Global – Page 71 – Earth First!

August 2, 2009: ELF Sabotages Telmex Cable Line in SW Mexico City

SABOTAGE OF EARTH-DESTROYING COMPANY, MEXICO

August 2, 2009: ELF Sabotages Telmex Cable Line in SW Mexico City

SABOTAGE OF EARTH-DESTROYING COMPANY, MEXICO

Once again, the earth-destroying Telmex company was sabotaged in the southwest of Mexico City around 2:30 in the morning on Sunday, August 2 by the Frente de Liberación de la Tierra. The idea was to cut the cables of the posts and then to cut the same post with a saw. It did not matter that it was slow and arduous work. The cable went through the branches of a tree obstructing its free growth. We climbed the tree and with cutters cut the cable, then we took a saw and began to cut the pole halfway through and with a cord tied to the pole we pulled, but unfortunately we could not move it since the movement of the cable that was connected to the next post was very noticeable, which caused nearby neighbors to call the police. This prevented us from continuing to pull the pole at the risk of running into the police; finally we left a mark on the post with spraypaint: ELF and Earth First.

For every tree that is ripped from the earth to serve Telmex there will be thousands of sabotages; we will not stop until we see disgusting civilization, progress and all those who spread it destroyed!

The darkness did not allow us to record the action but there is no excuse for not sharing the pleasure and the courage so we returned at dawn to take pictures of the action.

Earth Liberation Front and Eco-pirómanos por la Liberación de la Tierra [Eco-arsonists for the Liberation of Earth] are fighting!

Latest EF! Action Update bursts forth

Car tyres deflate in the night, diggers halted in their tracks, buildings and MPs covered in slime…airports plagued by crazy golf, picnics, city gents and hostage-taking…eco-villages and other autonomous spaces sprout, as others are under threat…tree-sits, banks evicted, fake phone-masts and whaling ships sunk….it must be time for another Earth First! Action Update, bringing you a concentrated quarterly blast of inspiration and contacts to get out there and take direct action against the bastards threatening this planet and its inhabitants.

News from the front-lines – permanent protest camps old and new, and temporary gatherings in a field near you, all the dates and info you need for a summer of blistering action and torrential outpourings!

Successes here, across the pond and round the very other side of the world.

Successes here, across the pond and round the very other side of the world.

A report back from the Coal Caravan, plus info about the communities along its route.

Court news – what happened after protesters planned to shut a coal-fired power plant, and climbed atop a train, plus handy Security Tips for Going on Actions.

Leaving it All in the Ground – news of global fights against the mining of gold, copper, bauxite and aluminium – blockading, torching and night-time pixieing.

A View from the Trees – a story from our eco-centric cousins. And indigenous Peruvians fight on against the wholesale onslaught on our world.

And a round-up of your favourite public order situations – G20, SmashEDO and Athenian rubbish dumps!

Read, download and print it here, subscribe so you get it direct to your door, or look out for it at a climate camp near you.

If you want to be listed or get a bunch of them to distribute, please get in touch.

Share your inspirational news at EF! Action Reports, and it’ll find it’s way into your very own printed EF!AU, in good old black and white print.

Borneo tribe mounts new blockades against rainforest destruction

30 July 2009
Dozens of Penan tribespeople armed with blowpipes and spears have erected blockades across the roads cut by logging companies deep into their forest in Borneo. The blockaders are calling for an end to logging on their land.

Survival International is calling for recognition of the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe’s land rights and a halt to all development on their land without their consent.

Malaysian police are at the blockades, but no arrests have been reported.

One Penan man told Survival, ‘This piece of forest is the only place left for us to hunt and find food. But there’s only a little bit left. Last night I went hunting and came back with nothing. If we can’t save this bit of forest, we will have nothing to eat.’

The Penan live in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo. They have been struggling for more than twenty years to stop the companies clearing their forests. Some have been successful, but many have seen their forests devastated, their rivers polluted and the animals and plants they rely on for food disappear.

Now, where the valuable trees have all been taken, the companies are starting to clear the land completely for oil palm plantations. Palm oil is used in many foods and cosmetics, and increasingly for biofuels.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The logging and oil palm companies are robbing the Penan not just of their forests but of their food and water. It is essential that the Malaysian government recognizes the Penan’s rights to their land and stops allowing the companies to take everything in sight.’

The notorious Malaysian company Samling is logging in the Long Daloh area, and a subsidiary of the company KTS is logging in the Ba Marong area.

Survival researcher Miriam Ross visited the Penan earlier this year, and is available for interview.

Visit Survival’s webpage about the Penan

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross:
T (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504543367
E mr@survival-international.org

ELF Mexico Targets Former City Councilman’s Truck & Telmex

Planetary destruction has been at a peak now for several years, as this has been happening the enormous complicity of governments (whatever form they take: fascist, socialist, democratic, republican or any other shitty one) with private companies, both domestic and foreign, engaged in large scale ecocide is amazing, leaving only remnants of what were once large wooded regions and green areas of wilderness. Civilization has almost completely destroyed it.

