Logging Plan Borders Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Highway 101 Humboldt County, CA – Signs dotting Northern California’s stretch of Highway 101 near the town of Red Crest declare the scenic passage the “Redwood Highway”, named for ancient redwoods that tower over its flanks. Passing through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which contains one of the largest remaining contiguous stands of ancient coast redwoods in the world, lengths of the famous thoroughfare are just a stone’s throw to ancient forest owned by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber -redwoods they plan to cut down in the coming weeks. The 65-acre Timber Harvest Plan (1-04-220 HUM) is …

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>< 2nd annual Silent Auction and Celebration of Forest Activism >< Enjoy gourmet refreshments, wonderful music and celebrate the activist spirit while placing bids on GREAT STUFF like **hot springs retreats **handmade tree quilt **fleece and down gear **Trader Joe's gift bag **dinners at your favorite Bay Area restaurants **bikrim yoga classes **massage and chiropractic treatments **art **and lots more! many gift items...terrific deals. (list on the BACH website soon...) Music by special guest Joanne Rand, the Mercury Dimes, and Robert Temple only $5 admission SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 4 - 8 pm at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at ...

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Good news for a change… This is big news, and indicates the importance of the SYP case, and its resolution, but as Cynthia Elkins points out, though there is still road to travel on this one. The big tragedy of this case, as well, is the fact that already approved timber harvest plans were not constrained. posted here is the story from the Eureka Times Standard, 9/30/04 PL, state ordered to pay $6 million in EPIC case By John Driscoll The Times-Standard In one of the heaviest awards in a case of its kind, Pacific Lumber Co. and the state …

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Humboldt county, California-Three forest activists were forcibly extracted from high in the enormous radial branches of a 600 year old redwood tree, lowered 150 feet to the ground and placed under citizen’s arrest by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) employees on Saturday, Sept. 25 near Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park in coastal northern California. A fourth activist was arrested on the ground. Immediately after the tree sitters’ removal, the grove of five ancient redwoods and the massive giant known as “Aradia” were cut down. The area is known as “Gypsy Mountain”, named in memory of young activist David “Gypsy” Chain, killed on …

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Jury Stops Deliberation 6-2 in Favor of Plaintiffs The eight jurors in the Pepper Spray by Q-tip trial informed the judge at 3:15 Wednesday afternoon (9/22) that they were “hopelessly deadlocked” and could not find resolution through further deliberation. After encouraging them to rethink their opinions and meeting privately with the jury foreman, Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial. It was then that plaintiffs and defendants learned there were six jurors in favor of finding that police had used unconstitutional excessive force against the activists and only two not of that opinion. The plaintiffs are the eight activists who sued …

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The much-anticipated trial to determine if police violated Headwaters Forest activists’ civil rights when they applied pepper spray directly into their eyes with Q-tips will now start WEDNESDAY SEPT. 8, rather that Sept. 7 as previously scheduled. We were notified today by the Judge that another trial is overlapping, but everything else is going as scheduled. That means — INFO NIGHT at the Long Haul, with dinner, Fire In the Eyes film, and update from plaintiff/activists: Sunday Sept. 5, 7:30 pm Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley (near Ashby BART) SOLIDARITY RALLY as trial starts: Wed. Sept. 8 at noon …

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You may remember the horrifying tv news coverage 7 years ago when Humboldt county sheriff deputies forced pepper spray into the eyes of non-violent Headwaters Forest activists with Q-tips soaked with the caustic chemical. The activists were conducting a sit-in for Headwaters Forest and were immobile, locked to each other around a stump. After the incident, they sued law enforcement for use of excessive force. After the first trial in 1998 ended in a split jury, a biased judge threw the case out, and after trips to appeals courts and all the way to the Supreme Court, the case is …

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SB 754, the Heritage Tree Preservation Act, will permanently protect the last of California’s old-growth trees on nonfederal land, including Coast redwoods, Douglas-firs and Giant sequoias. Less than one percent of these ancient giants remain, yet they are still being logged. This bill will protect these trees, standing since before statehood. Old-growth trees provide essential habitat for endangered species such as the Marbled murrelet and Northern spotted owl, and they are critical to the health of forest ecosystems, shading the forest floor, cleaning the air, and stabilizing streambeds and hillsides. SB 754’s protections for old-growth trees are very close to …

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Urge the Assembly Appropriations Committee to Approve SB 754! Dear Friend of the Forest, Never before have we been this close to seeing lasting protection for our heritage trees and setting a precedent that can be a model for other parts of the globe. The next month is crucial for this bill. Now more than ever, we need your help. The California Heritage Tree Preservation Act (SB 754) recently cleared a major hurdle on June 14 with the approval of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee by a 7-3 vote. Our next challenge is the Assembly Appropriations Committee, currently scheduled for …

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THANK YOU !! to everyone who wrote letters, emailed legislators, and otherwise helped the Heritage Tree bill (SB 754) move forward. The bill, a ban on cutting many species of old growth trees in California on private forestland PASSED the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday. A news story with details is pasted below. The bill will still go to a floor vote and need to be signed by Gov. Arnold, so there is still work to be done, but this was a critical hurdle. Thank you and breathe a sigh of relief for the big trees. Here is the …

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