Wilderness Defence – Page 9

First Nations Protesters Shut Down Northern B.C. Drilling Site

10/9/14

After a summer of protests aimed at mining companies, members of the Tahltan Nation in northern B.C. say they have shut down an exploratory drilling operation by taking over the site.

“HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!!!” states a Monday night posting on the Facebook page for Tahltan elders. “The Klabona Keeper members are occupying a black hawk drill pad above Ealue Lake!!!”

The elders’ group, which is based in Iskut just south of Dease Lake, has staged several protests in the area in recent years blocking resource companies from working in a place known as the Sacred Headwaters. The region is highly valued by the Tahltan because it holds the headwaters of three important salmon rivers – the Stikine, Skeena and Nass.

Rhoda Quock, a spokeswoman for the Klabono Keepers, said Tuesday a group of protesters hiked to the remote drill site and took it over.

She said Black Hawk Drilling Ltd., a Smithers, B.C., company that works for Firesteel Resources Inc. of Vancouver and OZ Minerals of Australia, flew its drilling crew out after the occupation began.

Protests against the mine exploration work began in 2006-07, said Ms. Quock, when Firesteel Resources began examining a copper-gold deposit in the Sacred Headwaters region.

The Klabona Keepers set up roadblocks at that time and the company withdrew, before returning earlier this summer, she said.

“In July … we saw drilling equipment near the road,” she said. “We told them they had until noon to remove the drill or we’d take it over. And they did [remove the equipment].”

But Ms. Quock said helicopters were later seen flying overhead.

Company officials could not be reached for an interview, but on its website, Firesteel Resources states that in July it began working with OZ Minerals on a drilling program in the area.

In a brief e-mail, Michael Hepworth, President and chief executive officer of Firesteel Resources, said the drilling crew has approval to do exploratory drilling.

“We are working in the area under [Tahltan Central Council] approval and are fully permitted by the B.C. government to work in the area,” said Mr. Hepworth, who is travelling outside Canada.

Although the Tahltan Central Council is the main governing body of the Tahltan Nation, the Klabona Keepers operate independently. The two groups are sometimes at odds, but generally support one another.

Chad Day, recently elected President of the Tahltan Central Council, could not be reached for comment.

David Haslam, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines, said in an e-mail that Firesteel Resources “has all the necessary tenures and permits” it needs and the government is working with the Tahltan Central Council “to develop a shared vision for land and resource use.”

Mr. Haslam urged “everyone to remain respectful of one another on the ground while we seek a resolution to the situation with the Klabona Keepers.”

Ms. Quock said members of the Klabona Keepers hiked through the mountains on the weekend looking for remote drill sites.

“They found the drill, the spill tray on it was overflowing with oil and water,” she said. “We shut the drill down. They are staying there and they are not allowing the drill to leave.”

Asked what message she wanted to deliver, she said: “We want them out. Why are they continuing to put more money in to a project that will always be protested? We will never approve it.”

The Klabona Keepers blockaded Imperial Metals’ Red Chris mine in August because of concerns about a tailings pond, but stopped the protest when talks began between the company and the Tahltan Central Council. Last year, the group blocked Fortune Minerals Ltd. from doing work on a coal deposit. On Monday, the B.C. government announced a temporary hold on coal exploration permits in the area.

“I don’t want people to get the impression we’re against all development. We’re not. But these places are sacred and we want to keep it [untouched],” said Ms. Quock.

Klabona Keeper website

Video

Wetlands destruction and resistance

#TESTET #ZAD

About an hour's drive north of Toulouse (sw France) there is an area of wetlands called the Testet, in the forest of #Sivens . This is the last area of wetlands ("Zone Humide" in French) in the department of the Tarn. It is home to rare and endangered species.

This area (13hectares) will be drowned by a dam. The purpose of the dam is principally to irrigate large-scale maize production.

It will also be used to regulate the levels of water in the river Tescou, so that pollution will be diluted and the local authorities can claim to respect European environment legislation. The water can also be used if difficulties arrive at the Golfech nuclear reactor.

Maize production is not appropriate to this region, it is a highly polluting form of agriculture. European and French rules say that it should no longer receive subsidies. (Dam financed by local, regional and European budgets)

The projected dam is not necessary, smaller, higher dams exist upstream, and are not used.

The studies of water availability and use, of the cost, impact and of the need for the dam are flawed and partial. (Local politicians who favour the project have interests in the company which produced the studies – which just happens to be the company which will pocket the money for building the dam….)

Claims about the need to dilute industrial pollution downstream are nonsense: the milk cooperative which used to pump effluent into the Tescou has had filters since 2006.