Earth Liberation Front Communique: 07.21.09

ELF Burns Former City Councilman’s Truck in Protest of Corruption and Urban Sprawl in Mexico

Communique:

“Planetary destruction has been at a peak now for several years, as this has been happening the enormous complicity of governments (whatever form they take: fascist, socialist, democratic, republican or any other shitty one) with private companies, both domestic and foreign, engaged in large scale ecocide is amazing, leaving only remnants of what were once large wooded regions and green areas of wilderness. Civilization has almost completely destroyed it.

Today, those people directly connected to the destruction of the environment for urbanistic development continue to be targets of the Frente de Liberación de la Tierra [Earth Liberation Front]. They have names and addresses and we, with rage, conviction and gasoline will not stop in our struggle against all that destroys the planet of which we are a part, along with the animals, the wind, the plants, the water, the trees and all the natural elements worthy of being respected.

This time the target that we hit was in a small town in Mexico State. A former town councilman who voted for urbanist expansion in a large section of greenspace, where dozens of trees were cut down to build a pedestrian corridor, was visited by the FLT.

Upon reaching the area around his home, we looked on as this murderer was watching his plasma TV, comfortable in his luxury couches, enjoying the exploitation (this bastard also now owns a social event hall where plates of dead animal bodies are served) and the corruption of his past political administration. Our action was to leave a clear message for this destroyer of ecosystems at the door of his home with a note that read: ‘It will all be paid for someday’. Later we placed an incendiary device under one of the front tires of his small truck, the device worked well and in a few minutes a flame was lifted to the skies, filling the streets of the town with chaos. Haulers who had been passing through, desperately joined with the evilborn ecocidist who at that moment shot out of his house to find that his truck was on fire. They managed to control the fire and so this time the damage was not as we had planned it to be if the fire had spread further. The result was damage to the front section, the window and the tire of the small truck. Nonetheless what we have caused is incalculable damage, damage that cannot be quantified, the psycho-emotional damage that this destroyer of the earth will have after watching his truck set on fire right before his nose and after a few minutes he will see our intimidating message.

The destroyers of the earth will receive what they deserve, not from a judge, nor from the laws that govern Mexico which is currently in the midst of a military siege, but from cells of concious people fed up with the devastation of the earth, they will receive blows …from the Frente del Liberación de la Tierra.

‘Years after many dozens of trees were cut down, small flowers returned to be reborn from between the cracks in the pavement that divides up the city’

ELF México”

Earth Liberation Front Communique: 07.20.09

ELF Targets Telmex Branch office in Mexico

Communique:

“On the last night of July 20th we went to one of the many Telmex branch offices in Mexico State. Its walls were very high and around this was metal fencing used to protect the property. Police presence a few streets away and the security cameras did not stop us from carrying out our action. Our action was fast, while one of us sealed the front door with a lot of glue, another left a clear message below the door which read:

‘All the painted and cut telephones, the telephone control boxes set on fire, the burned trucks with punctured tires, these are not technical problems, they are acts of sabotage against the biocidal Telmex company, as is this warning attack.

We are the Ludditas Contra La Domesticacion de la Naturaleza Salvaje [Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature] and we form part of a cell of the Frente de Liberación de la Tierra F.L.T. [Earth Liberation Front E.L.F.], this is only a warning message, get ready for war!

For the Liberation of the earth
Sabatage the bastards!

And in case the threat was not enough for the employees, the day after they were frightened by this message we threw a homemade bomb into the facility, ignoring the sign hanging outside this office that said that any act that damaged the property would be considered an attack on the channels of communication in general and was therefore a federal crime. The bomb detonated a few seconds after our escape, the sound was deafening and could be heard from two streets away.

We know very well that civilization will collapse one day, but there must be an acceleration of that collapse.

Attentively, The cell of the ELF-LCDNS México”

Source – http://www.elfpressoffice.org

North Carolina: ELF Vandalizes Home of Bank of America Director

“North Carolina:
Steve Jones, a member of the board of directors for Bank Of America, the United States’ primary investor in mountain top removal coal mining, had his house visited twice during the night recently.

On the eve of the Summer Solstice, we visited him the first time, smashing the front window on the cute lamp in his driveway and leaving a sticker on the post to let him know why we’d visited. Also on this night we glued the locks and put stickers on a Bank Of America branch in his town. 2 weeks later, on the eve of the full moon we returned to his house and smashed to bits the rest of the lamp and splattered black paint all over the sign with his address/mail box and steps/walkway.

Animal rights activists have long used red paint to mark murderers of many sorts; we chose black paint because it is black like the coal sludge that covers Tennessee, making the earth toxic in a disaster said to be worse than the Exxon Valdez spill. This disaster was uncommon only in that it got press coverage.

It is black like the water that comes out of the taps when people in effected communities turn on their taps for water. And it is black like your heart. For the kids, for the bears, for the mountains, for the wolves, for the fish, for our mother, We will be back. ELF.”

Communique from the Earth Liberation Front Press Office. Click here for the press release.

