Protesters Say They Are Locking to Gate to Stop Logging After Humboldt Redwoods Company Removed Tripod Sitter

Tripod used by logging protestors

Looking up at a protestor on the Tripod. It was dismantled Wednesday. [Photo provided by protestors]

Press release:

Two people have locked themselves to “Monument Gate” – five miles up the mountain from Rio Dell – to prevent Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) access to the Rainbow Ridge area of the Mattole River watershed, where HRC has two active Timber Harvest Plans to log in un-entered Douglas fir forests.

Sunday, July 22, 2018, HRC, through a paramilitary-style security contractor, Lear Asset Management, raided the tall tri-pod road blockade on Long Ridge, immediately threatened two forest defenders with tazers and called Humboldt County Sheriff’s to arrest them, stole survival gear, and began posting 24/7 security at the blockade. On Wednesday, July 25th, HRC again had the security contractor threaten a forest defender who was staffing a tree sit nearby with a forced and dangerous extraction from the tree, had her arrested, and dismantled the tri-pod blockade. The blockade and tree sit were erected a month ago to prevent the timber company from beginning work operations.

Supporters of the forest defenders, including Mattole valley residents, have been at Monument Gate every morning since Sunday’s raid to show solidarity with the people blocking the road and opposition to HRC’s planned logging and herbicide operations.

Today, two more forest defenders are engaged in non-violent direct action, placing themselves within the gate to stop any potential threat to the Mattole River’s ancient forest and to highlight the importance of protecting the area. The Mattole watershed has been an area protected by community direct action since 1998, and will continue to be until it is rightfully preserved.

Rainbow Ridge area is the most seismically active region in the continental U.S. and is vital habitat for rare and endangered species such as the Pacific fisher, Coho salmon, Northern goshawk, Golden eagle,Northern spotted owl, and a large distinctive type of old-growth-dependent medicinal fungus, the agarikon. The area contains over 1100 acres of ancient Douglas fir and hardwoods. Industrial timber operations such as those undertaken by HRC can be especially damaging because of the area’s highly unstable soils and steep, landslide-prone terrain. HRC failed to report a recent and severe landslide to the state in its required impact assessment of the area that it now wants to log. Forest defenders are vital in stopping logging trucks and crews from moving in to begin felling trees.

One defender in Thursday’s action has said that “HRC and the Fisher family exist at a nexus of multiple systems of domination. The Fishers profit on everything from political influence, sweat shops, and environmental degradation of indigenous ancestral lands. I’m here to directly resist their influence.”

Earlier Chapter: Two Protestors Arrested at Rainbow Ridge Logging Blockade

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Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

Hopefully the arrest these people and they spend some time in jail for this these bloggers are trying to make a living your income

stuber
Guest
stuber
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I am wondering, if earth first had not helped Red Emerson and Charles Horowitz secure logging to their private lands, by stopping logging on USFS land, doubling the price of timber and allowing them a windfall, and costing the area here billions in revenues, especially taxes, would they be logging there? By using an owl that is being exterminated by the bard owl, the spotted owl, they are falsely claiming endangered species need protection. Such bullshit. In the 80’s, logging on USFS resulted in 7 road worker people in Zenia, and 7 in Ruth. The roads out here became very good, and no potholes. The county got 12.5% of each log, and the schools got 12.5%, things were good. These forests need to be logged, and logged now. I don’t think we would have to log these certain areas of concern if there was logging in USFS on a regular basis.
I remember how many jobs there were, how many people were working, and much less drug use. Fuck the owl, and put people to work. Also, you can get a 300ft exemption to clearcut your land around your house and outbuildings, which is what we are doing. Sell the fir and pine, mill the cedars, keep the oaks and madrones alive, for the critters. Remember, the natives here killed every fir and cedar tree they could, to protect their food base, the acorn. Now, thanks to idiots running things, the Indians would starve.
The real evil one in this is Denise Boggs, who works for some pagan outfit in Montana, who is ready to sue if the USFS files a timber harvest plan. Her stupidity is obvious every time she opens her mouth.

Joe dirt
Guest
Joe dirt
5 years ago
Reply to  stuber

Rainbow Ridge movement on Monument Road an ancient stand of trees some thousands of years old don’t turn your back on me they call me ancient and Majestic we are all connected can you feel me cry you have harvested most of my family and I will still share my love and wisdom pa’u hana

Terry
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  stuber

We’ll said ,was born and raised in Humboldt and trinity county.I remember the little towns with mills and work.The roads on public lands where we’ll maintained and open for everyone to use.Now everything is growed over and most roads aren’t even drivable. A lot of the old growth timber which now is unmanaged,is dead and dying.Now fires destroy it and lots of money is spent to fight the fires.Now the little rural towns have nothing few pot growers, and a few with public service jobs.Lots of drugs and crime,and yes I would say Red Emerson is doing great and thank God he has two million plus acres that is managed properly and creates thousand of jobs.You protesters should be arrested for trespassing,there is old growth timber set aside in our parks,go enjoy it and leave private lands alone

Jamie
Guest
Jamie
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

These people who stop any logging jobs need to think. What about other people. What does logging do fo me? First you all need paper for one thing or the other(you know bathroom)your signs. Come on stop! Im a logger I have been doing this for a long time. The people who always protest don’t have jobs(I know you should have seen central Idaho. Earth first every were. They left trash everything bad in the woods) So hey protesters look at what your doing. Everyone needs wood. It’s like a garden have to take stuff out or it dies. Or burns up.

