June 20, 2003

On March 17, 2003, tree-sitters, inspired by Julia "Butterfly" Hill (1), were forcibly removed from the trees they had lived in for up to a year by Pacific Lumber Company climbers. They were arrested for trespassing and jailed.

The focus of the 18-tree sit-in was near Freshwater Creek and the Mattole watershed, in Humboldt County, northwestern California, where the controversial MAXXAM/Pacific Lumber Company (PL) logs ancient trees. (See map below.) In the last few months there have been some interesting developments.

Headwater Forest Act

This story begins on March 1, 1999, when the State of California and the U.S. government agreed to buy Headwaters, a 12-square mile ancient forest, for $480 million from PL, and to set aside the land as a public preserve with limited logging rights. This attempt to preserve the last three percent of California's ancient trees was later found to be flawed.

In March 2000, the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Sierra Club filed a suit claiming the 1999 Headwaters Forest Act was illegal. The act actually allowed unsustainable logging and the killing of endangered species!

Also in 2000, PL admitted that it had provided falsely inflated figures on the amount of old-growth trees it had left at the time of the 1999 pact. As a result, PL got the state agencies to allow more logging than the watersheds could handle.

Then, PL asked permission to cut the rest of its old growth right away. The California Department of Fish and Game approved the request, telling the Humboldt Watershed Council, "PL's going to cut it eventually anyway." (2)

On August 29, 2002, Judge John Golden in Humboldt County Court issued an injunction, based on the pending lawsuit, to halt timber operations by PL. This order was repeated and clarified by the Judge on September 19, yet the company continued to log one million board feet per day, clear-cutting 500 acres a year.

Protesters Jailed, Logging Continues

Ground-based citizens were arrested and jailed for attempting to hand the court order to loggers at the ongoing lumber operations.

Meanwhile, at a protest at the gate of the Avenue of the Giants area on Nov. 15, 2002, protesters were assaulted, and then two tree-sitters were removed from high in the trees after they were "zip tied, harnessed and lowered to the ground by PL employees who used pain-compliance holds." (3)

On Jan. 16, 2003, PL and Humboldt law enforcement began moving in on tree-sits on PL land. Activists filed an assault complaint.

On Monday, March 10, 2003, Judge Dale Reinholtsen of the Humboldt Superior Court granted the request from PL for a temporary restraining order against the environmental activists occupying redwood trees on company property. (4)

The EPIC/Sierra Club trial was due to begin this past March 24 in Humboldt County Superior Court before Judge John Golden. No further information is available at this time.

County Sues Pacific Lumber

However, on Feb. 24, 2003, the Humboldt County District Attorney's (DA) office filed a civil fraud lawsuit against PL. The DA is accusing it of fraud and of lying to state and federal agencies in an environmental impact report in 1999 so it could log more trees on unstable slopes.

Most recently, on June 13, 2003, a Humboldt County supervisor was accused of having a conflict of interest after he voted against backing the lawsuit. The supervisor holds a long-term property lease with PL; critics believe he should have recused himself from the vote. (5)

In addition, Humboldt County is currently seeking over $5 million from PL to repair damage caused by flooding to roads, bridges, and property which were caused by increased groundwater, floodwaters, sediment, and debris—a direct outcome of too much clear-cutting.

Moreover, this aggressive logging is jeopardizing the endangered marbled murrelet and salmon and steelhead fisheries.

Coincidentally, there is a scientific report drawing a correlation between PL's accelerated logging and devastating water quality problems, such as flooding and mudslides on downstream neighbors, degradation of drinking water supplies, and loss of agricultural crops.

We Need The Trees and They Need Us

One of the tree-sitters, named Bee, said from her redwood perch in Freshwater, "It's an amazing moment to realize that not only do we need these trees for survival, but they need us for survival." (6)


References:

1. Julia "Butterfly" Hill's story is told in her book, The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods, Harper, San Francisco, April 3, 2001.


2. "Background: The 1999 Headwaters Deal," May 29, 2003, Alliance for Ethical Business.


3. "Pacific Lumber Moves In on Tree-Sitters," Jan. 18, 2003, Faultline.org.


4. "Tree Sitters in Humboldt County Ordered Down From Their Perches," Mar. 11, 2003, Mercury News.


5. "Humboldt Supervisor Accused of Conflict in Pacific Lumber Lease," June 13, 2003, Press Democrat.


6. "Thirteen Goddesses Take Over Threatened Forest," September 27, 2002, SF Indy Media.

For more information see:

Headwaters Update

Beaver Creek landslide photos

Background on Headwaters Deal

EPIC

Humboldt County sues Pacific Lumber over Fraud

The Bay Area Forest Activist

Sustained Yield Plan Coming to Trial

Faultline.org

Mattole Defense.org

Press Democrat

Sacramento Bee

Mercury News

SF Indy Media