Earth First! Humboldt

No offense, but the story on the McKay Tract logging and development protests on Eurekas Channel 3 news on Friday night was full of factual errors.

(Click here to see the show.The story on the McKay Tract protests starts at 6:05 on the video timeline.)

The following numbered quotes are transcriptions of news anchor Rissa Shaw. See below for full transcription.

Corrections:

1.”… today protestors against the timber plan gathered in Cutten for a community hike into the forest.”

Reality: Those who gathered ≠ those who were there for a hike.

2.”Earth First! Humboldt placed tree-sitters into the forest on Tuesday and Mind Petals plans to join the sitting in the near future.”

Reality: EF! Humboldt is a collective of autonomous individuals who are self driven to defend the eco-systems that all life depend on for survival. No one is in charge or in a position to “place tree-sitters” anywhere. The tree-sitters are part of EF! Humboldt and placed themselves there.

3. “Green Diamond stated in a North Coast Journal article that it encourages the protesters to talk about their concerns with the timber company but as of now neither group has approached them.”

The actual quote from the NCJ article is- Ewald said he’d be happy to talk to the treesitters. “I think we need to find out what their concerns are.”

Reality: On Dec. 3rd, two days before this TV news broadcast, EF! Humboldt posted an open letter to Neal Ewald on our website which we know is frequently visited by Green Diamond. In it we lay out our concerns and our position. The news reporter who came to Cutten was told this directly but it was not included in the story.

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Full transcript-

“Green Diamond Timber has been approved by the State to clear-cut up to 40 acres of the McKay Tract in Cutten but on average the company says it only cuts between 17 and 20 acres, so today protestors against the timber plan gathered in Cutten for a community hike into the forest. Two organizations, Earth First! Humboldt and Mind Petals are leading the protest after noticing, they noticed Spotted Owls, Bears and Falcons in the McKay Tract. Earth First! Humboldt placed tree-sitters into the forest on Tuesday and Mind Petals plans to join the sitting in the near future.”

(Mind Petals Pres. speaks for a bit then it goes back to the anchor woman Rissa Shaw-)

“Green Diamond stated in a North Coast Journal article that it encourages the protestors to talk about their concerns with the timber company but as of now niether group has approached them. Mind Petals says it plans to contact them and hopefully reach a compromise.”