Eco-arsonists for the liberation of the Earth in Mexico

13th June – 13th July

Eco-Arsonists Commit Multiple Actions Against Banamex, Scotiabank, & More
EpLT Sets Fire to Luxury Cars Near Mexico City
EpLT Sets Fire to Sabritas Company Office Near Mexico City

13th June – 13th July

Eco-Arsonists Commit Multiple Actions Against Banamex, Scotiabank, & More
EpLT Sets Fire to Luxury Cars Near Mexico City
EpLT Sets Fire to Sabritas Company Office Near Mexico City

Eco-Arsonists Commit Multiple Actions Against Banamex, Scotiabank, & More

Communique:

“Weekly Report of eco-arsonists.mexico

Communique:
Saturday, June 13th, following the call to action, attacks against the owners of capital began. Saturday, the 13th the window of a bank belonging to Scotiabank was stoned, causing mobilization by the police in Tlalpan when the alarm was activated. Sunday, June 14th an incendiary device was placed at the ATM of a Banamex located in Milpa Alta, which was foiled by the police, however in this district where nothing has happened before they no longer sleep in peace; paranoia has been created since similar attacks were carried out against a BBVA in recent days causing a huge impact on the disgusting authorities in this community; the police at the service of the rich didn’t delay, since then a patrol has been guarding the entrance of the BBVA and its surroundings; so as a response another incendiary device was placed in the hood of a PGJ [Procuraduría General de Justicia] patrol car outside the district command headquarters. Unfortunately, it was detected and the action was interrupted, but although the goal of burning the patrol was not achieved, panic was created and there is chaos in the streets of this community; where what that they were not expecting has happened; now their paranoia will not allow them to sleep. Wednesday night, June 17, the Tlalpan roadway was illuminated with the abolitionist fire of eco-arsonists; the ATM of a BBVA outside the entrances to the metro was left unusable when an incendiary device was left. On the same night, near the Metro Chabacano there was a second fire at a Scotiabank ATM; the third attack was at a Banamex near Taxqueña where an explosive device was placed at the ATM. The same night a false bomb was left in another Banamex in Xochimilco. On that night it was once again demonstrated that we are everywhere, and now we are dogs infected with rage. Thursday, June 18, a Banamex ATM in Ciudad Neza was burned by an incendiary device; a threatening note was left on a sheet of paper, demanding freedom for Amadeu Castellas and claiming the action.
We will not stop ourselves, they will not stop us, we will continue attacking the symbols of capitalism, the murderer, torturer, sponsor of the destruction of the earth, there will be no turning back; for each banker we have an incendiary device, for each jailer a bomb; that their money burns in flames of the abolitionist fire of the eco-arsonists.

We are your worst enemy, your number one enemy!

We will be the dog that barks and that bites you!”

EpLT Sets Fire to Luxury Cars Near Mexico City

Communique:

“INCENDIARY ATTACKS ON CARS IN MEXICO

Saturday, July 4, around 11:30 at night in a place in the south of Mexico City where things seemed to be calm, where there was peace and order on the streets, all those who are our enemies had slept quietly for quite some time yet now they do not; those who passed by in their luxury cars on the nauseating blacktop now may not do so; those who have left their contaminating cars outside their homes without worry that some eco-arsonist would attack, now they can be worried because as night fell on Saturday, July 4, a day before the elections in Mexico we entered the house of a wealthy destroyer of the earth and we placed an incendiary device at two of his luxury cars and we stealthily slipped away without a trace other than the abolitionist fire. As expected the police, at the sound of their master’s voice, acted immediately, implementing a mobilization in the streets in search of the eco-arsonists and once again we made a mockery of them. We passed before their faces and they couldn’t imagine even if they wanted to that we were their enemies, twenty minutes later the firefighters extinguished the fire but the cars were already burned.

We will continue attacking without mercy! We will not let them sleep in peace!

We will not stop until we see civilization burned!

ECO-ARSONISTS FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE EARTH (EpLT)”

EpLT Sets Fire to Sabritas Company Office Near Mexico City

Communique:

“INCENDIARY ATTACK AT DISTRICT OFFICE IN MEXICO

On Monday night, July 13, at 12:30 we decided to attack the offices of a district in the southwest of Mexico City. These offices are responsible for administering and organizing the pollution and destruction of the woodlands in this community for the Sabritas company, producers of transgenic vegetables used in junk food. This company has planted fields near the communal woodlands. An incendiary device was left at the door of the building, working successfully without leaving any trace; the abolitionist fire consumed almost the entire wooden door, leaving the roof and walls marked with black smoke. The authorities have let pass unnoticed all the actions that have been taken by the eco-arsonists for the liberation of the earth; they know perfectly well why we do it, that we have one objective and that our sabotages are not just an act of vandalism. We will not stop attacking the destroyers of the earth!

For the liberation of the earth! Total destruction of civilization!

Eco-arsonists for the liberation of the earth EpLT”

Source – http://www.elfpressoffice.org

The View from the Trees – spring & summer in Cascadia, USA,

Humboldt Earth First! Canopy Communique #1
Cutten, South Cascadia, the McKay Tract canopy. The landscape unfolds below us as a patchwork quilt of war. Looking west, one sees the suburb, progress enacting its will upon the occupied countryside. More development is planned, but it is not yet happening. We have primarily met friendly people who live here, and enjoy hanging out in the forest. We asked them if they want their suburb to grow, to continue to “develop,” and they emphatically do not.