Environmentalists have been defending the wetlands for almost a year. Logging started on the 1st of september, the army and military police corps have commited acts of violence against non-violent protestors.

A hunger strike is in progress.

Hundreds of dam opponents are active on the site ( blocking roads, slowing the chainsaws, negociating and demonstrating). Other activists are demonstrating in front of local governement offices (and being savagely beaten for their efforts)

Calls for the public to show opposition to this unnecessary and destructive project are online.

Welcome groups exist for participants in direct action. The struggle is gradually growing, all and any help is needed. Sadly, at the time of writing the GIGN (special forces) are clearing resistance from the Zone.

Futher info:

http://collectif-testet.org/

http://tantquilyauradesbouilles.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SoutienTestet

Verdict Handed Down for Six Sea Shepherd Volunteers on Faroe Islands

9.9.14

Volunteers from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s pilot whale defense campaign Operation GrindStop 2014 appeared before a court in the Faroe Islands on Monday following their recent arrest in conjunction with trying to prevent the murder of pilot whales. These volunteer crewmembers – many of whom are European citizens – have been found guilty of defending the whales, while Denmark has acted in blatant defiance of European Union regulations by defending the slaughter of whales. Sea Shepherd has issued a statement pertaining to the verdicts and supporter and actor Martin Sheen is speaking out.

The six members of Sea Shepherd’s onshore team were among a total of 14 volunteers arrested on August 30 on the Faroese island of Sandoy for attempting to protect 33 pilot whales from the brutal mass slaughter known as “grindadrap” or the “grind.” The onshore crewmembers entered the water, banging poles, in an attempt to lead the pilot whales back out to sea and out of danger, but as the pod was driven in quickly from close to shore, there was little time to prevent the slaughter. The Royal Danish Navy arrested Sea Shepherd’s offshore crew and seized three of their small boats – the Loki, the Mike Galesi, and the B.S. Sheen (sponsored by actor Charlie Sheen). Despite being an anti-whaling EU member nation, Denmark acted in collaboration with the whalers, enabling 33 whales to be killed.

The onshore crewmembers face small fines as well as possible deportation from the Faroes by Denmark. The court date for the eight members of the offshore crew has been scheduled for September 25, and Sea Shepherd’s three small boats will be held “as evidence” until that time.

Twelve Hour Blockade Against Rare Earth Metal Exploration, Canada

The 23rd July we stopped the Canadian corporation Tasman Metals’ test drillings for rare earth elements (REE) in Norra Kärr, Sweden. We heard they probably had been securing the place with CCTV-cameras so we decided to drive as fast as possible right into the enemy claimed forest, straight through any alarm system. Then we ran a few kilometers until we found the drilling rig. Using bike-locks we chained our bodies to the nasty machine. We alerted some media with a press release. Then some cops came with people from the corporation in a few hours. They gathered 20 something cops but Tasman decided not to intervene even though we were breaking the law. They didn’t want the extra fuzz from brutal cop-violence. So we could stay at the beautiful site with the ugly machine the whole day talking to journalists and drinking coffee with excited supporters.

We know rare earth mining has been apocalyptic in desert biomes due to all the toxic waste. This mine would be right next to Swedens biggest drinking water reserve, the beautiful lake Vättern. It’s got bright clear water and supports 260 000 people with clean water at the moment, more cities want to plug in! Tasman Metals is hiding its ugly plans to make investors gamble with human and non-human health and we will not allow that!

In solidarity with all people fighting patriarchy and the white mans colonial worldview!

More pictures on the campaign website.

Arizona Forest Service Roads Spiked

July 23rd, 2014 Flagstaff authorities are seeking the public’s help to gather any information related to sharpened rebar that was placed in the Happy Jack area.

Forest Service law enforcement say that at least five pieces of the rebar was placed on forest roads that are frequented by off-highway vehicles.

The sharp pieces are responsible for slashing at least eight tires last weekend, according to authorities.

“The end of the rebar has been flattened and sharpened to a point and the exposed point has been painted to blend in with the road surface,” Linda Wadleigh, Mogollon Rim District Ranger, said. She added that the objects pose a threat to people hiking and walking and to wildlife in the area.

[EF! Journal editor's note: For more information on road spiking – Ecodefense: A Field Guide]

Catalonia: Wave of Sabotage Against High Tension Lines

July 18th, 2014 – In light of the news of the moving forward of the Very High Tension Line (la línea de muy alta tensión or MAT), we want to make public:

On Tuesday, July 1st, an all-terrain vehicle in the service of Tensalm, a company subcontracted by the Spain Electrical Network (REE), was burned, destroyed by the flames in the night within a Sarrià de Ter hotel in the Girona province.

