Humboldt Revolution

This is a press release from
EPIC
The Environmental Protection Information Center
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/

EPIC SYP CASE ACCEPTED FOR REVIEW BY CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT

Eureka, CA.- The Environmental Protection Information Center case
challenging Maxxam / Pacific Lumber’s Sustained Yield Plan has been
accepted by the California Supreme Court for review of the 2005 appeals
court decision overturning the local groups’ trial court win.

With six of seven justices voting to take the case, EPIC bucked the 9 out
of 10 odds that their petition would be refused.  “We’re very happy to be
able to bring these issues before the high court,” said EPIC Executive
Director Larry Evans.  “We believe the court did the right thing.”

In the original case, EPIC had argued that the California Department of
Forestry and the California Department of Fish & Game had failed to
fulfill their statutory obligations to properly consider environmental
impacts of the PL SYP hammered out under the politically charged
Headwaters Deal.

EPIC along with co-plaintiff the Sierra Club is represented by attorneys
Sharon Duggan and Brian Gaffney.  A briefing schedule has not been set so
far in the case of EPIC and the Sierra Club v. California Dept. of
Forestry, California Dept. of Fish and Game, and the Pacific Lumber
Company
(Supreme Court case S14057).

The history of the case can be viewed on the CA Supreme Court website at:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/mainCaseScreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=407761&rc=11

Note from Verbena:  The SYP allowed for years of environmental devastation
through Maxxam/PL’s logging (mostly clearcutting).

Greetings! After reading the Eureka Times-Standard op-ed piece by Richard Bettis, “Scotia Pacific Land Manager”, I encourage you to write your own op-ed piece to the newspaper if you are so inclined. I forward the following comments from journalist Nicholas Wilson and the atrocious Times-Standard letter. Also, from BACH, the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters, read below about Maxxam/Pacific Lumber putting land up for sale (cut-and-run! as planned) and info about the huge SPI logging plan in the Mattole/Bear river area. To get involved in protecting those forests, contact: mattoledefense@lycos.com or reply to this email. Also, I can send you a BACH newsletter via email or US Mail which has a lot of good background info about Maxxam/PL. Also, please send donations (specify if you WANT IT TO SPECIFICALLY go legal efforts (dealing with SLAPP suits), to the Mattole or Bear protection, to the Nanning Creek treesit, or any general needs (like finding a space for forest defenders in town). NCEF! P.O. Box 28 Arcata, CA 95518 You can also call the Humboldt Forest Defense/ Earth First! Hotline at (707)825-6598, or give that number to folks who don’t use email. “There is a time when the opereration of the machine becomes so ODIOUS, makes you so sick, that you can’t take part; and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve GOT TO MAKE IT STOP” –Mario Savio, 1964 Never Give Up, Verbena —————————-

PL Spin Zone: Justice prevails against extremist protesters - R. Bettis, TS My Word 3.27.06 From: “Nicholas Wilson”

Preface by NW: Following is a fine example of corporate propaganda, supposedly a personal opinion op-ed piece by a Pacific Lumber property manager. It looks like a professional product, using propaganda techniques right out of the textbook. Hill & Knowlton, was Pacific Lumber’s PR company from the late 1980s through the 1990s. Maybe they still are. [Note from Verbena: I believe, in 2003, Morse Media ran the expensive TV, radio, and print smear campaign of protesters/critics] For those outside Humboldt County who don’t know what this is about, the piece refers to a civil verdict in a SLAPP suit brought by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber and their highly paid and skilled lawyers against a young woman activist who represented herself at trial. Kim Starr was one of a handful of activists who drove an old car up to the doors of the Pacific Lumber offices in the company town of Scotia, then locked themselves inside it using lockdown devices that would make it difficult to remove them, and so prolong the protest. It was nothing more than an enhanced sit-in, and was part of a decades long non-violent campaign to call public attention to PL’s ongoing liquidation logging of what’s left of the old growth forests in Humboldt County. This campaign has been going on since shortly after Texas-based corporate raider Charles Hurwitz took over Pacific Lumber about 1985. It has been strictly non-violent, except for the violence directed toward the protesters, including beatings, false imprisonment, torture by pepper spray and even death, in the case of David Gypsy Chain. This case was not about crime or criminal behavior, as the writer below would have you believe. It was a civil trespass civil suit by the 800 lb. gorilla Pacific Lumber against a woman doing her best to defend herself on a very tilted playing field. It happened in a land behind the Redwood Curtain, a land that has been ruled by timber barons for 150 years, where most people either work for the timber industry, or used to, or would like to, or their close relatives do. Kim reported on the radio that the trial judge continually denied her motions challenging the other side’s testimony while granting the motions by the other side. It was like holding a the trial of a 1965 civil rights activist in Selma Alabama, so pervasive is the bias in favor of the timber company and against forest activists. Note that the writer ends by thanking the jurors, the public and law enforcement for their support for the company.

