‘They put a lot of people’s lives in danger’…HRC Employee Accuses Protestors of Setting Excavator on Fire

Black smoke rises from the excavator which was parked just off a road which snaked through trees growing close together.

Black smoke and flames rose from the excavator which was parked just off a road which snaked through trees growing close together. [Photos provided]

Just before 4 p.m. on August 8, a piece of heavy equipment belonging to Shinn Construction and used by the Humboldt Redwood Company to build roads in the Rainbow Ridge area went up in a blaze of fire and black smoke north of Honeydew terrifying locals who have ample evidence in recent years of the destructive power of wildfires.

Those listening to the scanner heard a dispatcher relaying information to firefighters in charge of operating engines and aircraft just after 4 p.m. “A vehicle fire in the area of Rainbow Ridge and Mattole Road,” she told them as she dispatched a full wildland response including two dozers, at least six engines, two copters, and two air tankers as well as several volunteer fire departments. “Tractor on fire,” she said. “[The person reporting states the fire is] 16 miles out Bull Creek Road to the County Parks Road.”

For a heart stopping half an hour or so, Humboldt County residents near the rural area worried that that flames might spread from the machine to the wildland, and from the wildland to their homes. And, the first reports indicated that logging protestors may have been the culprits. Within minutes of the first call, the dispatcher reported, “Cal Fire is requesting assistance, states there’s protestors that set an excavator on fire out Rainbow Ridge.”

Soon after, one of those responding to the fire questioned the dispatcher, “Has [law enforcement] been started?”

Rainbow Ridge and the surrounding area has been a hot bed of contention as protesters have tried for years to stop the Humboldt Redwood Company from logging what they argue are old growth fir trees. HRC, on the other hand, contends the company has a “policy of protecting old growth trees.” They cite SCS Global, a third party certification company, which reported in late 2018, “The vast majority of the trees, of all sizes, in the stands at issue do not meet the prevailing definitions of old growth or legacy trees, as defined in the FSC Standard and in HRC/MRC company policy.”

A little less than two weeks ago, at least one protestor managed to set up residence in a tree “in the upper north fork of the Mattole, the very southern reach of Rainbow Ridge.” Since then, the protestors on their Instagram, treesittersunion.local707, claim HRC has been attempting to intimidate the sitter into leaving and managing to keep supporters from resupplying her.

On August 1, the Treesitter’s Instagram stated, “Tree falling has started near the treesits. Armed security from Lear Assets Management, who have been harassing activists…in the Mattole and in JDSF..are now posted nearby, with dogs chained under the treesit.”

An employee of HRC who wishes to remain anonymous told us that on August 8 a number of protesters showed up on Rainbow Ridge. “They had 20 or 30 people with their cars everywhere sometime between noon and one,” he explained. “The people were physically blocking the gate.” And he told us, the protestors had placed a u bolt on the gate in an attempt to stop HRC from accessing the road that provided local ranchers and HRC access to their property through state park land.

Once, HRC employees got past the protestors and the gate, the employee told us they found that protestors had piled debris on the road to make access more difficult. “They blocked like three miles of the roadway with brush,” he said. “They left some signs threatening people.” He declined to state what the signs said but, Linda Stansberry in her reporting for the North Coast Journal showed a photograph reportedly of one of the signs which warned, “Watch out for spike Boards and tree spikes…Get out. Fuck off. Die. Shame on you scum. Fuck Leer.”

HRC’s employee told us, “We had to clear the branches and the sticks and the rocks out of the road with the machinery.” Eventually, he said, “We parked the machine where we were going to start working on the road.” He told us that they weren’t worried that anyone would damage the equipment because “we didn’t see anyone around.”

He said he returned to the gate for a short time and then returned to the excavator a little before 4 p.m. He said he saw the machine he had parked on the side of the road engulfed in fire with 10 foot flames rising from it.  When he got closer, he said he saw distinctly that “a road flare had fallen out of the engine compartment between the tracks,” he told us. “I was just like ‘You stupid son of bitches… .'” He added, “They are trying to save the forest and they set a piece of equipment on fire in the State Park… .”

Closeup of the burned excavator.

Closeup of the burned excavator.

He told us that he believes one of the protestors put the flare in the engine compartment and that after it burned to a smaller size (and caught the machine on fire) it had fallen out and landed between the tracks of the excavator.