We claim all the actions detailed below, a year after we began our work. All the actions have been systematically silenced by the communication media and for this reason we want to make public that, in denial of the lastest news from the daily El Punt, we have caused months of delay to the work and thousands of euros of damages and losses to REE.

At the margin of the assemblies and collectives that have carried out a struggle against the construction of the MAT, a multitude of activists from the region and foreigners, we have carried out a fight based on direct action.

We vindicate sabotage as a fundamental part of the fight against the imposition, the infrastructure that sustains the system, and all the social, laboral and economic mechanisms of capitalism.

The whole world is capable of carrying out sabotage, a tool that has belonged to the oppressed class for a long time. It can be as simple as unscrewing the bolts of any tower, and we encourage everyone who is against to act in the way they see as most fitting.

We publish this list of actions in order to incite sabotage, to give ideas, and to bring to light what they didn’t want to be known.

June 2013:
– 2 excavators sabotaged
-All-terrain vehicle of the ROTELLA company has tires slashed and radiators broken.
– Removal of stakes marking the towers.

August 2013:
– 2 excavators sabotaged
– 1 excavator destroyed
– Blocking of the trails with barricades

September – November 2013:
– 5 excavators and machines sabotaged
– 12 all-terrain vehicles of GAROC and ROTELLA companies sabotaged
– Blocking of trails with barricades and spikes

December 2013:
– Attack on the representatives of REE and their cars

January 2014:
– Attacks on GAROC excavators

February – April 2014:
– Guide cords for running cables repeatedly cut
– Multiple unboltings of the bases of the MAT towers
– Attack on the security guards of EULEN company, and broken windows.

May 2014:
– Cords cut
– Destruction of 2 generators
– 2 all-terrain vehicles of REE sabotaged
– Sabotage of support structures
– Several unboltings of the towers

June – July 2014:
– All-terrain vehicles sabotaged and burned!

This is an incomplete list since it is impossible to know all the actions that have been carried out, or who has done them. The bolts will be sent to the press, in order to put pressure for the publication of this manifesto.

No MAT, no TAV, no nuclear and no to the system that sustains them!

More information about resistance to the MAT can be found at

http://torresmasaltashancaido.espivblogs.net/ingles/

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety

Italy—More Arrests in the Struggle Against the TAV

This morning (11th July) three anarchist comrades were arrested between Milan and Lecce, and another one was raided.

The three are accused of taking part in the attack on the yard in Chiomonte in the night between 13th and 14th May 2013, the same episode following which Chiara, Mattia, Claudio and Niccolò were jailed in December 2013.

We don’t know much about the charges yet. In the press we read: damage, arson, violence on public official, possession and fabrication of explosive devices. Therefore it seems that prosecutors from Turin have been forced to rule out the charge of terrorism, following a previous sentence from the court of cassation that cancelled this charge in Chiara, Mattia, Claudio and Niccolò’s case.

from informa-azione.info / translated by Act for Freedom Now

Germany’s Hambach Forest Occupation Calls for Solidarity and Support

Greetings and Salutations from the Hambacher Forest Occupatio

Greetings and Salutations from the Hambacher Forest Occupation!

We are presently blocking the expansion of the largest opencast lignite mine in Western Europe with tree sits and barricades through out the Hambacher Forest. After the last eviction on March 27th 2014 we re-occupied the forest, this time, building up two tree sits with multiple platforms, tree-houses, walk ways in between and barricades .

At present we are facing regular intrusion of repressive law enforcement destroying our structures on the ground and have already faced two largescale evictions using tactical teams costing millions of euros while at the same time, the German government, is cutting sustainable energy subsidies. Instead choosing to compensate for the shut down of nuclear power plants with support to the extremely polluting and ecologically catastrophic coal industry (in our case RWE power company which is engaging in massive green washing PR campaigns).

We would like to send you updates and inform you of the upcoming Climate Camp and Skill-shares Gathering (July 26th to August 3rd 2014) happening in our vicinity which we are also helping to organize. We also have a support camp with legal status at the edge of the forest functioning as a de facto activist eco village with a vegan kitchen, guest
caravans, straw bail structures, gardens and many other on-going sustainable projects, to which we would like to invite all of you who may find yourselves in our neck of the woods.

As of recently, we have also built an info-shop/library for which we would like to appeal for any extra literature that you would be willing to share with us. We could cover the costs of shipment and if possible discount rates of literature itself not to mention we would be extremely interested and gratefull if you would be willing to share any back issues or extra literature. If this is a possibility please also respond with your preferable snail-mail address, as we would like to share some of our material with you as well.