———– Eureka Times Standard 3/27/2006 04:24 AM My Word http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_3643718

Justice prevails against extremist protesters -Rich Bettis

I have never written a “My Word” in my life; but after living through four years of continual harassment by protesters, four years of legal maneuvering, and a three-week trial, justice has finally prevailed. This week a Humboldt County jury said “enough was enough” and ruled against extremists who had terrorized the headquarters employees of The Pacific Lumber Co. The jury’s decision to hold these extremists accountable should send a message loud and clear that their criminal actions and continual trespass will no longer be tolerated. At issue were the actions of a small group of extremists and their twenty or so support team who, with a total disregard for the safety of pedestrians, drove a car up onto the sidewalk and then up to the front entrance of the company’s headquarters, actually blocking the office doors. Since this occurred shortly after 9-11, many of my fellow employees in the office at the time didn’t know what to think and feared that the actions might be that of a suicide car bomber. This so-called “protest” was a dangerous tactic that caused a great deal of anxiety and worry to the workers and visitors at Palco. For sure it caused emotional trauma for many, and no one knew if this reckless and dangerous action could have resulted in someone getting seriously hurt. Thankfully, this time no one did. Unfortunately, this type of emotional harassment against law-abiding citizens simply trying to work and support their families is not an isolated incident. On many occasions Palco employees have encountered similar situations. While working in the woods, many of us have had to deal with threatening and menacing people wearing ski masks and harassing us as we work. We have had to avoid dangerous trenches cut deep into the main logging roads designed to cause auto accidents or injure employees traveling on foot. Our contractors’ very expensive logging equipment and helicopters have, at times, been vandalized. And of course, we have had to deal with the many tree sitters whose own reckless abandon puts both themselves and others in extreme danger. On many occasions, Palco employees have had to dodge falling debris or worse, originating from these “so-called” peaceful tree sitters. Many of these situations required a response from law enforcement or other public safety agencies, which carries a cost to the county. This response, while required, is a huge waste of money and it diverts critical public safety resources away from other needs in the county, putting us all at risk. The fake car bombing incident is a perfect example. Numerous firefighters, police officers and critical extraction equipment were tied up for almost five hours that day. Had an accident or fire occurred along Highway 101 near Scotia, other resources from outside of the area would have had to respond. That kind of delay could have meant the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, the extremists not only realize this fact, but seem to take great pleasure and pride in it. Through it all, the employees of Palco have been gratified by the continual support we have received from our fellow citizens of Humboldt County and are very appreciative of the help we have received from the local public safety agencies that have had to respond to these illegal acts of trespass and terror in the past. We are hopeful now that,following this trial and verdict, those responsible for these criminal acts will think twice before acting in such a dangerous and irresponsible manner. As a lifelong resident of Humboldt County and a proud 38-year employee of Palco, I want to thank the jury for taking such a strong stand against the actions committed by these extremists. I know I speak for my fellow employees and many in Humboldt County when I say, thank you.

Rich Bettis is property manager for Palco/SCOPAC. He lives in Fortuna. The opinions expressed in My Word pieces do not necessarily reflect the editorial viewpoint of the Times-Standard. ——————————

Further comment by NW: The claim that a trench dug by hand across a logging road is “designed to cause auto accidents or injure employees traveling on foot”; is false and ridiculous. They would be designed to block a road, plain and simple. Old logging roads in my neighborhood had trenches dug across them with heavy equipment by the logging company to keep out trespassing firewood cutters and dirt bikers. They put up no warning signs.

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Maxxam/Pacific Lumber Puts Land Up For Sale As predicted for many months by Maxxam watchers, Maxxam’s Pacific Lumber is moving to liquidateits forest holdings by selling off land held by its subsidiary, Scotia Pacific (ScoPac). ScoPac is the part of Pacific Lumber (PL) that holds the timber lands and also shoulders the still-mammoth purchase debt. Some 75,000 acres have been quietly put on the market in recent weeks, comprising over a third of the company’s lands. The Humboldt Watershed Council went public with the information, before PL could spin the announcement in the media, pulling that rug out from under them. PL owns approximately 220,000 acres of redwood and Douglas fir forests, which were still dense and lush in 1985, after being only selectively logged for over 100 years by the previous operators of Pacific Lumber. All but 9,000 of the 220,000 acres are held by the ScoPac subdivision as collateral for $867 million in bonds the company sold in 1998, refinancing the original purchase debt. In late January and early February, 16 properties totaling 14,631 acres were listed for sale, with parcels ranging from 26 acres up to 3,795 acres. Most of the properties, located in Jacoby Creek and Mattole watersheds, the Kneeland area, and near the Avenue of the Giants are not contiguous with the bulk of PL’s redwood forest lands and Not yet specifically identified on maps is an additional 60,000 acres apparently offered for auction to other timber companies. PL calls it a “restructuring strategy”, once again trotting out the tired over-regulation” argument. In the last couple years, PL has bucked efforts by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to limit devastation wreaked upon Humboldt’s waterways, in response to evidence brought before them by PL’s downstream neighbors documenting massive flooding, ruined fruit orchards, homes buried by mudslides and other damage. On the other hand, PL claims to have been hamstrung in getting their cut out. But PL’s harvest levels over the last 6 years have been within 2% of the company’s business plan accordingly to Watershed Council president Mark Lovelace summed it up, “Clearly, if there is any problem with the company’s finances, it cannot be blamed on a reduced rate of harvest, because they are right on target”. Looming on ScoPac’s horizon is an interest payment on the massive debt in July. Potential buyers of the large chunks of forestland are presumed to be adjacent timberland owners like Green Diamond Resources and Sierra Pacific Industries. But PL’s lands are extremely cut over, with very little merchantable timber. A disclosure released by ScoPac late last year showed that 84% of the company’s lands contained an average of just 12,750 board-feet of timber per acre, less than 1/6 of what a healthy second-growth redwood forest should hold. Alternatives to the status quo would include purchase by investors interested in sustainable working forests, with key old growth and habitat areas either bought by conservation organizations or protected via conservation easements. But any purchaser must comply with the Habitat Conservation Plan that prescribes how activity on the land must be monitored and restricted. Since the lucrative return on investment is to be found via subdivision and development, any proposed zoning changes to open the door to development must be aggressively opposed. EPIC (the Environmental Protection Information Center in Garberville and Eureka) sent an inquiry last week to Humboldt County realtors to ensure that the necessity of compliance with the Headwaters deal Habitat Conservation Plan is understood by potential purchasers. Anyone with a desire to support sustainable working forests and access to serious investment capital is urged to contact the Redwood Forest Foundation.

