So, this is the press release that was sent out Friday, Sept. 15.;MEDIA ALERTFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 15, 2006Mattole Forest Activists in Fifth and Final Week of Trial Against Maxxam’s Pacific Lumber -necessity defense presented-
CONTACT: Kim Starr and/or Ayr (707) 476-9112 PRESS CONFERENCE: After trial, 12:10pm in front of Eureka Courthouse
The Mattole SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) will be in its 5th and final week beginning Monday, September 18, 2006, as activists present the rarely permitted “necessity defense” to the court.
In spring of 2001, after a long-standing Mattole Free State which brought hundreds of forest defenders out to the rugged Rainbow Ridge area of the Mattole watershed, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber brought a several-hundred-thousand-dollar lawsuit against community residents and others in an attempt to silence critics of PL’s destruction of the old growth Mattole forests.
Maxxam/PL on the first day of trial, 5 ½ years after filing the lawsuit, dropped the monetary damage claims (victory for the defendants), yet have been nonetheless arguing for an injunctive judgment against 4 activists in the 5-week trial.
While Pacific Lumber’s attorney tries to portray the case as a “simple matter of trespass” and claims that PL has been harmed, the activists have already brought evidence to the contrary. They assert that the case requires a review of the ecological ‘emergency’ circumstances created by the timber company, and that the law supports the activists’ actions to avert the emergency. Defendant activist Ayr explains, “Our actions were absolutely necessary to prevent Maxxam’s unsustainable and destructive forest practices. The company has shown blatant disregard for the long-term health of this community.”
The activists, representing themselves, have called to the witness stand an amazing array of community members, including restoration workers and public trust advocates. These witnesses have brought evidence of the overwhelming harm caused by Maxxam and have told of years of struggle to protect and restore the Mattole river watershed. A common theme throughout all of the witness’ testimony has been the utter failure or refusal of regulatory agencies, such as California Dept. of Forestry, to act on behalf of the public trust. Also, evidence has made clear that the threats to the Mattole have been intensified by the infamous 1999 Headwaters Deal, which allows the killing of endangered species and the ‘taking’ of their habitat.
The activists’ case has shown that Maxxam’s actions, riddling the hillsides with clearcuts, have forever damaged endangered species’
habitat, water quality, and the property of downstream residents, and have fragmented what was once the largest unprotected and intact coastal, old-growth Douglas Fir forest– the North Fork Mattole area. The Mattole region experiences highly seismic activity and is prone to landslides.
On Monday, C.A.T.S. (Californians for Alternatives to Toxics) director, Patty Clary, testifying about dangerous herbicide use by PL, and long-time watershed advocate, Traci Thiele, will continue to show why Maxxam/ PL needed to be stopped.
Defendants encourage the media and the community to come witness this trial, a part of the epic struggle of truth and survival versus corporate greed. Trial resumes Monday, September 18 in courtroom 3, and closing arguments are expected through Wednesday the 20th. Defendants will be available at 12:10pm on Monday for a press conference. Trial is from 8:30am to 12:00pm every day.
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“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche
From Flowers in the Sidewalk: “Always remember that our individual actions are tha beginnings of total change and everything you do has a massive effect, like tha slow and sure flowers in tha sidewalk which in time will overcome even the most vile cities.” - Sean Shit