Among the second- and third-growth trees to the south lay a few erroneous mini-mansions encroaching upon the landscape, with stumps in their yards wider than any of the three SUVs in their driveways. The residents enjoy a quiet life until one of them starts running powertools.

We look east and see the tops of enormous old-growth redwoods towering above the hundred-year-old second growth. Some friends live here, including spotted owls, ospreys, turkey vultures, black bears, newts, voles, flying squirrels and arboreal humans.

To the north lies a clearcut. Three years ago, Green Diamond (GD), formerly Simpson Timber Company, came in and cut down every last tree in the unit, leaving a few huge burned-out snags. Pampas grass and milkweed grow to human height in the trees’ absence, but this area is dry and getting dryer.

They planted a few baby conifers, redwoods and others after they cut. Those trees are now three years old, meaning they can cut a couple more units and then start re-zoning the land from timberland to residential. More mini-mansions are planned. So it goes.…

However our forest friends disagree with these plans. They want to live, and our solution is to live with them. For the past several months, we’ve been occupying two tree villages in the McKay, tying in as many giant trees as possible with traverses to protect them with our own bodies from being cut down. Tree-sitting has been used to defend forests in Humboldt for decades, and traverses enable a few humans to defend a large number of trees without leaving the canopy.

We chose this grove because the trees stand directly against the march of Leviathan in the form of suburban development, and the neighbors (in house down below) stand with us, and give us love and support. The other grove, (also slated to be clearcut), features an osprey nest, at least one spotted owl nest, flocks of turkey vultures circling overhead, a trail and campsite used frequently by bears, and a creek that serves as watershed for the Humboldt Bay’s healthiest population of Coho salmon. These critters have also shown much love to the treesitters, particularly the flying squirrels who share our food at night and the owls who hang out, provide moral support and watch us climb.

GD, is now the most-active transnational timber corporation remaining in Humboldt. They have clearcuts scheduled every year across the Northwest, and have largely escaped public scrutiny by a process of 21st-century greenwashing and alliances with the state. For example, the GD Habitat Conservation Plan for spotted owls gives the owls a vague, constantly shifting zone of “habitat” on GD land and a few remaining “wildlife trees”, usually of low monetary value, on land that they clearcut. In return, GD gets a bunch of “incidental take” permits for owls, which is a license to kill them at will. The GD plan for the McKay Tract is clearcutting, followed by residential development to double the size of Cutten, California, adding more residents to the near city of Eureka.

So far, no chainsaws have fallen upon the McKay this year. However, Summer operating season is upon us, logging could begin any day of any week. Neighbors are continuing to raise their voices in support. They hike, bike, and ride horses along the logging roads in solidarity with residents of the forest. Treesitters are still needed to live in the canopy, protecting this last refuge of wild creatures from the perpetual war that is human progress. Anyone wishing to spend part or all of the summer up in trees is encouraged to contact Earth First! Humboldt at (707) 834-5170; www.efhumboldt.org.
“May the forest bewitch you,” the canopy ninjas of EF! Humboldt.

——–

********Newsflashes:

Cascadia Summer Continues…
July 13th, 2009

The logging blockade in Oregon’s Elliot State forest was raided by a reported 60+ police accompanied by a bulldozer. 27 people were arrested. This marks only the beginning of Cascadia Summer.

Meanwhile, here in Humboldt we are steadily continuing the occupation of our local rainforest canopy to stop Green Diamond from logging 41 acres of Redwood forest over 100 years old. The grove is home to Spotted Owls, Osprey and Black Bears. It is a refuge that is surrounded by young tree plantations, clearcuts and suburbs.

We have set up multiple tree-sits and a traverse rope network tying up a large area of forest near the Spotted Owl nest. The ropes allow above ground travel and increase the effectiveness of the tree-sits by linking many trees together.

So far the company has held off from logging though the plan has been approved for months. Green Diamond says they won’t send climbers up to take activists out of the trees because it’s “too dangerous”.

If you would like to live and work in the Redwood forest canopy or help support our activities please give us a call or write us an email.

contactefhum@gmail.com

707-834-5170

….

Earth First! Blockades Logging Road in Oregon
July 7th, 2009
Early yesterday morning, a large team of activists (including Humboldt EF!ers) skillfully and valiently blockaded a logging road to protect over 70 acres of 100+ year old coastal forest that was being cut down. This kicks off the “Cascadia Summer” campaign to highlight ongoing environmental damage and shut down highly destructive logging activities in the Pacific Northwest. Some of our comrades are locked to the van in the picture as well as barrels full of concrete that block the road. Others are perched high atop structures that have support ropes that are attached to the gate and to the overturned van. Any attempt to move the van or gate and the structures would collapse and harm the activists. They are still there and have put out the call for more to join the effort.

Here are some links to stories about the ongoing action in Cascadia.