The HRC employee said he not only called 911 but, he told us, “I called our security guy” who was at the gate with the protestors. According to the employee, HRC’s security guard turned to the protestors at the gate and told them that some of the protestors had lit the excavator on fire.  At that point, the HRC employee told us, the protestors began leaving the scene.

According to Stephen Brown, a spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, “No protesters remained on scene upon deputy arrival.”

The blackened excavator sits at the head of a trail of spilled diesel fuel.

As the fire burned, approximately 80 gallons of fuel spread down the dirt road from the excavator. The fuel spill will have to be cleaned up.

Although she didn’t come down immediately after the fire, the tree sitter climbed down from her tree voluntarily yesterday, August 10, and was taken into custody, according to an unofficial report from those in the area.

We reached out to several Rainbow Ridge protestors asking for their side of the story. Michael Evenson, who was not at Monday’s event, but was one of the four Mattole resident elders arrested for protesting the logging in June of 2019 expressed distress at what happened. He told us, “It’s criminal. It’s wrong in such a way that is unimaginable…We all witnessed the Paradise Fire. There’s personal victims involved…Shinn’s equipment and everyone’s home and their whole lives…That includes all the forest creatures.”*

He had told us Monday right after the fire, “I seriously doubt forest defense did something like that.  I can’t speak for others who are ticked off that DFW does not insist on protecting spotted owls in the rare place where Barred Owls are not present.” He like many environmentalist contends, “The logging creates Barred Owl habitat.”

He added in a subsequent email,

Thinking about it more after reading your post.  Highly unlikely sabotage for all the obvious reasons and also because:

1. Sabotage doesn’t happen in the daylight
2. There’s a tree sit in the area and a fire could easily run wild to it

An anonymous response from one of the protesters’ general email accounts that we reached out to on Monday stated, “[F]orest defenders made efforts to slow the destruction of the Mattole forest and its ecosystem. Unfortunately, machinery caught fire within the forest but it did not spread. This accident posed a threat to an existing treesit, as well as to the health and safety of the forest and its community. The defenders are saddened to see any loss of the forest, be it logging or fire.”

Yesterday, in response to a follow up email from us, they replied only, “We stand by the statements made by other location activists” in the North Coast Journal‘s article.  In that piece, the tree sitter stated, “News of the Six Rivers and McKinney fire, and recent fish kills are devastating, and I have faith no forest defender would risk starting a similar fire in the Mattole. The letter pictured [see above] reads more like a parody written with the violent rhetoric typical of Lear and Shinn employees.”

Neither side offered reasons why the other side setting the excavator on fire made sense.

Local residents, HRC employees and contractors, as well as protestors all agree on one thing. As the HRC employee we spoke to said, “If we had had winds that day, the fire could have spread. This could have ended up really badly if it had spread into the timber. [The person who did this] put a lot of people’s lives in danger.”

* Note: We updated the article to include more information from Michael Evenson.

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Shocked How Stupid People Are
Guest
Shocked How Stupid People Are
1 year ago

It’s one thing to be against clearing the trees, I get that, but wouldn’t burning down the whole forest kind of defeat the purpose?

Not only are you so selfishly obsessed with this (enough to risk everything, everyone else has in the area. Homes, businesses, etc…), you’re also so stupid you didn’t see how that could backfire on what you supposedly stand for??

God and it’s not like you did anything either 😂😂 if they don’t already have another excavator up there I bet they will be the end of the week. What are you gonna just burn another one down and hope it doesn’t spread again? Hopefully someone protects their land and invokes their second amendment rights against y’all

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
1 year ago

YEah screw these monsters. The forest lost bro. Defend yourselves and your neighbors by volunteering at your local VFD.

What a bunch of hater scum

Chesterson
Guest
Chesterson
1 year ago

send the FBI after these people, instead of them going through Melania’s wardrobe. Bunch of freaks.

Corporate Serfdom
Guest
Corporate Serfdom
1 year ago

Inside job

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
1 year ago

👍

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
1 year ago

I’m not taking the word of the HRC employee based upon what he thinks he saw. Until evidence is produced to indicate it was a road flare I’m going to guess a branch from the debris they had to remove got caught in the engine compartment and ignited while they went back to the gate. That’s what he saw drop on the ground. I’m not on one side or the other, but anyone with any brains who lives up here wouldn’t intentionally start a fire at this time of the year.