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Old Growth SPI Logging Plan Re-emerges in Mattole To see photos of trees in this plan, see http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/03/1809627.php And for the full story and photos of the mountain beaver, see http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/03/1808790.php For several years, a particularly devastating plan to log hundreds of acres of old growth Douglas Fir forest has been awaiting approval. On April 10, THP 1-03-232 “Windmill”– Sierra Pacific Industries’ (SPI) 538 acre timber harvest plan is expected to be approved; if that happens, logging could begin that day. An estimated 70% of the plan is old growth forest, nearly all of the remaining patches of Old growth Forest in Davis Creek. This plan has been undergoing review since 2003 by the California Dept. of Forestry and other agencies and the decision keeps getting postponed because of the size of the plan and the many ecological issues. The units are scattered across the Davis Creek and South Fork Bear River drainages, an area ravaged by logging. When BLM sold the large parcel to SPI in the 70’s it was blanketed by lush, old growth forest. Aerial photos of the watershed now show steep hillsides stripped bald from the ridge down to the creek. The westernmost logging unit is only 3 miles from the rugged beaches of the Pacific coast next to Davis Creek. 74 acres are proposed for clearcut, 96 acres are proposed for “rehab”, a logging technique where all of the profitable trees like Douglas Fir are taken and then herbicides are dumped on the remaining hardwoods. Then seedlings are planted–often clones–of a valuable species like Douglas Fir or Redwood and the transformation from a forest into a tree farm is complete. The very rare mammal the Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) inhabit this area. One subspecies, the Point Arena Mountain Beaver is federally listed as endangered. They need soft, wet soil for burrowing in and to provide lush vegetation for food. Two areas slated for clear-cut are locations known to be occupied by Mountain Beavers This kind of logging results in a dead zone of smashed limbs, logs and dead brush, all of which are tinder dry in the summer.The area is also populated with Sonoma Tree Voles, a weakly protected subspecies of the Red Tree Vole. Like their cousins, just about the only thing these mouse-like creatures eat is Douglas Fir needles and they rarely, if ever, descend from the canopy to the ground.

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– Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) 2530 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley, CA 94702 phone: 510 548 3113 email: bach@headwaterspreserve.org http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org

       Everyone interested in organizing-   follow-up to our
Feb.11th  “I Do Not Consent”  Town Hall Meeting and the recent March:

         Timely to be updating our efforts: how best to tackle our
work of local sustainability while getting on with practical
strategies for outreach/involvement in ousting this tyrant and his  whole
administration.

         Politicians must understand our will to do this!  And that means
more people who feel as we do learning how to state their minds
and make the effort.

The following was submitted for posting here by Verbena and concerns the the anti-democracy and freedom folk’s continuing war on American ideals, now in the form of anti-immigration witch hunting, part of their general assault on everyone else on earth via criminalisation, brutalisation and other genocidal acts. Since I received it I received an email from International ANSWER claiming over 1,000,000 people had turned out to protest this vile and racist assault on humanity in Los Angeles. Their email included a photo of a truly massive crowd though I found nothing on their web site as of this moment (Saturday evening, March, 25th, 2006).  Their web address is http://www.answercoalition.org/ and they will hopefully have information posted by the time you read this…

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Hello again.  I don’t want to flood you with emails at once, but… such
important stuff!!

This was sent to me today, March 22nd, the New Moon. –Verbena

Dear Family, Friends and Folks,

  Two of my hermanos and colleagues in education, Cesar Cruz and Wayne
Yang, are taking action to stand up against HR4437 - an insidious piece of
federal legislation targetting immigrant communities in the US.  Please
get educated, then get involved in whatever way you can.  Both will fast
for 7 days in front of the San Francisco Federal Building as a means of
standing in solidarity with communities  being attacked by this potential
law and to get awareness out about its implications.

 Please read about it below and get involved.

 In struggle,
 trevor

 - STOP THE ANTI-IMMIGRANT WITCH HUNT - DEFEND OUR FOLKS -
 PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO YOUR NETWORKS!

