Defending Giants by Speece Darren Frederick

Author:Speece, Darren Frederick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2016-03-17T04:00:00+00:00

ACTIONS FOR THE MASSES AND MASSIVE ACTIONS

Redwood Summer

The Forests Forever initiative, though it failed in the end, boosted the fortunes of North Coast Earth First! by increasing the relevancy of Redwood Summer. Likewise, Redwood Summer boosted the fortunes of forestry reform by generating national attention and creating a more sophisticated working relationship among the activists. The various organizations worked symbiotically. EPIC researched Timber Harvest Plans and identified those that threatened ancient redwoods and old-growth habitat, then filed suit to stop the logging. Forests Forever and Sierra Club California (via Kathy Bailey) generated public comments on proposed logging plans and worked to advance legislative reforms. Earth First! and related affinity groups generated media attention and frustrated logging efforts by interfering with the work of loggers in the woods. But the lines were never that clean. Darryl Cherney had helped form Forests Forever, EPIC and Earth First! filed public comments, and they all worked with the media. They also relied on tight communication with each other. The relationships were not, however, always harmonious or beneficial.

The activities of North Coast Earth First! grew more brazen, confrontational, and hostile to mainstream politics in 1990. During the Forests Forever campaign and leading up to Redwood Summer, Earth First! began organizing road blockades and trespassing expeditions, and they occupied a few ancient redwood groves to prevent logging. The strategy garnered national publicity as the activists tried to shame timber companies, just as the civil rights movement had discredited southern state governments in 1964. Those efforts gained popular support from environmentalists across California and the nation, but they did not endear the group to the workers or the timber companies, especially since the initiative seemed to threaten workers’ livelihoods. Equally important, Earth First! began to design other rallies and actions to recruit a broader set of activists. Combined, the confrontational actions and mass rallies led to a county-under-siege mentality.

Activists on the North Coast had decided they could no longer trust local politicians, leading to an atmosphere of hostility and a turn to disruptive actions. When Mendocino district attorney Susan Massini refused to prosecute Dave Lancaster for breaking Mem Hill’s nose at Whitehorn in August 1989, Earth First! occupied her office. Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari tried to appeal to local timber workers’ self-interest by performing at an American Federation of Labor rally protesting Louisiana-Pacific’s plans to open a mill in Mexico. Most dramatic, however, were the February actions. After Pacific Lumber and Louisiana-Pacific announced the “Boskeenhauser” deal on February 8, 1990, more than seventy-five activists stormed the Eureka offices of the politicians. The next day, approximately fifty activists surrounded Don Nolan’s Pacific Lumber logging truck while five activists chained themselves to logs after Nolan was quoted in a Sacramento Bee article as saying that environmentalists were his worst enemy. The urgency of the activists increased dramatically when trespassers discovered what became known as “Death Road,” a thirty-foot-wide access road on Pacific Lumber land piercing the center of the Headwaters Grove. It was clear to activists that Headwaters

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.