As stated in this link: “ The residue that remains after burning a road flare is a whitish-grey solidified pool.”

https://www.nafi.org/blog/detecting-and-confirming-the-presence-of-road-flare-residue-in-fire-investigations/

This is what a road flare looks like after it has burned.

comment image?auto=webp&optimize=high&quality=70&width=1440

Chesterson
Guest
Chesterson
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

Maybe the FBI Nazis could keep out of Melania’s wardrobe and investigate these eco terrorists who need to be punished harshly.

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
1 year ago
Reply to  Chesterson

yes. F the eco-terrorists.

Me
Guest
Me
1 year ago
Reply to  Chesterson

Pretty sure it’s not melania’s panties they are going after.

Chesterson
Guest
Chesterson
1 year ago
Reply to  Me

The FBI was just wanting to upgrade their wardrobe. What are the pig FBI clowns in Fortuna doing about the fentenal? Or the women, especially the native women, who have disapeared here on the north coast? And yes, punish the ecoterrorists harshly. The environmentalist movement is the enemy, Humboldt 350, and earth first are the enemy. We teach kids this everyday. They know the electric car is the enemy, along with the horribly polluting China. Trump 2024! He is already winning

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Chesterson

you sound like a lunatic.

local observer
Guest
local observer
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

you could say he or she has definitely made it to an FBI list. which is insane if you ask me.

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  Chesterson

I think you start every thought with “punish harshly”, and work backwards. The director of the FBI is a Trump appointee. Remember how repbulicans we’re clamouring for Hilary Clinton to get investigated? For the same thing? So just to be consistent, assuming there was evidence in her case, if it was a crime then , it is now too. But what’s the difference? Let’s assume they both did equal crime…( She was never President, and Trump had the same type of private phone, and server set up, but let’s pretend some more…) Do you think the FBI noticed Trump trying to gain power via a coup?

Vet
Guest
Vet
1 year ago

Yep

FB_IMG_1660234758340.jpg
Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Vet

Ain’t that the truth.

How angry?

One’s own mother will disown them if she is the accused…

🤔🧐I’m not even supposed to call…😁

Never heard that one before…

That’s when “narcissist collapse” happens, and it ain’t pretty.

Last edited 1 year ago
Behind the scenes:
Guest
Behind the scenes:
1 year ago
Reply to  Chesterson

Bunch a Communists.
Bobby Shinny was a barefoot son of peasant shepherds. He operates a station to provision traveling hippies, with an open-air salon for revolutionaries. Now he’s engaged in this celebration of labor up there with those well known communards, the lumberjacks. Supplying redwood decking through cooperative labor for the Pelosis and Newsomes of Commiefornia. HRC owners normalized the acceptance of denim in the 70s and 80s. That HRC employee moonlights as a agrarian son of the people with an honor system produce stand. Wake up sheeple!

The Real Brian
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

Definitely possible that it was an accidental fire that was caused by the operator.

Definitely possible that an over-eager under-experienced protester did something absolutely reckless.

Where could a flare be placed in the ex engine compartment that would not only ignite a diesel engine but allow for the flare to fall and be seen?

If investigators really want to know, they can figure it out;

https://www.nafi.org/blog/detecting-and-confirming-the-presence-of-road-flare-residue-in-fire-investigations/

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
1 year ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Nice link. I wish I had found that and posted it in my comment. 🙄

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

heavy equipment doesn’t catch fire when it is parked. Those engines get oily and there are all kinds of hoses carrying flammable liquids.

The Real Brian
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

More:

Lots of engine bay doors will have locks, and I’m assuming if they had locks that management would have all operators lock all doors upon leaving each vehicle as protests are ever present.

Look :

https://www.brokentractor.com/p/caterpillar-excavator-right-engine-compartment-door-with-latch-hinge-109-7521-109-7521/

Now, why does the engine bay door appear open in the fire picture, but closed in the post-fire fuel spill picture?

Could have been closed innocently during post fire inspection.