Cascadia Summer Blog

FD’s Blog (more pictures)

News story 1

News story 2

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Green Diamond Threatening Tree-sitters With Extraction
June 19th, 2009
Early this morning, tree-sitters in the McKay Tract recieved threats from Green Diamond employees. The GD employees stated that if the activists did not come down that GD would send climbers up to arrest them.

Yesterday, at least 2 GD employees spent nearly the entire day on the ground around the tree-sits and attempted to get ahold of a rope hanging from one of the sits. It was quickly pulled higher by a sitter.

….

Rainy Spring Days
May 15th, 2009

Update from the woods: There have been no signs of trucks or heavy machinery as of yet. Well timed spring rains are keeping the roads muddy and undrivable. We are on the lookout for any signs of company activity.

What we have seen lately are Spotted Owls, Osprey, large Black Bear tracks in the mud and a Green Diamond surveyor. The wildness and beauty of this forest is an inspiration. The ongoing assistance from our local supporters is crucial, thanks for all the help!

If you would like to join us in the forest or help from town please do, more tree-sitters and ground crew are always needed.

….

Flying Squirrel Discovers Tree-sitters
March 17th, 2009

This Northern Flying Squirrel arrived at the tree-sits last week. It was the first of it’s species to be seen by activists living in the Redwood canopy since the first tree-sit went up in August of last year. The squirrels are nocturnal and are sometimes preyed upon by Spotted Owls. They mate in May and June and live in groups in the cavities of large trees. They have often been seen in the past in tree-sits in old-growth groves.

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Alert- GD Employees In McKay Today
March 13th, 2009

Though logging hasn’t started, Green Diamond is frequently visiting the tree sits, sometimes bringing sherrifs along. Today, two activists were chased through the forest by loggers but safely got away. Ground support is on alert and tree-sitters are prepared to defend the tree-villages in the event that logging begins. If you want to be part of our action alert list please let us know. You don’t necessarily have to trespass to support the tree-sits. There are many things to do in town and one of the sits can be witnessed from Northridge Rd. in Cutten, east of Eureka.

….
McKay 09 Update: No Logging Yet
March 6th, 2009

Tree-sitters are maintaining their vigilance as logging could begin any day. More trees have been added to the traverse rope networks, there are now over 20 Redwood and Sitka Spruce trees being defended. They range in age from 70 to over 100 years old. Tree-sitters are requesting camp stoves with re-usable fuel bottles, large tarps, climbing gear, reading material, and most importantly- more people to join them in the defense of this forest and our planet.

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EF! Humboldt Tree-sit Update
February 25th, 2009

* Spotted Owl nesting season protections to begin on March 1st. Green Diamond cannot cut within 1/4 mile of the Owls nest until they determine whether or not the Owls have successfully mated. If they find that the Owls have mated, the so called protection would only last for a matter of months. If not, they can go ahead and log. Green Diamonds findings will most likely be kept secret. The fox is guarding the hen house.
* Earth First!ers are occupying part of this territory to defend not only the Owls habitat but as much of this diverse eco-system as we can.
* The numerous activists occupying trees here are weathering the storms and continuing to expand the defended areas.
* Unidentified persons wearing hard hats have made multiple threats to cut the trees down.
* The defense of this forest continues…

….

More Eco-Warriors Ascend Threatened Redwoods in McKay Tract
February 19th, 2009

There are now two tree-sit villages defending areas of forest in the threatened Redwood groves of Ryan Creek. Green Diamond employees and Humbldt County Sheriffs visited both sites yesterday and inspected the situation. Today, different workers appearing to be loggers visited at least one site and also inspected the tree-sits. This escalation of activity by the company may indicate they are preparing to log very soon.

There are multiple traverse lines throughout both of the tree-sit areas. These are not always clearly visible from the ground. Activists have put red DANGER tape around many of the trees that, if cut, pose a deadly threat to the tree-sitters.

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Arboreal Protesters Occupy Threatened Redwoods
December 2nd, 2008

Tree-sitters unfurled a large 30 ft. wide banner this morning on the edge of the great Redwood forest, east of Eureka, Ca. The banner reads “Hey Green Diamond, Stop Clear-cutting -Earth First!”. The sitters remain aloft and are occupying several large second growth trees that are slated for logging. We invite the public to come and see the threatened forest for themselves. (Directions below).

The Green Diamond Resource Company plans to log 60 acres of large second growth and residual old growth Redwoods here in the near future. The two groves represent the oldest remaining forest and best habitat for old-growth dependent species like the Northern Spotted Owl. The owls are nesting in the other grove where trees over 1,000 years old still stand. Green Diamond has a permit to destroy the habitat of this endangered species. The Green Diamond land is located in the “McKay Tract” and totals 7,200 acres. Nearly the entire Tract (and the entire California Redwood range) has been clear-cut once already since the 1800’s and over half of the tract has been logged within the past 20 years. The McKay Tract encompasses the Ryan Creek watershed. Green Diamond also has plans for residential development here, threatening the health and survival of the largest Coho Salmon population in the Humboldt Bay watershed. We’ll have more info and updates on this in the near future.

Directions:

From Arcata go South on 101.

Turn Left on Myrtle Ave.

Turn Right on Harrison.

Harrison turns into Manzanita.

