Earth First! Humboldt

Deployed at about 9 am and riding high at about 100 feet, this banner is hard to miss heading north from Trinidad on Highway 101.  Green Diamond Resource Company has been continuing their destructive clear-cutting legacy, highlighted here at Strawberry Rock.

Come on out to the mountains of Humboldt County for this years Redwood Coast Rendezvous from June 14th-18th. This summer looks like a hot one for direct action against extraction across the continent! Consequently, we’ll be focusing on skill sharing and training in order to spread the knowledge of practical blockading techniques, technical rope climbing, more direct action techniques and campaign organizing.

In the Redwood region alone there are two ongoing direct action campaigns. In Willits, the California Highway Patrol and their riot squad can’t keep the Little Lake Valley Defenders down as tree-sits continue to go up in the path of destruction planned for the new Highway 101 bypass around the town and through ancient trees and wetlands.

In northern Humboldt, the the tree-sitters are holding strong in some of the oldest and largest Redwoods in the Trinidad area as Green Diamonds logging echoes down from the hills.

Schedule and location TBA soon.

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This is the message we’re delivering to county planners and those gathering tonight at the public meeting about the McKay Tract community forest plan. Humboldt County is asking for public input and visions for what the community forest should be as well as how it should be administered. We found out late that the meeting was being held tonight however, some of our group will be delivering the following message. Earth First! Humboldt will continue to engage in this process as events unfold.

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Back Ground

Earth First! Humboldt began a tree-sit campaign in 2008 that protected the only remaining large grove of mature forest in the Mckay Tract. Many of the trees are over 100 years old, some of them may be over 1,000 years old.

We ended the tree-sits last summer when Green Diamond filed paperwork ending that timber harvest plan.

Logging

We want to see the grove and surrounding area protected as a wildlife sanctuary and a habitat core for species that require mature forest habitat.

We think that restoration forestry is in order for most of the forest in the McKay Tract, due to the heavy usage of clear-cutting in the past few decades. Restoration forestry means taking only one third of the timber growth per year, while sustainable logging means taking two thirds of the growth. Restoration forestry allows the forest to regain habitat complexity and timber volume in a more timely fashion. Truly sustainable timber harvest of sizable amounts of wood can only occur once the habitat and timber volume has reached the level of a functional mature forest.

Recreation

We support a hike, bike, and equestrian trail system that is similar to the one at the Headwaters Preserve in such that this trail system would avoid core mature forest habitat.

We are opposed to new road building in the Mckay tract due to the danger of increased rapid runoff during heavy rain, as well as the threat of contaminating the watershed with vehicle fluids.

We think that all the money raised by logging should go back to the community park, in the same way that the Arcata Community forest was previously funded.

We think that expenditures on infrastructure and maintenance should be limited by the amount of funding secured through restoration forestry, and that park expenditures should never necessitate more intensive logging of the area. This means simply that growth of the park should be dependent on growth of the forest.

Decisions

We also believe that the decision making process for management policies needs to be transparent and have real community control.

Conclusion

We want to see restoration forestry at the forefront of the management plan, as well as see some adjustments to current plans put forward by the county, but we are in support of the concept of a community forest in the McKay Tract.

 Clear-cut logging by any name
 Toxic Herbicides
 Old-growth logging
 Logging on unstable slopes

Forest practices we support:

Come on down to the Ink Annex in Old-town Eureka on April 30th for a presentation on Tar Sands Blockade. Hear from people who have been on the front lines resisting the Keystone XL Pipeline construction in Texas. The evening will start with a slide show and video, followed by a Q&A session with Tar Sands Blockaders from California and Texas.

Sliding scale donation $3 to $100 are appreciated, no one turned away for lack of funds.

All proceeds go directly to TSB.