  Wayne Yang and Cesar Cruz are joining 7 other hunger strikers in protest
of the “Specter Bill” HR 4437 (info below).  They will be camped out in
front of the Federal Building in SF Civic Center beginning this Tuesday,
March 28th through Monday, April 3rd. This strike is part of a week of
action organized by Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, with Centro
Legal, KCCEB, UFW, MALDEF, Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Chinese
Progressive Association, and many more.

  http://www.immigrantrights.org/hunger_strike.asp

  Please visit them and show them some love! They will be there 24/7 with
candlelight vigils every night at 6:00pm. Here are some key
days/activities you can plan around:

 TUESDAY, March 28
 @ NOON: Dolores Huerta kicks of the hunger strike and week of action;
         Press Event
 @ 5pm: march from Dolores Park to Federal Building with orgs from
        around the Bay

 WEDNESDAY, March 29
 @ NOON: Press Event on Impact on Workers and Connecting African American
         and Immigrant Struggles

 SATURDAY!!! April 1st
 @ NOON: Solidarity Rally*** and Press Event - let’s bring out the folks

 MONDAY, April 3
 @ 11:00am: march to Senator Feinstein’s office (Montgomery & Market)
            Press Event; Hunger Strike closes

   Other helpful things:
  - organize groups of folks to visit. Those fasters need love!
  - spread this email to networks
  - wear your orange armband - spread the word about this hateful
anti-immigrant bill - contact any Oakland, Asian, Spanish-language press -
we have educators who are taking a stand in defense of their students and
families - give me a call at 510-776-1157 if you need info or let me know
you are coming through!

 About  HR 4437:
    - makes it a felony to be an immigrant without papers - i.e. on the
same level as rapists and murderers
   - makes it a crime if  YOU or any family member, teachers, doctors,
social workers, nurses, employer, co-workers, or any individual or
organization does not turn in immigrants without papers.

  Stop the Witch Hunt against Immigrants -
  Call Sen Feinstein at : (202) 224-5042 AND (415) 393-0707 and tell her
to STOP HR 4437.

Below is a press release sent on March 16th.
Here’s my ‘key’ to who the different groups are:

EPIC “works to protect and restore ancient forests, watersheds, coastal
estuaries, and native species throughout Northwest California” using “an
integrated, science-based approach, combining public education, citizen
advocacy, and strategic litigation.”  www.wildcalifornia.org

KS Wild: “works to protect and restore the oustanding biological diversity
of the Klamath-Siskiyou and south Cascadian Ecoregions of southwest Oregon
and northwest California” using environmental law, science, education and
collaboration to defend healthy ecosystems and help build sustainable
communities.”  www.kswild.org

CBD:  “Protecting endangered species and wild places”, “combining
conservation biology with litigation, policy advocacy, and an innovative
strategic vision, … to secure a future for animals and plants hovering
on the brink of extinction, for the wilderness they need to survive, and
by extension for the spiritual welfare of generations to come.”
       www.biologicaldiversity.org

CDF:  a govn’t agency that is supposed “to protect and enhance forest,
range, and watershed values providing social, economic, and environmental
benefits to rural and urban citizen.”  [I guess they do that (sarcasm) by
rubber stamping corporate timber logging plans and defending their deals
with timber corporations (i.e.Maxxam/Pacific Lumber) against grass roots
and other preservation groups…]

CA Dept. of Fish and Game:  another govn’t. rubber stamper claiming “to
manage California’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the
habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their
use and enjoyment by the public.” [same comments as for CDF]

PLEASE REMEMBER: While many of my emails relate to corporate logging on
‘private’ lands, National Forests are also logged and destroyed by the
highest bidding timber corporation. Those corporations also need the
complicity of the govn’t. agencies for approval of plans.

“The idea of wilderness needs no defense.  It only needs more defenders.”
–Edward Abbey

In defense,
Verbena

HABITAT OF NEWLY DISCOVERED SALAMANDER SPECIES SLATED FOR LOGGING

IN BACKROOM DEAL, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENTS OF FORESTRY AND FISH AND GAME

APPROVE REMOVAL OF PROTECTIONS FOR SCOTT BAR SALAMANDERY

Yreka CA - The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC),
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild), and Center for
Biological Diversity (CBD) filed suit today against the California
Departments of Forestry and Fish and Game for approving logging of crucial
habitat for the newly discovered Scott Bar salamander. The species was
first described in May of 2005 and has one of the smallest ranges of any
salamander.

“In Arkansas, hundreds of volunteers and scientists are combing the woods
trying to confirm the location of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker,   which was
driven to near extinction by careless logging of its habitat,” states Noah
Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center for Biological
Diversity.  “Meanwhile, in California, the Departments of Forestry and
Fish and Game are putting the newly discovered Scott Bar salamander on the
road to extinction by approving logging of its habitat.”

The Scott Bar salamander was previously considered the same species as the
Siskiyou Mountains salamander, but was recently discovered to be a
separate species by researchers who published their findings last May in
the journal Herpetologica. The Siskiyou Mountains salamander is listed as
“threatened” under California’s Endangered Species Act, giving it a
measure of protection from logging.

Upon learning of the new species, the California Department of Fish and
Game informed industrial timber companies that because the Scott Bar
salamander is a new species, protections afforded to the rare salamanders
would cease. The California Department of Forestry has since approved
amendments to at least four timber harvest plans (THPs) allowing logging
of Scott Bar salamander habitat.  Amendments to the THPs were approved
without public notice or comment.

“Rather than heralding the discovery of a new species in California, the
California Department of Forestry is rushing to wipe out the rare
critters’ habitat,” said Joseph Vaile, campaign director of KS Wild. “In
approving logging plans, the state agencies left the public in the dark,
violating public trust and ignoring their responsibilities to protect
California’s natural heritage for future generations.”

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, EPIC’s Timber Harvest Monitor, Lindsey Holm
quipped, “a rare species by any other name is still threatened with
extinction.”

Conservation organizations petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to list both the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar Salamanders under the
federal Endangered Species Act in June of last year, and expect an initial
decision on this petition by the end of April.