Last edited 1 year ago
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

Equipment catches fire, on its own now and then, but not that often considering how many hours combined all the machines run. It’s not like most times you start one they burn.
Bobby would have had to be doing some pretty serious 4 dimensional chess to anticipate this THIS is the moment he’d been waiting so long for to initiate an insurance claim. Insurance money would just be a sideways move, because you aren’t getting paid for work while you arrange a replacement.
There were 20-30 protesters. In the heat of the moment, could the big yellow excavator have become a proxy for everything wrong with the world? This is a variable not present on every other day. There were threats made as far as tree spikes, and nail boards on the road. Out of the 20-30, were any of them young, perhaps from other parts of the country? Maybe not so experienced with this place, maybe not so experienced with western fire season? Could be that the opportunity of an unguarded excavator tempted somebody into ignoring the bigger implications? Were there other motivations besides pure ecology? Like, impressing your peers with daring and bravado, initiating a big exciting experience. Going hard during “warfare”, impressing another attractive revolutionary… Modern day rebels are not exempt from the demands of sexual selection. There’s a strong imperative across species to differentiate ones self from the crowd. A male peacock’s plumage is pretty stupid but it gets him laid.

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
1 year ago

Female protesters do plenty of violent stuff “with daring and bravado” and there have been convictions to prove it. But yeah, people do stupid stuff on the spur of the moment when in mobs that they wouldn’t do by themselves. We are a herd animal.

farmer
Guest
farmer
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

Seriously if it was a road flare I’m guessing they did it to themselves to frame the tree sitter and get the publics support to oust them

Mattole Sitter
Guest
Mattole Sitter
1 year ago
Reply to  farmer

Are you sure about that Jeremy? I mean you and I have met up in the mattole on several occasions and while you wouldn’t do that, you’re friends you bring in from out of area absolutely will….

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  farmer

guess away. Probability says you’re wrong. I think if you try to get beyond your biases and look at it objectively, you might agree, seriously.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  NoBody

I worked in Scotia for 16 years. I can tell you the ppl working in the forestry department are salt of the earth, working folks with families and mortgages (ya know, responsibilities). The protesters running around are constantly trying to make trouble and typically don’t work and have extreme views.
Debris, such as forest duff can build up in an engine compartment, but sticks the size of flares rarely get in there, and they don’t catch fire when it’s parked, it catches fire when the engine is running.
It’s most probable that a protester did this.

local observer
Guest
local observer
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

all of the fires to date on active logging sites in the area have been from logging equipment or a broken glass bottle left in the clearcut. the glass bottle, while is rare, is generally the worse because the fire happens while the crew is not on site to report it.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  local observer

equipment fires don’t occur when the machines are parked and turned off. Also, when they do catch fire it is an exceedingly rare event. Just the fact that the protesters were there when this happened suggests foul play based on probability.
I’ve had to fight a couple fires that occurred from burn piles getting away from us but that’s not active logging.

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

So you’re saying that debris caught in the engine can’t smolder for hours and then burst into flames? That would be news to me.
Until I see the remnants of the flare, which are hard to get rid of, then I see this as nothing other than an unintentional fire.

farmer
Guest
farmer
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

That last time this shit sparked off loggers killed a tree sitter. I doing want to see things escalate again. If you worked at Scotia for 16 years you know this. It’s not black and white time to start coming together and formulate a harvest plan everyone will get on board with. Or do you forget the sheriff pouring pepper spray into defensless kids’ eyes? And the huge protests that ensued. Salt of the earth may be some, but not all. The unfortunate thing is that last time many good people did lose livelihoods too. Meth kind of took over after that. We can’t lose cannabis, logging, and our real estate economy all at the same time. I understand both concerns. This will end violently again, though, if people don’t start compromising and stop with the ego shit. We got to protect our trees and people need to eat.

c u 2morrowD
Member
1 year ago

this might well of all gone bad if it weren’t for the fast response of fire crews.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  c u 2morrow

Realistically, that fire was probably out or nearly out to the point of smoldering, and not spreading by the time fire crews arrived.

Hmmmmm? Who wda thot
Guest
Hmmmmm? Who wda thot
1 year ago

If the protestors need a job. How about the mass devastation. PG E is inflicting. As what appears to be retaliation for being held accountable Not only are they recklessly blasting corridors thru mendo and humbolt. They are grinding up the trees rather than use the logs for lumber. Using contractor’s from all over the country. And passing on the cost to the consumer! Simular to comparing bidens selling out our entire nation. To trumps mean tweets ? Cmon libs. Get a grip !

