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7 Forest Activists Face Trial For Blockading Pacific Lumber Subcontractor Steve Wills Trucking And Logging 11-15-04 For Immediate Release - Contact: 11-15-2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 15, 2004 Contact: Kim Starr SEVEN FOREST ACTIVISTS FACE TRIAL FOR BLOCKADING PACIFIC LUMBER SUBCONTRACTOR STEVE WILLS TRUCKING AND LOGGING Humboldt Co., CA: Seven non-violent protesters of old growth logging were released from jail Friday night after blockading a main thoroughfare road used by Steve Wills Trucking and Logging, a Maxxam/Pacific Lumber subcontractor which is currently clear-cutting and hauling the last ancient Redwood and Doug Fir ecosystems in Humboldt County. The multi-faceted demonstration which led to the arrests included three different road blocks and a large banner declaring "Steve Wills Destroys California's Ancient Forests for Maxxam's Texas Profits." The protest location, Fisher Road, has been the site of past protests, including the largest rally in the history of the U.S. forest protection movement, (in 1996) for Headwaters Forest. Arrestees from the Steve Wills protest were told by officers in jail that one of the criminal charges would be Conspiracy. Once in court, however, the 7 were charged with trespass and one with the additional charge of resisting an officer. Trials are set for December 6 at 8:30 a.m.. Coincidentally, also on Dec. 6th at 8:45 a.m., EPIC (Environmental Protection and Information Center) will be requesting a preliminary injunction on six THPs (Timber Harvest Plans) under which the California Dept. of Forestry and Maxxam/PL withheld from the public critical information about the rate of cutting. In the recent Fisher road protest, three demonstrators locked to what they called the "Revolutionary Bundle of Joy," a 55-gallon drum filled with concrete and metal. Two demonstrators locked in with u-locks around their necks, one with her arms locked inside the drum. One protester locked his body to one of the access gates, and three others locked to the axle of a Steve Wills semi- truck. A couple of other demonstrators, who were not arrested, put their bodies directly in the way of timber vehicles, taking a firm stand and holding a sign "Extinction is Forever- Trespass is Temporary." Humboldt Co. Sheriff Deputies, who are presently being sued for excessive force (using pepper spray on non-violent protesters) and un-deputized Steve Wills' employees extracted protesters using skill saws, a jackhammer, a crowbar, bolt cutters. Deputies also brutalized protesters by lifting them up by handcuffs and hair. Steve Wills is what activist Kim Starr calls "a major perpetrator of deforestation in the area," adding that "[f]ocusing attention, targeting, and blocking Steve Wills operations has been a long time coming and will continue." Through subcontractor Steve Wills, Maxxam/PL carries out logging plans that have been found illegal in court and are being further challenged in lawsuits filed by both the Humboldt DA and EPIC for damage to endangered habitats, fraudulent data regarding landslides, injuries to water quality, the killing of endangered species, and for creating an unsustainable situation for the environment, local residents, and timber workers.  << Back to Press Release Archive | Latest Press Release | Newsroom Subscribe Get action alerts, updates, and other important news in your email inbox by signing up with your email address here: Learn more about events | See the BACHList FAQ |
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