At the same time, California Department of Fish and Game is moving to
delist the Siskiyou Mountains salamander under the state Endangered
Species Act.  This move has been sharply criticized by the primary experts
on the biology of these salamanders.  Forest Service scientist, Dr.
Hartwell Welsh, for example, concluded that “interpretation of the
science” used by the state game agency to support delisting was “seriously
flawed” (letter available upon request).

“The newly discovered Scott Bar salamander needs immediate protection from
logging under both the state and federal Endangered Species Acts,” states
Greenwald.  “Instead, the California Departments of Forestry and Fish and
Game are doing everything in their power to ensure timber companies are
allowed to log this unique species’ habitat.”

In filing suit, the groups hope to ensure additional protections for the
Scott Bar salamander, give the public a voice in the management decisions
for such a rare species, and hold the agencies accountable for their
actions. The groups are represented by attorneys Michael Graf and Sharon
Duggan.

Photos of the species available upon request. Check out above websites.

Sierra Pacific Industries’ plan to log hundreds of acres of Old Growth
Douglas Fir and Grand Fir is nearing the latest approval date. This plan
is called “Windmill” and lies between the Mattole watershed and the
Pacific Ocean. The approval decision date has been pushed back for several
years but this time seems more likely to get the go ahead.

The area is home to a rare and little known creature known by many names
including “Mountain Beavers” and “Boomers”. They are not beavers but are
actually the oldest form of rodent still inhabiting the planet. They can
grow to be over a foot in length and have a very short tail. They make
underground tunnels in soft, moist soil and both irrigate and fertilize
the plants which they rely on for food. They are said to cry tears when
distressed.

There are also Red Tree Voles in the area. They only live in Fir trees and
rarely if ever go to the ground. They build stick nests and only eat fir
needles. Instead of an independent survey to locate these rare mouse-like
rodents, the loggers will be instructed to identify and not cut trees in
the streamside buffer zones that are occupied by the Voles.

For more information on Mountain Beavers and the “Windmill” THP please visit
http://saveancientforests.blogspot.com

79 acres of Old Growth in the plan are declared off limits to logging to
protect Northern Spotted Owls.

There are lots of other websites about Mountain Beavers.
If you want to help to protect these creatures please contact
mattoledefense@lycos.com or vervain@riseup.net

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NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TRAINING this Sunday, March 26
Location TBA.  Please call 707-618-9185, and if anyone has an
indoor/outdoor space available for the training, please call or respond to
this email!!
Thanks, Verbena

..in Arcata, CA.  Please meet in front of the Arcata Recycling Center on
9th Street at 12:30pm Sunday.  We will walk from there to the
indoor/outdoor venue for the workshop. Food (lunch, snacks) will be
provided and welcomed. Should be a good full day.

For more info please call 707-618-9185 or reply to this email.

Remember to post info on struggles and issues with which you are involved
on humboldtrevolution.org or check it out.

–Verbena

Greetings all,

Here’s the news about the trial.  I hope my description makes sense.  I’ve
been in ‘legaleeze’ world for awhile now.  Please know that I did not
fight this case out out of fear–to protect myself.  Corporate timber will
get nothing from me but resistance.  I just don’t want lawsuits to silence
or deter anyone from doing what they must to stop the unconscionable
destruction caused by corporate greed.
PL claims that protesters have caused it damages, loss of money.  But
Maxxam’s PL has cost this county hundreds of millions of dollars and the
priceless health of current and future generations to come, for all
species.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from a Birmingham jail during the Civil
Rights movement that it wasn’t the KKK or other white supremacist groups
and individuals that he believed MOST threatened desegregation and the
Civil Rights movement he was in.  It’s the people, he said, who say “We
believe in your cause, but do you have to make such a scene ??…”

Friday, March 17, saw the close of the 4-week-long trial, a SLAPP
[Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation] by Pacific Lumber Company
(“PL”) and Scotia Pacific (“Scopac”).  The case came after a lock-down
protest to a protest car at the companies’ headquarters in the company
town of Scotia (August,2002).  PL wanted to scare and distract people with
lawsuits and quell dissent– while they ravaged the land heavier than
ever.  Yesterday, the jury came back 10 to 2 in the civil trespass case
saying that I and two other (not in court) protesters owe PL and Scopac
2900 dollars as punishment and liability to the Maxxam subsidiaries.  BUT
Maxxam and its dirty tricks both in and out of the courtroom were not
subjects allowed to be discussed in the fatally corrupt court.  The
action/protest ‘in question’ was an urgent plea to PL to stop destroying
the old growth forests of the Mattole River Watershed during a year that
saw Maxxam/ PL liquidate more forest than in most other years.

I had to fight every moment of the trial to be able to say anything
related to anything REAL! You may remember the Mattole Free State in 2000
and 2001.  Well, PL made it so dangerous to be in the woods to stop the
heavy destruction of the awesome old growth doug fir, and hardwood
forests, we went to town to make some strong pleas there.  In the early
2000’s, while PL’s President and CEO, Robert Manne (notorious downsizer)
told the media and the local government that he ‘just wanted
critics/protesters to come talk to him’ and characterized us as
unreasonable and as terrorists, he refused to talk to any of us.  Before
the action in Scotia, some of the local activists put together the below
urgent proposal—and were blocked by PL at the doors of headquarters trying
to present it– and ignored after phone calls, faxes, emails…
———————————————————
Proposal to End the Conflict in the Mattole Watershed

As concerned community members of Humboldt County, we present the
following proposal as a means of resolving the ongoing dispute over the
Pacific Lumber Company’s logging operations in the Rainbow Ridge area of
the Mattole River watershed.