John
Guest
John
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Honestly, Guest, I have not idea what you wrote about here.

Just Saying
Guest
Just Saying
5 years ago

Thank you Forest Defenders~!!!!

Helllbilly
Guest
Helllbilly
5 years ago

Keep on Fighting the good fight!

Johnny Rotten
Guest
Johnny Rotten
5 years ago

Why aren’t fishing wildlife code enforcement helping stop the environmental damage that the logging companies want to do it shouldn’t just be some hippie kids this is potentially going to be more mass environmental damage then most of these marijuana grows all put together and yet they got the blessing and police support against the forest protectors judgment coming and how did they get these THP the state should know better in a time of worldwide Mass environmental degradation when we need to be supporting the environment and buffering ourselves from climate change temperature rise and the mass extinctions of many species that come with it

Dan F
Guest
Dan F
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Rotten

One word answer… MONEY!!!!

Proof
Guest
Proof
5 years ago

Protestors need to remember that the properties adjacent to HRC’s logging operations are privately owned by people having nothing to do with HRC. Trespass camping, occupying private structures and leaving others to clean up their mess are not acceptable despite protestor claims that these activities are somehow within the scope of the First Amendment. They are not.

Ty Wire
Guest
Ty Wire
5 years ago
Reply to  Proof

Speaking as part of the movement, we are very well aware of neighboring residents and go to lengths to stay on the best terms we can. No one’s structures are being occupied and other properties are avoided.

Leaving messes? Well, we’d be happy to pick up our belongings if they’d take the cuffs off.

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago

. . . a paramilitary-style security contractor, Lear Asset Management – and they got their authority from? Oh yeah, those w/the most monopoly money.

Dan F
Guest
Dan F
5 years ago
Reply to  Central HumCo

Precisely!!!!

Ernestine
Guest
Ernestine
5 years ago

Let’s compare logging to cannabis. First a shot that shows logging on the left from 299 to Big Lagoon and egregious, worst-case cannabis on the left

Johnny Rotten
Guest
Johnny Rotten
5 years ago

Judgment coming to those doing environmental damage

laura
Guest
laura
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Rotten

they are here!

Johnny Rotten
Guest
Johnny Rotten
5 years ago
Reply to  laura

Yes Laura they are here and running the governments of the world industrial corporations and bankers all mixed up and a slurry of corruption and environmental Injustice and there is not much time left if we want to protect this place not just the forest but the entire planet is headed a lot of hard times if we don’t stop the madness some are already falling off the cliff yes they are here and they seem to be blind to what they are doing

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago

The unfortunate all-encompassing-health-freedoms-denial and full-force-of-Legal-power-grab is pulling Humboldt apart at the seams.

One cannot change reality by changing the words to describe reality. Look beneath the rhetoric, and glimpse the truth -the manipulation of public perception . . . while Northern California goes up in flames.

Not sure how society got to a point they can’t see right from wrong. The real criminals are wearing suits, costumes, and robes.

The level that the rhetoric has reached –is no longer rhetorical but constitutes direct threats.

Can't stand trespassers
Guest
Can't stand trespassers
5 years ago

My elderly mother-in-law lives on that road. If she has an event and is prevented from getting proper medical attention, you geniuses will be sued, starting with Dominic Sylvester Vonzabern and Breydon Michael Beshore.

Cmon now
Guest
Cmon now
5 years ago

Thats not going to happen, duh, these people respect life and would go help if needed. From my experience out there years ago, the neighbors all came to visit the blockade and were glad we were there.
Surprised youre not supporting the activists, once those groves are gone its gonna heat up dry up then burn like everywhere else.

Wendell R
Guest
Wendell R
5 years ago
Reply to  Cmon now

After the groves are gone it is going to: “Heat up, dry up, and burn like everywhere else??”
Could you explain why and how you came to that conclusion? Help me understand what I’m missing….

Bob
Guest
Bob
5 years ago
Reply to  Wendell R

Ecosystems are very complex, but here are some examples of how the forest prevents the place from burning.