Turn Left on Dolbeer St.

Turn Left onto Walnut Drive at 3 the way intersection.

Stay on Walnut and look for the big green watertanks.

Shortly after that turn Left onto Northridge rd.

The forest will be on your left and the big white banner is visible from the road.

Please be respectful to the neighbors, thanks.

….

Mass Extinction – It’s Real – Fight It!
November 20th, 2008

Coho Salmon, Chinook Salmon, Marbled Murrelets and Northern Spotted Owls are just a few of the species that are rapidly declining in our immediate area. Both Northern Spotted Owls and Chinook Salmon are facing assaults from Green Diamond, a company we have been building a campaign against since this spring.

They have an upcoming logging operation in the “McKay Tract”, directly east of Eureka. Green Diamond is planning to clear-cut Spotted Owl nesting groves after February 15th and is working to get Humboldt County planners to set in stone plans for future development of the area. Please contact us to join multilateral grassroots efforts in building a coalition to advocate for protection of this area . EF! Humboldt is actively organizing against the upcoming logging and housing development proposals. We are seeking more participants, any amount of time or material contributions are much appreciated.

Human beings are on the verge of causing a mass extinction of life on Earth. A majority of the world’s biologists now believe that if current trends continue, half of all species of plants and animals living today will be extinct in less than 100 years. The general public, however, is almost entirely unaware of this crisis. – Species Alliance

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Latest EF! Humboldt Action Press Release
August 25th, 2008

For Immediate Release: Monday, August 25th
contact: Jeremy Jensen (707) 834-5170
Earth First! Turns Attention To Green Diamond Resource Co.

Eureka, Ca.- A new Earth First! tree-sit in a Green Diamond Resource logging plan east of Eureka ended as suddenly as it began.

With the new owners of the former Pacific Lumber Company pledging to not log Old-Growth trees, a proposal by Green Diamond Resource Company to log Ancient Redwoods grabbed the attention of Earth First! Humboldt.

Most of the trees range from 80-100 years old but in one of the two groves there are numerous scattered Old-Growth trees that were not cut during the original logging of the area in the late 1800’

s. The company is also proposing residential development in the same area under Option B of the Humboldt County General Plan Update.

“Clearcutting and Old-Growth logging are crimes against nature and humanity,” said Jeremy Jensen of EF! Humboldt, “Development is the nail in the coffin.”

Activists conducted multiple searches of the area and made several discoveries. The locations of several Old-Growth redwoods that were slated to be cut, and the presence of at least three Northern Spotted Owls in the threatened forest.

Days after stealthily establishing a tree-sit in a giant Old-Growth Redwood that was clearly marked to be cut, the sitters worried that they had been prematurely discovered when field surveyors were heard walking around on the forest floor.

Though no words were exchanged, a dangling cluster of white 5 gallon buckets made the tree-sit highly visible.

Three days later, a Green Diamond employee returned to mark the occupied tree and at least two other imperiled Old-Growth Redwoods as “Wildlife Leave Trees”, seeming to indicate that they won’t be cut.

This surprised EF! Humboldt activists because the California Department of Forestry had already approved the logging plan.

While the activists suspected it was a deceptive move to trick the tree-sitters into coming down, another piece of information came to light.

An Earth First!er reviewing the logging plan document discovered that GDRC would not be allowed to log the area until next February 19th at the earliest. This is due to the fact that lumber companies are required by California law to allow trees in adjacent clearcuts to reach three years of age before logging neighboring forests.

The Earth First!ers decided to remove the platform and gear from the tree, assess the new situation and re-calibrate the defensive strategy for the threatened groves.

“At least now they know we’re serious,” said a tree-sitter by the name of “Crossroads”.

….

Breaking News: EF!H Tree-sit in the McKay Tract
August 22nd, 2008

Earth First! tree-sitters have been discovered in a gargantuan Ancient Redwood by a Green Diamond Resource Company employee just east of Cutten in the “McKay Tract”. Green Diamond is planning for residential development of large sections of the McKay Tract after they log all they can. This is a classic cut-and run strategy, make money by taking the trees and then sell the land to developers.

The Ancient Redwood was located a few weeks ago by EF! Humboldt activists during exploratory searches of the area, triggered when the plans to log two Redwood groves in the Tract were made public. The tree bore the blue paint designating it for cutting and was quickly occupied. Most of the 60 acre logging plan is to be clear-cut under Green Diamonds plan. The Green Diamond employee has now reportedly marked the tree as a “Wildlife Tree” and it’s possible that it will not be cut. Strangely, this logging plan has already been approved and we are not assuming that the company is sincerely planning to leave the tree.

This may be a tactic to get the sitters to come down. There was company activity in the area several days ago but no contact was made. The tree-sit may have been spotted at that time and this could be a direct response by the company.

The tree, named “Millennia” by activists, appears to be well over 200 ft. tall. It is countless hundreds, if not over one thousand, years old.

The sitters vow to remain in the tree until it is definitely protected. Though the sitters occupy only one giant tree, both of the groves are defacto wildlife refuges and need be protected in their entirety. The mature stands harbor many animals that have no where else to go in the logging-ravaged landscape east of Eureka, Ca.