It is our goal to ensure that further destruction of the Mattole ecosystem
can be averted, and that adverse impacts to company employees and
contractors can be minimized. We hope that the company will consider our
requests while keeping in mind that such an agreement would prevent any
future tragedies such as the death of David “Gypsy” Chain, who was killed
during an attempt to halt illegal logging in 1998. This is something that
no one wants to see repeated. Also, we are afraid that logging operations
in the Mattole area greatly increases the likelyhood of a Sudden Oak Death
(SOD) outbreak there. The Mattole is home to many SOD hosts, for instance:
Bay-Laurels, Madrones, Maples, and several species of Oak. All these
species are common to this area and can be found in large quantities
throughout the Mattole watershed.

We ask that all timber harvesting related activities in the Mattole be
halted at once, until a solution is created that all parties involved can
agree to. Activities that we wish to see end include tree felling, road
building, and the creation of new timber harvest plans. This does not
include legally required surveys.

We ask that the company compensate employees and contractors whose work is
interrupted by conservation efforts.

If these two steps are implemented at this time, direct action to stop
logging operations in the Mattole area will cease.

If the following practices were abolished by your company (MAXXAM/Pacific
Lumber,) we find it likely that direct action on all of your holdings
would cease.

Clear-cutting
Logging Old-Growth
Logging on steep and unstable areas.
Spraying Herbicides.

We hope that you will respect our attempts to resolve this issue in a way
that you have suggested you would be open to. Please remember that there
is
much community support for the effort to save the Mattole watershed.
——————————————————————–

[Also, during this time, PL was lying to residents who were in
‘quiet’negotiations with PL to buy land in the Mattole—to save it.  PL
cut it and faked negotiations.
Some of such residents have had their home property flooded due to PL’s
cutting.  Many of them have been involved in salmon restoration work in
the Mattole for 25-plus years.]

Back to the trial…

Talking with some of the jurors after the verdict was announced,
they(jurors) said that they had been instructed by the court to think of
the protest as if it happened at their home!(corporate
personhood?)Outrageous.

       And DESPITE jurors’ analysis that PL representatives who testified
were often lying, that it was absurd to equate local forest activists with
terrorists as PL has been trying to do, that most of the jurors were
inspired by mine and others’ courage, and that they did not want the
verdict to be seen as approval of PL’s deforestation practices—-the jurors
kept their quick (maybe 4 hours) decision confined to the unjust limits
imposed by the court.  Humboldt Judge Bruce Watson did not allow the jury
to be
instructed in the specific, unique law related to First Amendment rights
for protesters at COMPANY HEADQUARTERS IN A PRIVATELY-OWNED TOWN.  [Unlike
other private property, people have the right to redress grievances at the
big boss office of a company town, since it’s the governing body like city
hall.]  The judge also did not allow the jury to be instructed, as I
requested, in law related to witness credibility (or INcredibility) or to
my defense related to the bad faith and bad conscience behavior with which
the Plaintiff companies come.

Not only did Judge Watson’s court curtail justice by disallowing
legitimate issues of law to be heard by the jury in my defense, but it
also allowed the Plaintiffs, PL and Scopac, to play dirty tricks on the
jurors.  For instance, Richard Bettis, PL (**or is it
Scopac’s?)representative intentionally displayed an incendiary book
(‘Eco-Terrorism’ with a drawing of a bomb) in the courtroom and in the
court hallway, and the judge did not take appropriate action for the
intentional jury tainting.

PL will lose on appeal.

The tape that PL brought as evidence was made by the Humboldt Sheriff’s
Dept. (remember the pepper spray incidents?).  The tape had 48 different
cuts in it!!  The tape that I brought had the entire incident, except
where the videographer was not allowed to see.  That tape made a liar out
of every witness PL brought (except me, who they also had testify).  PL
had called the Scotia protest a ‘fake car bomb attack’ in a full-page ad
in the local paper 8 months after the protest occurred, and tried to say
it was ’so frightening’ for them.  In trial, two of the three PL employee
witnesses said they were so scared to go near the lock-down protest that
they stayed far away and didn’t talk with any protesters until the cops
were there to ‘secure the scene’.  But when we watched the tape I
brought, we saw those witnesses, right when they got on the scene,
hanging all over the car lock-down and talking with protesters, unafraid.
One of many lies that should have resulted in the jury finding no true
evidence brought by PL’s case.  And the big terrorism LIE came out as
every witness in the case testified that they have never seen violence
from me (or any forest activist).  It was clear that PL’s testifying
witnesses (3 employees and a Sheriff Sarg.)are able to rely upon their
knowledge of a non-violence committment by protesters to feel safe. Two
employees who testified, however, regularly assault protesters of PL.

On the other hand, all of the volunteer witnesses testifying for my case
were so solid and real — such fine people.  They made me so proud to do
the work I do– with the people I do it with.  Throughout the trial I was
accompanied by my friend, Tracy, who is an attorney.  She took great
notes of everything that happened in the trial and helped me
tremendously.  Representing myself, I had more freedom to argue with the
judge for a glimpse of justice and expose things the court didn’t want me
to say. I am so grateful for Tracy’s help and the encouragement and
advice I received from other righteous attorneys and tireless comrades.
I learned a lot. And  it was so comforting to have supporters in the
audience.

