America, the marbled murrelet’s habitat has now been reduced to only a few areas that have not been as heavily logged, like the north coast of BC."

more info @;
http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/species/bc/reports/Vol25No01/murrelet

Biologists describe a population reduction in endangered species as a bottleneck effect. When habitat loss or other ecosystem threats reduce populations of an endangered species, their genetic descendents can be forced into a bottleneck, with greater risks of mutations caused by inbreeding..

"In the last decade logging has destroyed more than a quarter million acres of murrelet old growth nesting habitat, 80% of which occurred on private or state land."

more info @;
http://www.conservationnw.org/wildlife-habitat/marbled-murrelet

Even the US Fish & Wildlife Service is aware that marbled murrelets face extinction (80% chance) within the next 60 years if Maxxam/PL's current timber overharvesting of old growths continues in the same pattern..

"Bad News For Murrelets

A 2004 report commissioned by the USFWS stated that under the current logging practices in Northern California, the marbled murrelet faces an 80% probability of extinction in the next 60 years, and a 100% probability of extinction in the next 100 years.

With 192 acres of contiguous occupied murrelet habitat, the Bonanza THP is one of the last, large nesting areas available for logging by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber."

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/PacificLumber/

"Despite the USFWS's own documentation of the murrelet's decline and predictions of impending extinction in northern California, the agency continues to allow the logging of hundreds of acres of habitat through PL's HCP each year. This contradictory action is one symptom of the division between science (at the bottom) and politics (at the top) within the agency. It is also an example of the strength of the Habitat Conservation Plan, which agency employees can only question at risk of losing their job, even if their own studies show some HCPs are driving species closer to extinction."

article con't @;
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-249

Once again it needs to be stated that this is not about "jobs vs. marbled murrelets" nor "jobs vs. spotted owls". This false dichotomy that pits labor against ecosystems only serves to strengthen corporate power over people. Residents, loggers, marbled murrelets and the greater coastal redwoods ecosystem COULD live together in harmony IF ONLY corporations like Maxxam/PL would prioritize people and ecosystems over short-term profits. In reality Maxxam may be unable to practice sustainable timber harvest and thus needs to be escorted out of Humboldt county. Reclaiming Maxxam's land and returning to either local community forests, restoration into federal/state/local redwoods parks, and/or return to stewardship of local indigenous nations (Wiyot, Round Valley, Yurok, Hupa, etc..) are all preferable options to Maxxam remaining in Humboldt..

Judi Bari had the awareness of Maxxam's overharvesting as the source of BOTH lost jobs and destroyed ecosystems, from the raiding of long time Pacific Lumber employees following Maxxam's takeover to the steady loss of jobs as mechanized clearcutting replaces sustainable selective harvest (practiced pre-Maxxam takeover). Clearcutting and timber overharvesting as practiced by Maxxam/PL is the primary reason for ecological destruction AND lost jobs, though marbled murrelets, spotted owls, ecoactivists, treesitters and Earth First! are often scapegoated as being the source of the problem..

"In 1986, PL's remaining old growth trees had become more valuable as their rarity increased, and the potential for a quick profit from these lands attracted the attention of corporate predator Charles Hurwitz, CEO of Maxxam Corporation. From his air-conditioned Houston offices, far from the towering calm of Headwaters, Hurwitz leveraged $750 million in junk bonds to buy out PL and take over its Board of Directors. To pay off the junk bond debt, Maxxam raided the PL workers' pension fund and hastily began a program of liquidating the company's 78,400 hectares of forest land."

article cont's @;
http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no6/headwaters.htm

also;

"Judi Bari built bridges across cultural, class and racial divides. She brought loggers who had worked these rural lands for generations together with young idealistic environmentalists who were committed to preventing the destruction of the redwood forest. Workers and environmentalists were poised to take on the timber companies “clearcut and run” logging practices that were not only destroying the forest but also jeopardizing the livelihoods of entire working communities. In fact, to the timber companies, this new logger-Earth First! alliance was a declaration of war.

In 1997 Judi Bari, weakened by two assassination attempts and in constant pain, succumbed to breast cancer and died at the age of 47, leaving behind her two young daughters, Lisa and Jessica. Longtime Earth First! organizer Karen Pickett welcomed over a thousand people to a memorial in Judi Bari’s honor at Martin Luther King Jr. School in Berkeley, California."

article cont's @;
http://www.prisonradio.org/revolutionary-ecology.htm

Since Judi Bari is no longer with US in the physical realm, it is important for people to continue fighting Maxxam/PL with her spirit in their heart..

http://judibari.org/bari-obit.html

We also encourage people to write to Humboldt DA Paul Gallegos and encourage the Humboldt DA's office to continue pursuing the lawsuit against Maxxam/PL for submitting fraudulent Timber Harvest Plans, where (Columbia helicopter) logging occured on steep slopes, resulting in erosion, sedimentation and downstream flooding damage on local watersheds..

"The basic claim of the DA's Fraud Suit, brought under the Business and Professions Code Section 17200, is: during the run up to the Headwaters deal, Pacific Lumber told the government in its required Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that 15 percent of landslides in the watershed occurred during recent cutting. The truth is that over 60 percent of the landslides occurred as a result of the logging.

This lie understating the threat of landslides allowed PL to advance a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) allowing the company to cut at higher rates across its holdings in Humboldt County. The post-1999 over-logging has resulted in more serious flooding -- on some rivers floods worse than any in memory. The false data also allowed for the company to argue successfully against watershed mitigation requirements.

"These acts of logging resulted in major landslides causing destruction to ancient redwoods, serious harm to Humboldt Bay and serious harm to streams, bridges, roads, homes and property rights of the people of Humboldt County," the suit reads. Gallegos noted, "Ultimately, this is lying for profit. It's greed. It's greed over the interests of the people of this community."
"

article cont's @;
http://www.counterpunch.org/donnelly05142004.html

Though putting our hopes into any politician can have less than desireable outcomes, working together with Gallegos could help prevent further ecosystem destruction by Maxxam/PL..

"He doesn’t serve a private profit-driven corporate economy as his first priority. His courageous challenge to the Pacific Lumber Company to deliver on its obligations to Humboldt County shows us that he isn’t in anybody’s pocket. He is not afraid to stand up for the county and its people, even when the opposition is heavily funded and influential. Paul Gallegos sets the right priorities to serve us all."

visit Gallegos website @;
http://www.votepaul.org/reelect_paul

Many other options exist to strengthen the solidarity of Humboldt ecoactivists struggling to protect old growth redwoods ecosystems from the ravages of Maxxam/PL's corporate plunder. Though many forest defenders may differ with one another in their ideas, methods or strategies, it is this authors understanding that all are working together in the goal of protecting the redwoods from Maxxam/PL. The non-violence code in the spirit of Judi Bari remains the concensus amongst forest defenders in the struggle..

additional info for saving redwoods @;
http://saveancientforests.blogspot.com/2006/06/maxxampacific-lumber-old-growth.html

http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org/

http://www.wesavetrees.org/

http://www.spoonerdirect.org/home.htm

BTW, all the squabbling/bickering between activists (?or modern day version of COINTELPRO?) in the imc comments section is counterproductive. Only Maxxam/PL execs benefit from hostile infighting between activists. It is understandable that not all humans think alike and disagreements among activists will occur. However, when these arguements result in rifts and divisions within the activist community, the redwoods suffer the most. Please attempt to resolve disputes between other activists without escalating tensions, making accusations, etc..

Thank you everyone for continuing to defend the redwoods..

you are right not to put your hopes in politicians. his website does not need our advertising