During the initial search of the area, the activists were visited by a Northern Spotted Owl. The California Dept. of Forestry refuses to protect this area as Owl habitat even though the Spotted Owls are endangered and still in decline. We suspect that the Owls are nesting here because of the frequent visits from them, the large number of owl pellets on the ground, and the fact that this is one of only 2 or 3 isolated groves in the McKay Tract where dense stands of large trees remain standing.

The grove where this tree stands is comprised mainly of 100 year old Redwoods that grew following the original logging of the area around the turn of the century. This was one of the first places logged due to it’s close proximity to Humboldt Bay. The Ancient Redwoods that remain here were left standing due to either an undesirable shaped trunk, tree caves, or the steepness and instability of the ground around the tree.

The trees in the clear-cutting zone are not marked for logging, in those areas only the scattered trees to be left are given a distinguishing mark. This tree is within a geologically unstable area next to a creek were the company is limited to only selection logging. This type of logging requires that the trees selected for the cut be marked.

….

For more info & photos, visit http://efhumboldt.org

Two climate activists lock on to Bluewaters powerplant in Australia

26th June 2009
Bluewater Coal-fired power station protest: lock-ons shut-down and arrests

The following is the media release for yesterday’s action at Bluewaters coal-fired power station near Collie.

26th June 2009
Bluewater Coal-fired power station protest: lock-ons shut-down and arrests

The following is the media release for yesterday’s action at Bluewaters coal-fired power station near Collie.

Two activists locked onto a conveyor belt at Bluewaters coal-fired power station near Collie, Western Australia.
The action is to protest Griffin Energy’s decision to burn wood from WA native forests for energy production. The two activists were arrested and later removed from the conveyor belt by police, after more than six hours of preventing coal from being fed into the power station. A third activist has also been arrested at the site.

Bluewaters Coal-fired Power Station brought to a halt by forest activists

Early this morning, two activists locked onto a conveyor belt at Bluewaters coal-fired power station near Collie. The action is to protest Griffin Energy’s decision to burn wood from WA native forests for energy production. The two activists were arrested and later removed from the conveyor belt by police, after more than six hours of preventing coal from being fed into the power station. A third activist has also been arrested at the site.

“Griffin Energy is one of WA’s worst contributors to climate change. The company has recently opened yet another coal-fired power station and is constructing another three,” said Ms Jael Johnson, spokesperson for the action. “To add insult to injury, it now proposes to burn wood from our precious native forests as fuel and count this as renewable energy.”

“The WA public has a right to renewable energy. Here we have an abundance of wind, solar and wave energy. CETO, a wave energy company, has chosen to be a part of this renewable revolution. Griffin also has the opportunity to join Western Australian businesses committed to sustainable solutions. There is no place for coal-fired power station or native forest logging in a sustainable WA,” said Ms Johnson.

Griffin Energy recently won a tender from the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to buy between 250,000 and 400,000 tonnes of native forest logs a year.

Our native forests provide the WA community with clean air and water, biodiversity, and homes for unique WA plants and wildlife. Native Forests also store huge amounts of carbon. After logging and burning, the carbon is released into the atmosphere. Globally, deforestation and logging contribute about 27% of all climate change-causing greenhouse gases.

“Research in the eastern states shows that if native forests are left undisturbed, they can play a vital role in storing carbon and contributing to a climate change solution.

“Instead of protecting them for their vital role in reducing climate change, Forestry Minister Terry Redman proposes to allow Griffin to burn native forest logs, thereby releasing massive amounts of GHG and accelerating run-away climate change. This is an atrocious distortion of a system that should be leading us towards a zero-carbon economy, not further away from it.

“The people of WA will have to pay for Griffin’s reckless corporate behaviour long after its shareholders are done lining their pockets. So we will continue to disrupt the operations of organisations like Griffin for as long as they continue to display such corporate recklessness and short-sightedness.

“At the same time we support the calls from the Australian Manufacturers Workers Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions for a just transition to a renewable society that leaves no worker or community behind,” said Ms Johnson.

MEDIA CONTACTS ON SITE
Ms Jael Johnson: Mbl: 0438 856 981
Ms Emma McIntyre: Mbl: 0415 258 301

Strike for Climate Justice! December 11th 2009

Environmental activist & political prisoner Jeff ‘Free’ Luers wrote a prison dispatch in which he made a call out for an International General Strike on December 11 2009 in solidarity with the International Demonstrations on Climate Change during the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Around the world people are beginning to feel the heat of global warming, entire nations to tiny communities are suffering the effects of climate change.

Earlier this year deadly wildfires raged across a drought stricken Australia where the continent continues to suffer through one of the worst droughts in its history. In South America, the accelerated melting of Andean glaciers is threatening water supplies in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In Tanzania 85% of Mt. Kilimanjaro’s glaciers have already melted, severely affecting the availability of water in this African nation. A recent study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (based in Colorado, USA) has found that global warming has had a much more significant and damaging impact on the world’s rivers than previously realized. The discovery now underscores a growing threat to food and water supplies for millions of people living in some of the world’s poorest regions. Meanwhile an Oxfam report has warned that by 2015 the number of people affected by climate related crises will raise by 54% to 375 million people.