Even with all the money behind PL’s litigation, the people, including
myself, will continue to put up a good fight to stop the slaughter of the
Earth and to stop the slaughter of justice.  I ONLY PRAY THAT THIS
TRIAL’S STORY INSPIRES FOLKS TO MORE ACTION RATHER THAN LESS.

Next is the Mattole SLAPP with 7 remaining protester/defendants, which
is supposed to start on Monday—but PL has played dirty in that case for
5 years, and didn’t expect such a long trial this last time with only
one person– so we’ll see whether the Mattole trial even happens.  Maybe
we’ll get a better judge- I challenged Judge Watson (last week) in the
Mattole case for bias, to try and keep him from hearing the next PL
trial. He is one of the last Humboldt judges left who we haven’t
successfully challenged and disqualified as having bias in favor of the
‘local’ corporate timber industry. Still waiting for the decision about
him.

The potential upcoming trial will likely involve lots of evidence about
what PL has done to destroy everything and everyone it touches.
**Note:  none of the witnesses (longtime PL employees) in the Scotia trial
representing the Plaintiffs could testify ‘remembering’ the split of The
Pacific Lumber Company in the 80’s (that created ScoPac) in Maxxam CEO
Hurwitz’s financial scam/scheme— Essentially, the PL witnesses claimed no
memory of the event (the Maxxam takeover) that is arguably responsible for
more damage to the area’s physical, political, economic, and cultural
‘landscape’  than any other event in the last hundred years.

There are many other things I can tell you about the Scotia SLAPP trial,
but I’d love to get away from this computer.  PLEASE, don’t be intimidated
by corporate bullying, in the courts or anywhere.  We must stand up to the
horrendous attack on the Earth, on the forests, on all that lives.  We owe
it to our ancestors, our non-human relatives, and to our descendants.
There is nothing as liberating as knowing the truth—and acting on it.
————————————————————————————–
If you are in the area, please come at 8:30amon April 3rd to Courtroom #1
in Eureka.  PL and ScoPac will be requesting ‘injunctive relief’ (an
order to keep me away from Scotia headquarters).  It’s like prohibiting
someone from going near city hall… Anyway, show your support and we’ll
hold our heads up high.

If anyone hasn’t heard, Maxxam’s PL and Scopac are selling off the town
of Scotia—including all the houses timber families live in.  Cut and run
corporations have no mercy.
—————————————————————————————–

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the
exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” 
–Frederick Douglas

“The battle we have fought, and are still fighting for the forests is a
part of the eternal conflict between right and wrong, and we cannot expect
to see the end of it. … So we must count on watching and striving for
these trees, and should always be glad to find anything so surely good and
noble to strive for”  –  John Muir

“Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide
the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create
unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger?  Know that you
yourself are essential to this World.  Believe that! Understand both the
blessing and the burden of that.  You yourself are desperately needed to
save the soul of this World.  Did you think you were put here for
something else?”
~ Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White
Buffalo Calf Pipe

“Polite conservationists leave no mark save the scars upon the Earth that
could have been prevented had they stood their ground.” — David Ross
Brower

Hoping for Blessings in your Lives,
In Defense of the Earth and Her Peoples,
Verbena