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
1 year ago

YES! Stop going after private mom and pop timber owners. These eco-freaks are basically pawns of some rich guy enforcing anti-competitive cut-throat competitiveness (PS that’s how everyone in nor-cal behaves aint no nice guys in big biz) by “protesting” their competition. Its disgusting.

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  bearjoo

Who is competing with HRC? Do you think the sister company Mendocino Redwood Company is sending the protesters? Green Diamond?

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago

..selling out:

Screenshot_20220811-090024.png
dogglife
Guest
dogglife
1 year ago

The FBI doesn’t raid people for mean tweets. Cmon Trumptards get a grip!

Cheney/Kinzinger 2024!!!!!!!!

FBI=KGB
Guest
FBI=KGB
1 year ago
Reply to  dogglife

Lol! Both of those sellouts are going to be looking for work this fall. Might as well try to run for President. Will grease the skids for another Trump nomination!

farfromputin
Member
farfromputin
1 year ago

OK, crime fighters, where were the security guard(s) when the excavator was (supposedly) torched? HRC pays a security service to protect machinery in the brush. Guards stay with the equipment until the next shift. It’s a cost of doing business.

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  farfromputin

Hm. Let’s check on that factoid…a guard for every piece of equipment, everywhere, 24/7? Protesters are lined up in orderly fashion, not running cat and mouse games? A guard to tail each protester? It’s just like Basketball!

farfromputin
Member
farfromputin
1 year ago
Reply to  farfromputin

Hey hoss, been there done that.

Thebigdeal
Guest
Thebigdeal
1 year ago
Reply to  farfromputin

What a ridiculous comment. HRC probably has 40 sides between road work and logging sides They can’t be everywhere- it would be a lot easier if eco terrorist would be prosecuted

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Thebigdeal

Probably closer to 10-20 sides, but yeah, that guy is a moron.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  farfromputin

You’re full of s$&t. Utter BS. You. Are. Clueless.

Last edited 1 year ago
Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

What? No haz mat response for that pig mess?

The longer they wait to clean that up, the worse it gets.

Where’s fish and game and whoever else rights up violations for oil and diesel spills?

Shouldn’t the fines be already accruing?

I don’t see any spill mitigations at all…

And if there ever was a road flare, which is dubious, the remnants if it would still be present. The remains are durable and very hard, and would have already burned at a high temperature. Even if disturbed by extinguishing the fire, it can be found, if it was truly ever present.

By the looks of where the equipment is in the road, it should be easy to find, or not…

It would also be easy to add.

I’m sure a good investigator could tell if phosphorus was the accelerant. That would leave some distinct “fingerprints”, I’m sure.

The equipment could easily have had a big rat nest in the motor compartment, but of course, the operator won’t mention that.

Because, that would be on him…

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

The thing was PARKED!
And I’m sure they have already excavated the contaminated soil.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

That’s the STORY!

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Well, I worked in forestry in Scotia from 2004-2020 so I’m intimately familiar with the companies practices. What qualifies your opinion? There are several posters here who have preconceived notions that are astoundingly naïve and ignorant.

grey fox
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Well unless rats are building with flame proof material now, I don’t see how the rats nest theory is ever going to be proven..
And why would it pick just that moment to combust.
Heavy equipment is checked out by the mechanic before going on a job. A “big” rats nest is going to be noticed.

Last edited 1 year ago
Tree Hugger
Guest
Tree Hugger
1 year ago

I’m sure somebody is going to receive an insurance payout for this burned equipment. I would bet that the equipment in question was worn out and on it’s last legs. Considering these two points and how convenient it is to blame the protestors and thereby discredit them. I would further state that HRC/MRC have significantly more motive/incentive than the protestors do to light the excavator on fire.

The protestors may be annoying to those that are trying to cut down the trees but they are not stupid. They are trying to save the forest and, as several people have pointed out, forest fires tend to burn forests down, not save them.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Tree Hugger

Yes, It agree, who stood to gain the most?

And who might have also profited off of the resulting fire if it had spread?

I imagine that by the time the fire department arrived, the equipment fire had probably nearly expended itself.

Any flare residue would be readily apparent.

I’d also look for evidence of a rats nest.