Forests act as pumps to bring water inland and cause rain.
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/59/4/341/346941

Forests regulate the local temperature and weather and contribute to regulating the global climate.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/11/forests-trees-climate

Old growth trees are more fire resistant. A fire may come through, but it won’t kill the old growth trees.
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art18/

To step back a little bit, in general, most forms of vegetation help to build soil and regulate the local climate. Obviously, trees act as windbreaks, create shade, and create root systems connected to huge meshes of fungus that retain water in the soil. When you cut the trees, there is more erosion, the direct sunlight kills a lot of life in the soil making it hold less water, which causes more erosion, etc.

These effects are still real even if you replant the clear-cut forest with new trees. Removing all of the trees from the forest removes a huge amount of biomass that would normally have eventually fallen to the ground and been decomposed into soil, increasing water retention and overall life. By removing that biomass over and over each time the area is logged, we reduce the depth and health of the soil.

Also, it takes time for the new trees to grow, and meanwhile the soil is exposed. Then when the trees are tall, say 50 years later, they are much denser than old growth is, because the trees are much smaller and there are many more of them. These small trees are very vulnerable to fire — they burn much faster and fires spread much faster through them, especially because of all the branches close to the ground and the fact that the trunks are less thick and dense and can burn more easily.

All of these things act in feedback loops and the impact in one ecosystem affects those around it. If you clear one forest, it can’t do its part in regulating the climate and health of the ecosystem it is part of, which makes the areas around it more arid, more windy, more prone to extreme weather and droughts. This is a big part of what is happening in the world right now — a huge chunk of the world’s forests have been cut down in the last few hundred years, and huge areas are becoming hotter, drier, and more prone to extreme weather than they used to be.

gunther
Guest
gunther
5 years ago

One defender in Thursday’s action has said that “HRC and the Fisher family exist at a nexus of multiple systems of domination. The Fishers profit on everything from political influence, sweat shops, and environmental degradation of indigenous ancestral lands. I’m here to directly resist their influence.”

Oh, I get it now. It’s a personal attack.

Rolo
Guest
Rolo
5 years ago

Proof, you nailed that one for me. Protestors are like flies, don’t see one until there is a kill. Get a life and a job!

Dan F
Guest
Dan F
5 years ago
Reply to  Rolo

Feel free to do exactly that!!!

Vern
Guest
Vern
5 years ago

Far more environmental damage has been done – is being done – will be done – by marijuana grows — where are the “environmentalists” at their gates, where are the tree sitters outside their doors. The hypocrisy of the environmentalists with their “pick and choose” approach stems from their own drug swaddled medulla oblongatas, or perhaps all those “rumors” Were True, cell phones do cause brain cancer.

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  Vern

its not even close or even comparing some fruit to another fruit. take a look at the geni in Rancho raid. click on the photo and click again to zoom. notice the cut feed line under the trailer beam. who did that?

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Vern

Some of the very irresponsible, worst-case weed operations run by morons are very bad. But logging over the last century has been catastrophic and DFW has the pictures and documentation to prove it. I know good, hard-working people worked in the industry but the early days were terrible. A well-run marijuana farm is no more of a danger than growing food crops for the Farmers Market. Water is always an issue. Ditto for fertilizers and pesticides. The extreme hysteria that County and State government have succumbed to in excessive regulations and greed has handed the industry over to States like Colorado, WA, OR. Too bad.

Plenty of hypocrisy to go around, obviously. If cell phones cause brain cancer, most of us are doomed. What’s your point?

Linda Vencet
Guest
Linda Vencet
5 years ago

Good job guys keep fighting for whats right!

Bosley
Guest
Bosley
5 years ago

LADY’S AND GENTLEMEN !!!
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS MAN HAS DESTROYED EVERYTHING. WE LIVE IN A LITTLE BUBBLE. WE ARE BORN SLAVES. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. THE WORLD IS ESCALATING FASTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. WE CAN NOT STOP WHAT’S HAPPENING. WE CAN TRY. EVERYONE IS IN THERE OWN LITTLE WORLD. WE CAN SIT AND WAIT FOR WAR’S TO HAPPEN, WATCH PEOPLE HOMELESS, ENJOY WATCHING OUR KIDS DESTROY THEMSELVES WITH DRUGS AND KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE.
PEOPLE CONGRATULATIONS 😊😊😊
This soon all will be HISTORY.

Richard Buswell
Guest
5 years ago

Leave it to the brain dead moonbat liberals to stick their big noses into other people’s business.
Scum.

Nena
Guest
Nena
5 years ago

NO forest NO water. Before you criticize the persons that are against the raping of the forest try to spend 3 days without drinking water.

Dave
Guest
Dave
5 years ago

All you who protest about logging should look in the mirror. Didn’t you have to walk on grass and plants to do your protest? Wasn’t trees cut down and animals disturbed to build the place you live? Hmmmmmmm

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago

“Mental slavery is the worst form of slavery. It gives you the illusion of freedom, makes you trust, love and defend your oppressor, while making an enemy of those who are trying to free you or open your eyes.” -Eli

HRC rocks
Guest
HRC rocks
5 years ago

I can’t wait for those logs to come through the mill they will bring some wood in!