Eureka, CA-Community residents and forest activists from the redwood region and far beyond Humboldt County in Northern California, were relieved and elated as news spread of an unprecedented commitment by Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) owners of what was Maxxam/PL land to spare the Nanning Creek and Fern Gully ancient groves where tree-sits have been keeping chain saws at bay. The message was delivered directly to tree-sitters and included a commitment to further protect from future cutting all old growth 250 years old or more.

"Old Growth now included in old PL timber harvest plans will be taken out of those plans", said HRC president and chief forester, Mike Jani, in an interview with KMUD radio in Garberville last week. This in itself is a significant change from company CEO Sandy Dean's position of just two months ago, when he stated, on KMUD and in the San Francisco Chronicle on Aug. 29, that HRC would be finishing up the former owners' harvest plans and that it would "take time" to switch over to the new forestry methods.


More | Audio

On May Day, a series of protests began with Arcata Food Not Bombs serving a vegan meal on the Plaza. They were soon joined by the Infernal Noise Brigade creating various sounds of disruption. Members of the Industrial Workers of the World bicycled in a critical mass to Sun Valley Floral Farm and then to Burger King in Eureka. At the same time, the Infernal Noise Brigade marched from the Plaza to the HSU Quad where they met up with Humboldt United Students Against Sweatshops (HUSAS) . Together, they then marched up to President Rollin Richmond's office to deliver a petition demanding no more sweatshop labor products at HSU. The students want Richmond to endorse the Designated Suppliers Program, which promotes living wages and freedom of association.

Photos | StopSweatshops

Hoopa, Calif. - The Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California will not endorse the latest draft of the Klamath River Basin Restoration Agreement (KRBRA) released on January 15th because the agreement lacks adequate water assurances for fish. Despite being in the minority among the negotiators, Tribal Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall said Hoopa would never waive its fishery-based water rights, as demanded by federal and other negotiators, in a deal providing no assurances for fisheries restoration.

"What began as dam removal negotiations got turned into a water deal. PacifiCorp left the room two years ago and negotiations with the company have since been separate from this negotiation. The terms of this so-called restoration agreement make the right to divert water for irrigation the top priority, trumping salmon water needs and the best available science on the river," Marshall said. "Such an upside down deal threatens the goal of restoration and the Hoopa Tribe's fishing rights," Hoopa Councilman Joe LeMieux said. "We cannot waive the rights of generations to come. Dangling a carrot like this will not work for Hoopa."
Read More | Klamath Settlement Group Releases Proposed Restoration Agreement | Klamath Tribes Work with Neighbors to Solve Water Crisis | California Trout & Trout Unlimited: Klamath Agreement Sets Stage for Dam Removal

On September 4th, tree-sitters in the Nanning Creek tree village sent a text message saying that Pacific Lumber (Palco) climbers were raiding the tree-sits. In addition, two forest defenders were arrested on the ground for trespassing. Supporters were reportedly headed to the gate to protest against Palco's actions. Some activists have raised concerns that the company is violating the law by cutting branches during Marbled Murrelet nesting season, which ends on September 15th. Much of the supplies for the tree-sit have been taken or destroyed.

Spooner is a huge, ancient redwood tree that is almost 300 feet tall and is estimated to be as much as 2,000 years old. Marked to be cut down by Pacific Lumber Company, Spooner is located in the Nanning Creek watershed, near Scotia, CA in southern Humboldt county. Activists began sitting in Spooner two summers ago and have set traverse lines to protect the surrounding grove of trees. A direct action forest defense base camp will take place September 6th-10th.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Forest Defender Blog | Spooner Direct

On April 21st, activists from the Arcata People Project established an encampment on a lawn at 11th and D streets in Arcata California. According to an organizer, the protest aimed to "reclaim common spaces and create awareness about the issue of homelessness in the country and the fact that folks just don't have a place to sleep and be safe." About thirty people spent Saturday night in the encampment, sleeping in tents and under tarps.

On April 25th, shortly after 6am, police raided the protest encampment. About 16 protesters sat in a circle, locking arms. A large crowd formed across the street. About 20 of those locked arms and chanted. A girl was arrested at about 8:45, when she approached the police and started talking to them. The police then began to pull protesters from the circle and drag them to a van. One handcuffed protester went into a seizure, while police held him face down on the street. The crowd was disturbed by the police conduct, leading at least one onlooker to cross the street and get arrested.

As of Friday April 28th, Homeless protesters are continuing their protest on the lawn in front of The Arcata City Hall, where they intend to stay until the city gives back the property siezed by the police in Wednesday's raid.

Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Arcata Reporter Coverage: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Humboldt Revolution | De Tod@s Para Tod@s

The California Fish and Game Commission is poised to take public testimony with regard to the threatened-species status of the Siskyou Mountains salamander under the California Endangered Species Act.

The Siskiyou Mountains salamander (Plethodon stormi) is a rare denizen of old-growth forests that lives in a small portion of northern California and southern Oregon, where it is limited to rocky, covered slopes. Members of a group of salamanders called Plethodons, the Siskiyou Mountains salamander is lungless, breathing directly through its skin. The dense limbs and shade provided by old-growth forests help retain moisture that is key to the salamander's survival. Logging and other development that removes the shelter provided by these forests destroys the habitat that is vital for the salamanders to breathe and live.

In its delisting petition, the California Department of Fish and Game argued that the salamanders can be found in clearcuts, but failed to recognize that a few individuals dispersing through an area is different from a reproducing, viable population. Responding to the petition, noted salamander biologist Dr. Hartwell Welsh concluded:
"I have again reviewed the delisting proposal for the Siskiyou Mountains salamander, and find the interpretation of the science, both in general regarding the associations of plethodontid salamanders with mature forest habitats, and in particular with regard to this species, seriously flawed with regard to the available credible data on habitat associations. Given that the logic for delisting is based primarily on this flawed interpretation, the delisting petition itself is of questionable merit."

Read More | Action Network: Help Protect the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar Salamanders | EPIC: Habitat of Newly Discovered Salamander Species Slated for Logging | KS Wild Protects the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion

YREKA, CA- Klamath Riverkeeper sent a 60 day notice of intent to file a lawsuit today against Warren Buffett's PacifiCorp for polluting one of the nation's most important and controversial salmon rivers, the Klamath. Klamath Riverkeeper's lawsuit asserts that operation of the Iron Gate Dam hatchery has resulted in repeated violations of the Clean Water Act and is just one of the ways that PacifiCorp, as the owner of the four dams along the Klamath River, is destroying the River, its salmon runs, and the coastal fishing economies of the California and Oregon Coastline.

Thousands of adult salmon have died because of low flows and poor water quality. Since the dams were built, Klamath Salmon numbers have dropped from more than a million to less then 8% of that with one of the worst runs ever occurring last year, according to the Klamath Riverkeeper. Record-setting levels of a highly toxic algae have been found behind the dams during the last two years, and last year, low runs of wild Klamath salmon caused severe restrictions on commercial salmon fishing on over 700 miles of coastline in Oregon and California. These conditions have resulted in federal disaster declarations and have fueled the movement by the states, fishermen, tribes, and environmental groups to take down PacifiCorp's outdated dams along the Klamath River.

Read More

In the Klamath River Basin these days environmental news is dominated by talk about dam removal and, occasionally, new restrictions on fishing. But now another issue is poised to compete for the headlines. The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) announced late last month that it plans to give a hundred or so farmers and alfalfa ranchers in Siskiyou County just south of the Oregon border an exemption from the California Endangered Species Act. Released without fanfare, the announcement caused barely a ripple in the regional media. But below the surface a virtual tsunami may be forming.

The Scott and Shasta Rivers are major Klamath tributaries. While salmon runs in these rivers have been depressed for many years, fisheries scientists and restorationists agree that the broad valleys and forested streams of the Scott and Shasta have the greatest potential among all Klamath tributaries to produce salmon. Furthermore, the Scott River in particular could be the key to recovery of Klamath River Coho salmon. While all Klamath Basin salmon stocks are “at risk of extinction” according to the American Fisheries Society, only Coho are listed as “threatened with extinction” under provision of the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). More

Old-growth forest near Siskiyou County’s wild and scenic Salmon River is headed for the auction block - and the chopping block - after losing a years-long battle in court. The Knob Timber Sale is part of a large scale logging plan that includs the Glassups Timber Sale which was cut in 2003, and the Meteor Timber Sale which is still winding through the courts.

The combined cumulative post-logging effects on the Salmon River and the wildlife that depends on this old-growth forests has activists calling for protests. “The movement fighting to stop harmful and un-lawful logging is a multi-limbed creature,” said Salmon River Forest Defenders. “When the ‘arm’ of litigation tires…the muscular arm of direct action re-emerges.”

READ MORE

See previous Indybay reports: "Knob Timber Sale" Update: Auction Postponed Indefinitely I Healthy Forest Militia Gives Forest Service the Boot in Salmon River I Salmon River Tree-Sits Blocked by Feds, public forest closed to public I Salmon River Treesitters in Federal Court

The District Attorney who won fame and beat an attempted recall for filing a lawsuit against timber giant Pacific Lumber in 2003 won re-election June 6, 2006. After a bitter race between Gallegos and his police-supported challenger, Worth Dikeman, Gallegos walked home with nearly 53% of the vote.