Last edited 1 year ago
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  Tree Hugger

Even if…the excavator was old and ready to be replaced(doesn’t look too old)
And the operator knew that today was the day they’d be able to frame protesters…
And it was fully insured
And they had a flare and a plan ready…
You would lose money.
An insurance claim would replace the value of a used excavator, not buy you a new one. The equipment was there to do work. No work would get done while you filed, recieved a claim, then went shopping for a new machine, thus no extra money. No motive.

This Is My Name
Guest
This Is My Name
1 year ago

If that was you or I, yes.

HRC can get a new rig in no time with little concern to cost, unlike the average guy who owns some machines.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago

That is an extremely naïve statement. HRC release it’s Road Crew back in 2018 or 19 and sold the equipment. They hire contractors, this machine belonged to Shinn as stated in the article. No business has “little concern for cost”. Just a naïve thing to think.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago

The company probably has enough excavators that it wouldn’t have a problem from losing one.

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

It was owned by a contractor from Honeydew.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

WRONG. The ignorance here is remarkable.

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
Guest
Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  Tree Hugger

And we’d have to do testing to prove that out of the 20+ individuals, there wasn’t one that was truly stupid.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Tree Hugger

Of course there will be an insurance payout, WTF do you think insurance is for? “I would bet that the equipment in question was worn out and on it’s last legs. Considering these two points…” Speculation. Also, the protesters are stupid, I have first hand experience. They don’t work, they don’t have wives/husbands, kids, mortgages. They’re not adulting, they’re filled with misguided passion and behave in irresponsible ways.
The machine was parked, not running, cooling down. That is not how these things catch fire, which does happen on rare occasion.
The most probable explanation is sabotage from protesters. Did you read the article, about their threatening signs? They’re got carried away and f%&ked up.

Liar liar pants on f-ing fire!
Guest
Liar liar pants on f-ing fire!
1 year ago

When he got closer, he said he saw distinctly that “a road flare had fallen out of the engine compartment between the tracks,”

Lies worse than my adolescent nephew. The flare just happened to fall out as you walked up, after it caught fire, and in an area where there is an active sit!
Sure!!!!!!🤦 Doesn’t add up!
What a stink pile of BS!

A logger pissed about tree sitters, who sets fire to equipment that’s not his, while setting fire to an area that doesn’t affect him but the sitters or others kind of adds up. Not the first time a logger reacted with angry and hurt a tree sitter! RIP Gypsy Chain!



Vet
Guest
Vet
1 year ago

I don’t approve of destruction of property but…without these people protesting there would soon not be an old growth tree standing in Humboldt.

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
1 year ago
Reply to  Vet

have you seen the fires dude? Gluckwitdat

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  bearjoo

Which fires are you referring to as “the fires”?

Are you referring to how forests are now much more vulnerable to large fires? Consider that after clearcutting a forest, clearcutting companies will often spray down the land with herbicides and then deeply till it to remove any biodiversity, which in their language is weeds. Afterwards, they will densely replant the land with monoculture stands of trees all of the same species and age, so you have new trees that are not very mature or fire resistant, and that are packed together like a pile of firewood.

Alternatively, perhaps you are referring to the fact that tere are large fires worsened by climate change and drought, and that it therefore doesn’t matter anyway what old growth trees are logged. If that’s the case, then you should take responsibility for your destructive logging eliminating healthy forests, which are a major sink fof carbon dioxide.

Hmmmmm? Who wda thot
Guest
Hmmmmm? Who wda thot
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

Ya what he said!!! We need to give biden some more trillions. Hes gona fix it. With electric everything. And inflation. Coal fire to power electric everything all delivered thru the government and their friends. After the federal forest service finishes backfire burning our OLD GROWTH. Forests to ashes there wont be shade to block solar panels. Build back better. Mmmfft derr!!!

Non-fiction
Guest
Non-fiction
1 year ago

How do you purport to make decisions and develop rigorous opinions by using falsehoods, embellishments, & delusions?

Wouldn’t you rather form opinions based on facts?

Griffon
Member
Griffon
1 year ago
Reply to  Vet

I doubt the state and national parks will be logging their old growth any time soon.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  Griffon

That’s true, as well as forests on residential property, but I wouldn’t be surprised if OP’s prediction comes true about forests owned by clearcutting companies.

Non-fiction
Guest
Non-fiction
1 year ago
Reply to  Griffon

Sadly so, NP’s and and State Parks make up a demonstrably small amount of acreage vs the remainder of public and privately controlled acreage in Mendo & Humboldt where 95%-98% of all Old growth has been removed.