Yesterday and today I again visited the court room where Verbena, Kimberly Starr, is embroiled in a malicious law suit brought by Pacific Lumber Company. I had other obligations during much of last week so missed much of the excitement. Well not excitement. Today Jack Nounnan was on the stand for an hour or so. Pacific Lumber’s attorneys Mitchell, Brisso, Delaney and Vrieze represented by Russell S. Gans objected to nearly everything and Judge Watson sustained all but the most egregious objections. Mitchell Brisso Delaney and Vrieze have a very close relationship with the Humboldt County Superior Court and the ultra right wing faction of county government in this notoriously corrupt county where the number one industry is the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs and automatic weapons fire can be heard almost constantly in much of this rural county.
Verbena, who is attempting to represent herself with the coaching of young attorney Tracy Herrin, against what can only be described as mafia style bullies tried to address the notion that the non-violent protestors are a dangerous and threatening group who have forced Pacific Lumber Co. to hire a security firm for $30,000 a month. This is not a hearing to get a restraining order, a trial to prosecute them for trespassing on the company owned town of Scotia (yes a 19th century company town for those not familiar with the local scene) or anything that might be construed as reasonable, setting aside the fact that there has been little legal recourse to address the clearly criminal activities of hostilly taken over Pacific Lumber Company. As this litigation has progressed it has become very clear that this is a SLAPP as the defendants have maintained. “SLAPP” is an acronym which stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation they have been around for a while but have evolved rapidly in recent years with more and more ridiculous versions being propagated against people who are usually nearly defenseless in court against large corporations and government entities. A good source of information concerning this and attempt to control it and other malicious litigation by legislation may be found at  the website of the California Anti-SLAPP project http://www.casp.net/ . Few doubt that our democracy is under severe attack at this point, that our gigantic prison system is full of petty offenders, political dissidents and even many absolutely innocent people.  Few expect criminals to face appropriate justice and many believe that the “system” generally exploits the weak rather than protects them. Corruption in our society has become blatant with lobbyists going back and forth from K street to high government positions and bribes being given right on the floor of congress. Charles Hurwitz big cheese at the helm of Maxxam which bought Pacific Lumber and has escalated it’s destruction and it’s illegal and basically unsound forest practices has been indicted for fraud and is connected with Jack Abramoff, lobbyist charged with bribery of top Republican legislators.
Other upcoming malicious litigation against protestors include those brough against critical mass riders one of whom has been charged with brutalizing a CHP officer. I was in court on March 7th when  Kathryn Zimmerman’s trial date was set for April 24th. This very young woman has a very slight build and the thought of her brutalizing a police officer is amusing at best. Witnesses say he blundered into her and fell on top of her. We may see… more likely there will be much legal wrangling at great taxpayer expense and we will not see. That’s how a courtroom works; keeping damning evidence out of view and perjury are the winning ticket. That and a form over content mentality that surpasses even the worst example of ugly Americanism. I have interviewed attorneys who all laugh when I ask about perjury and they say that police are the worst. One attorney told me he takes 3 or 4 criminal cases a month and his clients are always shocked when they see the police reports, that fake evidence has been added to make the case for law enforcement or simple lies told. They do this in most cases I think because they believe the end justifies the means and that they are taking guilty people out who would otherwise walk or get sentences they consider too lenient. They are well known for the process of “profiling”. Profiling started as a psychological analysis of a crime scene by trained psychologists. Generally we have the image of a brutal murder committed by a deranged serial killer but that has degenerated into little more than simply arresting people based on a dress code and skin color. I feel that many of the police officers engaged in this mean well and believe they are doing the world a favor…and keeping their jobs. Few prejudiced people are able to see their own prejudice. Meanwhile people engaged in real crime, big time drug dealers and so on, simply don 1950’s style dress and the trappings of affluence and become largely invincible while the police are set upon homeless people, drunks, political dissidents and so on more often than not at the behest of successful criminals who have purchased political power and or can otherwise afford grossly expensive litigation.
I have often been at odds with environmentalists and others who insist on civil disobedience and other confrontational methods of protest but I am now coming around to believe they are the true heroes of modern times where our corporate owned media has become a near monopoly and the information we receive more and more simplistic and propagandistic. My experiences and those of people I have known with the “justice” system, the debacle of Bush administration and Arnold Swarzenneger cohort Enron and the unopposed attacks of September 11^th, 2001 have convinced me that our democracy and it’s underlying freedom is all but lost. The sheer number and rate of people incarcerated in America, which leads the world by a very  wide margin in these fields is irrefutable evidence that our claim to be “free” and the notion that we are invading and destroying other people’s countries to bring this “freedom” to them is simply propaganda. Right out of Stalin’s Communist Soviet Union, Hitler’s Fascist Germany or another Bush administration buddy and major U.S. debt holder Communist China. This corruption is not brought about solely by the corporate owned Republican Party; the Democrats are perhaps bigger offenders as the supposed representatives of “the little guy”. Or the “mythical little guy” as latest Supreme Court appointee and career corporate attorney Samuel A. Alitto puts it.
I highly recommend that people go sit in on court proceedings once in a while just to see what goes on, who is there, who is not there and so that they might become better informed voters. While you’re there, say for instance in the drug court watching the parade of destitute pot heads and junkies, think “though people are responsible for their own actions, that junky is a victim of the Taleban and Al Qaida’s current unopposed attack on America the via their recently liberated Afghani opium industry”.  We are not losing our freedom and democracy because of dark alien forces we are losing these most valuable human rights due to our own institutionalized ignorance, complacency and gullibility. While it is often said that Bush is “all hat and no cattle” I dispute that; we are his cattle and we are heading to the slaughter house while he and his terroristic totalitarian friends sit there openly smirking at us. To witness this cancer spread at the cellular level visit your local halls of justice. I have posted some of the times and dates of the political litigation at http://humboldtrevolution.org (see the calendar link at the top) and will try and get more posted there soon. Please don’t go to the court house to make an uproar. Do that later.
“The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections. Later on, this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And then to the army, and finally the Republic was subjected to the rule of emperors:” Plutarch - Historian of the Roman Republic
 

This afternoon Jack, Ellen, Sly and I joined with the VFP vigil at the Eureka Courthouse. Because Jack had announced it as a press conference, the T-S, Reporter, and ch. 3 news were all there. I thought that was quite good, actually. Anyway, after being interviewed by James Faulk for the Times-Standard, our conversation stayed in my head awhile. I just e-mailed him the following additional thoughts…

During and immediately after Katrina, as we all watched in horror and disgust, there was a very clear and strong sense that we have to protect ourselves from our government. For many of us, this was only a reminder of what we already knew. For others, it was a wake up call.

Katrina, as a unique weather phenomenon, was hardly the first sign that we need to protect ourselves from our government. We should know this from the way global warming and Peak Oil are ignored. From the threat of jail without charges or access to an attorney. Because peace organizations are infiltrated and spied upon, and protests are forced into “free speech zones.” In the name of the US, torture is conducted at secret prisons. Warrantless wiretapping. 9/11.

If we are supposed to fear terrorism, let us clearly identify it. Those who inflict terror are those who have repeatedly ignored warnings before failing to protect us. Those who hate our freedoms are those who sign legislation to restrict or cancel them.

Fascism is a formula, a recognizable pattern that gradually engulfs a society. It is so blatant that it can’t be seen only when the media distorts reality by maintaining illusions of normalcy and by perpetuating the myths of democracy, capitalism, free speech, free markets and free press.

We do not Consent. Support the truth.