We have a support centre in Duren, which is unfortunately undergoing a bit of transition at the moment. For the time being the literature for our Meadow Base Camp info-shop and the Climate Camp could be sent, care of one of our supporters:

Frau Annika Lindberg
Rohrbachstr. 37
60389 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

If you would be interested in updates from the forest please include your PGP key in the correspondence.

There is a sense of urgency as even though the forest has been occupied for two years now there is a new autobahn ready for opening in September bypassing the one separating the last remnant of the forest from the mine allowing the mine to expand and logging and strip mining to commence on the last remnant of the forest. We expect that to be the time of mass police actions. For that reason it is mega important to both get the word out and keep people involved, inspired and on track of the importance and the context of the struggle.

Blockade Halts Logging in Mattole Forest, US

20140708_172403_Pano

The tripod is visible on the logging road to the left of the photo

July 9th, 2014 A blockade was deployed on a logging road in the Mattole forest yesterday morning, preventing the extraction of over 1,000 acres.of old-growth forest

There has been communication between the company and the blockaders, but efforts to remove the technically complicated monopod-tripod complex had not been made as of last contact with the forest defense team.

This marks the second action in as many weeks. Last week a tree sitter going by the name Skunk climbed into the canopy, insisting, “Our main demands to Humboldt Redwood Company are very simple—don’t cut unlogged forest, and don’t cut old-growth. This road threatens to destroy forest that has never been logged before, and will pave the way for logging even more important habitat if the community does not rise up to stop it.”

The Mattole forest is host to several species of old growth trees, and endangered species like the Spotted Owl and Golden Eagle.

The Mattole river system has also been the site of heroic salmon restoration efforts in Northern California, as documented by the book Totem Salmon by Freeman House.

This area has been the site of successful forest defense campaigns since the Timber Wars in the early 1990s, and Earth First! continues to maintain a vigilant presence.

Update: Help Needed!

The blockade in the Mattole continues amidst pressure from local law enforcement and logging company representatives. The blockade was deployed on a logging road in the Mattole forest yesterday morning, preventing the extraction of over 1,000 acres of old-growth forest in Southern Humboldt.

This morning, 4 Sheriffs and HRC company execs showed up to the road blockade. They threatened to reanchor the lines of the tripod blockade, putting the sitter at risk. We have confirmed they have arrested and released one person, but that the blockade of old growth logging remains. The cops have said that they will return tonight with dogs.

This blockade marks the second action this month. Last week a tree sitter going by the name Skunk climbed into the canopy, insisting, “Our main demands to Humboldt Redwood Company are very simple—don’t cut unlogged forest, and don’t cut old-growth. This road threatens to destroy forest that has never been logged before, and will pave the way for logging even more important habitat if the community does not rise up to stop it.”

The blockade could use more support! Please contact savemattolesancientforest@gmail.com if you want to volunteer with the campaign or donate money and materials. More updates to come on saveancientforest.org.

Massive convoys of test frack equipment arrive at West Newton

3rd July

Rathlin Energy yesterday, Wed 2nd July, brought massive convoys of equipment on to the West Newton test frack site near Withernwick.

This is in flagrant breach of 2 key Planning Conditions- they need to give 2 week's written notice before activities on site (Condition 2) and there must be no convoys of vehicles, with at least 10 minutes between vehicles. (In the Traffic Plan referred to in Condition 7)

There were multiple large convoys, totalling 64 vehicles. The well pad was extremely crowded with vehicles and equipment.

There was a very heavy police presence with numerous vans and riot vans, around a hundred police through the villages of New Ellerby, Marton and West Newton.
High Fosham road was closed to pedestrians and traffic.

West Newton has had anti fracking Protectors camping at the site since May 9th. There is another camp at Rathlin's other well site in East Yorkshire, Crawberry Hill.

Louise Castro, a protector camping at the site said, "It's chaos and mayhem here- local villagers were forced to trail across the fields just to see what was going on, and were devastated- some burst in to tears when the scale of it hit home. Rathlin have ridden roughshod over the traffic plan worked worked out with the villagers."

Ian Crane, a former oil executive also living at the anti fracking camps said, "Today the locals got a taste of what is to come on a daily basis if the unconventional oil and gas industry is allowed to go ahead with fracking in this area".

Pauline Hakeny, a resident of nearby Skirlaugh said, "I'm really shocked at the amount of vehicles- they promised us this would never happen- and also the amount of police- there were loads of vans and officers in all the surrounding villages."