Most people have never actually seen or experienced an old growth forest and should step back with their opinions as they are ill-informed to the values they offer to the health and resilience of our safety and quality of life.

Old growth forests are my church.
If freedom of religion is real then why is my church up for sale?

Respect all or respect none.

Don’t be surprised when a disrespected group lacks respect for yours if you can’t offer consideration of the real, verifiable, and determinate value of the ecology.

Last edited 1 year ago
Griffon
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Griffon
1 year ago
Reply to  Non-fiction

Your church isn’t up for sale. The parks won’t be sold any time soon. Like you said most commercial timberlands old growth was harvested. Those lands are still being managed for timber in most cases. You don’t own that land so you opinion on the matter is just that.

Non-fiction
Guest
Non-fiction
1 year ago
Reply to  Griffon

The idea that large private timberholdings don’t deserve input from the public is a total fallacy.

We all live downstream and what large timberholders do to these tracts of land still affects the ecology and therefore us.
Thus public opinion is relevant.
Otherwise there wouldn’t be state laws informed by public consent that limit how private timber holdings are managed.

Ever heard of Headwaters?

Do you remember HCSO swabbing eyeballs of protesters with pepper spray?

Griffon
Guest
Griffon
1 year ago
Reply to  Non-fiction

Comparing this with the headwaters and associated timber wars is a joke.

Timber harvest is a very regulated activity in CA. It sounds like your protest should be with the state and regulatory agencies…

The process involves public comment as you know. The state found this project to be within the rules of the state.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Vet

All the large remaining old growth stands are CA State Parks. WTF are you talking about, “…not an old growth standing”? HRC is not cutting old growth as stated in the article.

Non-fiction
Guest
Non-fiction
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

MRC keeps trying to go after the remaining old growth within their holdings.

They like to refer to 35-40acre clear cuts where they leave 3-10 trees standing as “selective cuts”.

I’d be very surprised if HRC is any different.

Weyerhaiser, Simpson, SPI, PALCO (under Maxxam) led the way with this trickery.
CDF has supported it with an active blind eye, ignoring statutes meant to eliminate clear cuts.

Last edited 1 year ago
fellow trinidadianD
Member
fellow trinidadian
1 year ago

HRC probably burned their own machine.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to suspect that HRC would do something like this, given that they have already proven that they are an unconscionable company. The private security company that they contract with has been extremely brutal to peaceful protestors, using crowd control methods similar to Trump’s Lafayette Square incident. Shame on the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office as well for doing nothing about the brutal security guards, and only taking action about trespassing.

https://www.wildcalifornia.org/post/a-new-era-of-timber-wars
https://www.wildcalifornia.org/post/breaking-hrc-logging-commenced-in-mattole-watershed

Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
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Hebilla Cinturón de Rodeo
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

First sentence of the article:”…owned by Shinn Construction…”

fellow trinidadianD
Member
fellow trinidadian
1 year ago

Being used by hrc

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago

You’re so naïve, it’s unbelievable. HRC pays Shinn to operate. There is a contract with all the costs drawn up. There is zero chance HRC started this fire. ZERO. It’s painfully obvious you have no idea WTF you’re talking about.

Griffon
Guest
Griffon
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

HRC has zero incentive to burn their or anyone else’s equipment. What would they gain.

The protesters were not successful at stopping the projects you linked, and I doubt they will find success this time.

I guess we will have to wait until the next epic newsletter to see what “really” happened…

Griffon
Member
Griffon
1 year ago

Regardless of how this fire started, it was super fortunate that it didn’t turn into a larger fire.

Sounds like a attempted resupply gone wrong.

john smythe
Guest
john smythe
1 year ago

hrc and mrc are owned by the 5 billionaire fisher family allegedly rich from (not panther) GAP jeans. they own 450000 acres of forestlands which they mow like a mansion lawn. obviously they need more money more than the earth needs lungs. etc. too short rotations for trees that were designed to live a long time by god. maybe people should go to their church and try to lobby them through their religion. i guess actually that would make it a synagogue not a church. the forest was a church once to all northern europeans. wouldnt it be nice if they were to decide that letting the old growth grow back was the right thing to do? maybe they could still cut a few peckerpoles but let the biggest ones in every acre keep growing. foresters dont seem to like that idea because the biggest regrowing trees will make some shade, and lower profits. but it seems like now is the time we need some landowners to step up and decide that they want old growth back. after the fisher family gets converted we can work on arcata local Red (neck) Emmerson who is californias very largest landowner with his spi logging company. otherwise all these maniacs should be sued for arson for managing the forest into kindling.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  john smythe

HRC/MRC practices uneven age management. You know toilet paper is a forest product right?