The relationship between the DA’s office and law enforcement was a central issue during the campaign. Gallegos, who did not seek endorsement by law enforcement, cited rules by the American Bar Association that state “prosecutors should take care to avoid any relationships with the police that might cast doubt on the independence and integrity of the office of the prosecutor.”

Dikeman’s close relationship with law enforcement failed to capture voter support. Dikeman’s campaign manager, Dave Parris, is an investigator for the Eureka Police Department.

READ MORE.

Eureka, CA - Local citizens have launched a ballot initiative that will prohibit large out-of-county corporations from making political contributions in Humboldt County elections. The initiative for Fair Elections and Local Democracy - or “Measure T” as it’s known locally - received a record number of signatures to qualify for the June 6, ballot through grassroots campaign organized by the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights. Proponents of the measure call it a "direct challenge to the legal doctrine that a corporation must be treated as a 'person' with vested constitutional rights."

The initiative was inspired by two separate corporate-funded campaigns in Humboldt County where hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent to push corporate interests. In 1999, Wal-mart sought to change zoning laws in order to build on the Eureka waterfront. In 2003, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber launched a recall attempt against Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos who had filed a lawsuit against them. The corporations failed on both counts

READ MORE.

UPDATE 6/7/06: Measure T passes with 54.60% voter approval.

The Oxygen Collective has been at the forefront of both public education and popular protest of the so-called “salvage logging” that followed the massive “Biscuit fire” which burned 499,965 in 2002. The Oxygen Collective will be offering a free multi-media presentation reviewing the Biscuit saga and highlighting how the latest logging proposals will create detrimental national precedents. The high energy show will be in Arcata on June 4th at The Milk Barn, 2950 Janes Rd @ 6 pm, and will feature music, video, speakers, slides of direct action for the Biscuit, and the films Keep Towing That Line, and Portland IMC's Truth & Lies of the Biscuit Fire.

READ MORE.

SEE INDYBAY'S PAST COVERAGE OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE BISCUIT: Largest Forest Service Logging Project In Modern History I Old Growth Logging Begins - 11 arrests I Fiddler Timber Sale Blockade I Video of Arrests I Sister’s Of The Siskiyou’s Sound Off Over Lawless Logging I US Forest Service, Loggers Recklessly Endanger Lives of Nonviolent Protesters

Following a nearly year-long reprieve in the Freshwater Creek and Elk River areas of Humboldt County, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber will soon resume logging operations in the two fragile areas just east of Eureka. The logging will mark the first time the controversial logging outfit has been allowed to cut trees in these neighboring watersheds since June 16, 2005. Logging stopped when Maxxam/PL stalled the process for creating special waste discharge permits which would address the high levels of dirt and mud deposited in these watercourses from excessive recent and historical logging.

Forest activists are concerned that Maxxam/PL will “cherry-pick” the old-growth trees based on the new restrictions that disallow any additional sediment to be delivered into Freshwater Creek and Elk River by the logging operations.

READ MORE.

Hundreds of people - made up of children and parents, Hispanics and Caucasians, students and workers - gathered on the steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse, marched and expressed support for the rights of immigrants and workers. The rally and march was marked by a peaceful display of flags, signs and a celebratory mood.

A separate march from Arcata to Eureka along the Highway 101 corridor resulted in three arrests and a scuffle between police and a photographer of a local daily newspaper. The May Day march marks the second time a physical altercation broke out between police and activists on the 101 corridor in the last six months.

Activists crowded into the office of Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos to demand the release of the three arrestees and to air concerns of what many perceive as escalating heavy-handed tactics by police. The amount of force used by police is a hot topic in Humboldt since the April 14, 2006 killing of a mentally distressed Eureka woman who was shot nine times by a SWAT team after a two-hour stand-off with police.

READ MORE.

A former Pacific Lumber (PL) official has filed a wrongful-termination suit alleging he was ordered to conceal waste including asbestos and oil residue from Water Quality officials when seeking environmental permits for the company’s new $30 million sawmill. According to the suit, former business and community development director Jimmy Dan Cook was told "to not report the contamination and to keep the information in-house."

The lawsuit alleges Mr. Cook suffered "repeated verbal abuse and threats from (PL CEO Robert) Manne because of (Mr. Cook’s) resistance to follow orders he believed to be unlawful," and that a runoff-retention pond was built on the contaminated site which has "resulted in dangerously polluted water leaching and/or overflowing into the Eel River."

Read More