The impact of global warming will not just be felt by the poorer nations who are less able to respond to the crisis. In March some of the world’s top climate scientists warned the U.S. Congresss that severe drought in the western portion of the United States could make tracts of land from California to Oklahoma a waste land, with heat waves in northern cities that could make life impossible.

Recent studies in the Arctic have shown that the melting of Arctic ice is happening faster than any climate models predicted. The rapid melt is threatening to leave the Arctic ice free as early as 2013. The looming crisis is threatening to create millions of climate refugees. As people flee drought plagued regions in search of water, others retreat from coastal regions in order to escape rising flood waters. The impending catastrophe demands immediate action on the part of both industrial and developing countries. However, we need more than just political action, the world needs action from the carbon emitting industries themselves.

Yet, despite the ever growing wealth of scientific evidence that the planet is warming at a disastrous rate due to human activity, industry continues to resist caps on CO2 emmissions. This resistance by the most powerful multinationals is making strict government action and regulation on climate change difficult. Particularly for leaders who fear losing corporate support and money.

The state of California, however, is demonstrating that combating climate change is not only necessary but can be good for the economy. If California were to be ranked as a nation it would be the 7th largest economy in the world. The state, under Governor Schwarzenegger, has signed laws making it mandatory to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and to 85% of 1990 levels by 2050. More over, these cuts are expected to create an estimated one million jobs.

While most of the world’s governments struggle with what, if any, demands to make toward forcing immediate and strict reductions in carbon emissions, the world’s poor continue to suffer the effects of a warming world. Even the wealthiest nations are unable to avoid the heat, and many industrial countries are beginning to suffer its effects. In early May scientists at Oxford University concluded a study that revealed the world has already burned half of the carbon necessary to bring about a catastrophic rise of 2 degrees celsius (3.6 F) in average global temperature. At this temperature nearly half of the world’s plants and animals will be threatened by extinction. The scientists say that half a trillion tonnes of carbon have been consumed since the Industrial Revolution. In order to avoid a 2 degree celsius rise in temperature, the total amount of carbon burned must be kept below one trillion tonnes. At current rates of consumption that figure will be reached in forty years. Myles Allen, the climate scientist who led the study, had this to say about the threat of climate change. “Mother Nature doesn’t care about dates. To avoid dangerous climate change we will have to limit the total amount of carbon we inject into the atmosphere, not just the emission rate in any given year.”

The world needs to begin the shift toward a non-carbon based economy. Scientists in every nation have reached the same conclusion and are warning that we must take action now to reduce CO2 emissions and invest in clean energy if we are to prevent a nearing global environmental crisis. In nations around the globe the public have demanded action on climate change. Yet, all too often their voices go unheard. There is a growing campaign to change that; reaching across borders and beyond political lines and affiliations in an effort to bring those who will be most affected by climate change together in one powerful voice.

In every nation the working class is the beating heart. It is the workers who keep society running smoothly. But, it is the working class and the working poor who will be hit the hardest by a warmer world. Which means we must harness the power at our finger tips and demand immediate action to be taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions. We need climate justice today, not tomorrow. We need deeds and not promises.

On December 11th in response to the international climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, we ask that everyone concerned with global warming and climate change to join us in an International General Strike demanding Climate Action. Our work stoppage can have a global impact. Together, in a show of solidarity and unity, we can demonstrate to world leaders that the global consensus is for action to stop climate change. They can not ignore our voices when we strike.

For one day we will shut the system down and demand that our governments work together to act in our best interests. On December 11th Strike for Climate Justice, Demand Action!

www.strikeforclimatejustice.org

Shell to Sea activists board supply ship to Solitaire in Killibegs

6th July 2009

6th July 2009
This afternoon seven Shell to Sea activists in kayaks visited the Toisa Independent, which supplies pipe to the Solitaire, a vessel used by Shell to lay the Corrib gas pipeline. The Solitaire, which left Broadhaven Bay (1) yesterday after laying the first section of pipe for the project, has been the target of several actions recently in the continual campaign against Shell. (2) Despite Shell’s increasingly heavy handed response to protests, Shell to Sea activist’s have continued their fight.

Niall Harnett, speaking from the protest in Killybegs today said “We demand that this port stops supporting the Corrib gas project which is destroying the lives of the people in Erris. There has been much misinformation about the Corrib gas pipeline in the media, as campaigners continue to protest in order to bring a halt to this unsafe project which threatens the homes and livelihoods of many in the local area”. The pipeline would carry unprocessed gas across the region to the refinery at Bellanaboy. (4)

Harnett continued “We are also acting in protest against the theft of Ireland’s natural resources. At a time when unemployment levels are set to reach record numbers and the government attacks ordinary people with levies taxes and pay cuts it is obscene that Shell are allowed to steal billions of euro’s of our resources.” (5)

St.John O Donobhain, also on the protest, said. “Shell’s attempts to pretend the Corrib project is a done-deal is misleading. This is project is unjust, illegal, and immoral. It will fail.”