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

Toilet paper can also come from recycled paper or bamboo. It’s too short lived of a product to be coming from trees.

hillside
Guest
hillside
1 year ago

A fire during the day? Everyone knows elves sleep at night. HRC wouldn’t be the first entity to self-sabotage to increase enforcement and demean opposition on behalf of their cause; oldest tactic in the book of war.

Last edited 1 year ago
Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  hillside

Just like Putin’s false flag attempts.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

Of course, no one actually knows this, it is just a possibility.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  hillside

Shinn owned the machine genius.

trout fisher
Guest
trout fisher
1 year ago

Why would they set a fire with tree sits near by and no way out in the middle if the day. People are jumping to a lot of unfounded conclusions about how the fire started. Maybe it was the security company comprised of ex mercenaries wanting to get rid of tree sits by implicating the forest defenders

bearjoo
Guest
bearjoo
1 year ago
Reply to  trout fisher

All we are saying, is give hardwood private timber thinners a chance.

Not all of us are “greedy” capitalists. We have fuel wood waiting to burn, yet people come and trash our vehicles like this to make a statement. And you wonder why its all burning down.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  bearjoo

Do you know why there is often so much fuel wood in forests? Partly because logging often targets the healthiest trees and results in forests growing back in a way that is less fire resistant than before.

Do you know why everyone rightfully hates you? Well, for one, look at the tactics of your cruel security guards if you haven’t already.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

You’re naïve. [edit]

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

Which part do you consider naïve?

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  trout fisher

Why would anyone believe a logger’s statement about how it started, or about any other matter? Loggers suck.

D'Tucker Jebs
Guest
D'Tucker Jebs
1 year ago

The local activist communities vehemtly denounce all forms of violence, including destruction of equipment. It also does not make sense that anyone from the group would endanger the lives of the other activists or the forest these people are trying to protect.
Groups are, or course, made up of individuals and some individuals are- well, assholes. While it is unlikely, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that this could have been the act of one rogue individual. Still, the people jumping to conclusions and blaming an entire movement for the alleged actions of one person is ridiculous.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  D'Tucker Jebs

Even if it was the protestors side, it could have been a single individual. On the other hand, the company’s Lear security guards are systemically malicious.

Griffon
Member
Griffon
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

Sounds like you have a vested interest in one side of this mystery.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  Griffon

I know that the way I wrote my comments makes it sound like I was present at the incident. I wasn’t actually involved, however I was quite outraged after reading about the tactics of some of the security guards that the company hired on the websites of environmental groups. It’s like how Trump’s unmarked kidnapping vans in Portland provoked a new wave of protesting. I’ve also long disliked clearcutting and other unsustainable forestry practices.

suspence
Member
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Yellow

HRC doesn’t clear cut dumba$$.

Yellow
Guest
Yellow
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

Sorry for the confusion; in the context of the earlier comment about it seeming like I have a vested interest in one side, I mentioned “clearcutting and other unsustainable forestry practices” as one of the reasons that I tend to sympathize with environmental activists. I don’t see anywhere that I specifically claimed that HRC does clearcutting.
What do you have to say about the mercenary security guard brutality, by the way?

Buzz
Guest
Buzz
1 year ago

I don’t buy it – and I am firmly in the pro-logging camp.
Blaming the activists is too convenient for many reasons. Prove it!

local observer
Guest
local observer
1 year ago

I am going to go with “who has 2 road flares in the company truck emergency kit” for 200. the individual that saw the flare drop out would have also saw person that did it. we are in crazy times and the extreme left and right are equally lacking the ability to make rational decisions due to many reasons but mainly from what they absorb in the form a propaganda on their hand held devices that they are glued to.

Joe Trump
Guest
Joe Trump
1 year ago
Reply to  local observer

You eff hit zee nail on zee head!

Country Joe
Member
1 year ago

Book the eco terrorists Danno….