Hey! This past September was a very intense month...the September 13th Rally & Benefit was great, with lots of great words and music from activists and musicians, lots of vegan, organic food, and everyone seemed to have a really great time. The Action Camp started the very next day, with a whole truck-load of organic veggies, which were donated at the rally.
September 15th marked the end of marbled murrelet nesting season/the beginning of Old Growth Redwood logging season. On September 16th, Maxxam/PL began logging on Gypsy Mountain! Since there was an action camp at Grizzly Creek State Park Campgrounds, which is immediately adjacent to Gypsy Mountain, a group of activists were able to hike right up the mountain and shut down logging, after PL fell 11 trees. The Maxxam/PL/Columbia Helicopter loggers threatened to come back the next day, with cops, loggers, and extraction climbers.
The next day, September 17th, 2003, was the five-year anniversary of the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain, who was killed when an enraged Maxxam/PL logger intentionally fell trees directly towards a group of non-violent Earth First! activists, on September 17th, 1998. The final tree that the logger fell at us landed on top of our brother, Gypsy, killing him instantly. A proper investigation of this incident was never carried out, since the Humboldt Co. Sheriff's Dept. was deep in the company's pocket in 1998. We now have a new D.A., who is suing Maxxam/PL for $300+ million for fraud...times have changed, somewhat...
All was quiet on Gypsy Mountain on the 17th, and we had a memorial/roadblock to make sure that Maxxam/PL could not log on Gypsy Mountain that day. 11 candles were lit, in memory of the 11 trees that lost their lives the day before. No loggers arrived that day, and we were given a day of relative peace to honor the passing of our brother, Gypsy.
A proposal to save Gypsy Mountain by adding it to Grizzly Creek State park was released to PL, U.S. Congressman Mike Thompson, the Superintendent of the local State Parks system, and several local media outlets, on the 17th.
On the 18th, three activists locked down near the base of the haul road leading up to the top of Gypsy Mountain. Two were locked down to the gate, and one was cemented into the road, just beyond the gate. The Humboldt Co. Sheriff's Dept. cut through the gate, and then removed the lock-downer from his Sleeping Dragon(cemented-in lockdown device), and took him to jail. The other two activists were cited and released.
While the lockdown was taking place, Maxxam/PL/Columbia Helicopters was dropping off loggers, via helicopter, on top of Gypsy Mountain. Activists again hiked up to the active logging site, and attemted to halt the logging operation. This time, however, the fallers did not stop logging, and two security guards were trying to create a buffer between the falling trees and the activists. The security guards identified themselves as "Clearcut" and "Sparpole," although the activists thought that they heard him identify himself as "Sparklepole." All of a sudden, a tree came crashing through the woods, knocking Sparpole's hardhat from his head, and sending Sparpole tumbling to the ground. Some activists said that they had never seen a tree fall so close, and could actually describe the branches crashing into the ground...this is WAY TOO CLOSE!
Maxxam/PL/Columbia Helicopters should be OBLIGATED to form a POLICY regarding PROTOCOL IN DEALING WITH PROTESTS IN THE WOODS. The policy MUST REQUIRE fallers to TURN OFF THEIR SAWS when there are people in the working area. This was supposed to have been established as a result of the out-of-court settlement from the wrongful death civil suit, regarding the killing of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain.
Luckily, no one was injured or killed that day. Logging operations were halted for about an hour that day, and then resumed for the remainder of the afternoon. Maxxam/PL/Columbia Helicopters haven't been back since, and our Action Camp is still going, so come to Humboldt County, CA, if you can!
During the final days of September, a copy of the Grizzly Creek/Gypsy Mountain Expansion Proposal was hand-delivered to Governor Gray Davis's office in Sacramento, for a special meeting with the Wilderness Resource Committee, to discuss expanding Grizzly Creek State Park(!!)
A group of activists also locked themselves to a car in front of the law offices of Mitchell, Brisso, Delaney and Vrieze, in Eureka, CA, to protest the obvious conflict of interests that the lawyers have by representing both the County and Pacific Lumber. This is the same law firm that tried to help PL get away with murder in the Gypsy case, is defending the Humboldt County Sheriff's Dept.'s use of pepper spray torture on non-violent activists, and represents PL on the SLAPP suits. Should Humboldt County have the same interests as Maxxam/PL/Charles Hurwitz? NO!!!!
This lawfirm is intentionally dragging these cases out, denying reasonable settlement offers, and milking both the taxpayers' money(Humboldt Co. Sheriff's Dept. suits) and PL, making tons of money by drawing out the conflicts and pushing for really bad policies, such as the use of pepper spray torture.
That's the update for now! Our action camp, tree-villages, and overall campaign continue to grow, and we could really use your help this month.
If 100 or more people could send us just $10, our costs would be covered, and we could focus more on action than fundraising. Very simple, very low-impact, and very effective.
You can donate through PayPal:
Or you can send donations to the following address:
North Coast Earth First!
P.O. Box 28
Arcata, CA 95518
We also have the new Four Winds CD, "Top of the Flames", available through mail order, and newsletters available, upon request.
You can check out the title track, "Top of the Flames", at this address...
Top of the Flames
You can sample "Gypsy's Song" at the following link...
Gypsy's Song
And, finally, listen to "They Don't Care" at...
They Don't Care
If you like it, you can order your copy directly by clicking on this secure link....
You can also order copies by sending $10 to:
NCEF! Media
350 E St., Suite #107
Eureka, CA 95501
All proceeds from this CD go directly towards supporting North Coast Earth First!, in Humboldt County, California, including the numerous tree-sits and the infrastructure that keeps the tree-sits going and in the public eye.
There are no paid positions in North Coast Earth First!, so 100% of your donations go directly to climbing gear, food, EF! bills(communication, storage, etc.), and transportation for supplies and people.
Be sure to check out and join the North Coast Earth First! Yahoo! Group site and listserv, too...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/northcoastearthfirst/
Feel free to contact us at (707)825-6598(voice mail).
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments, ideas, etc:)
With Love, Light, and Re-evolution,
Shunka Wakan, North Coast Earth First! activist and organizer
P.S. Today, Wednesday, October 2nd, Gypsy Mountain and Aradia was raided, in the wee hours of the morning! Call to action!!!!