Weber, Kylene, Nightcrawler, Josh Laughlin, Adam Volk, and Kris Maenz, Eds., Earth First! Journal 20, No
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Full citation: Weber, Kylene, nightcrawler, Josh Laughlin, Adam Volk, and Kris Maenz, eds., Earth First! Journal 20, no. 5 (1 May 2000). Digitized in cooperation with the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/7053 Copyright: All rights reserved. The user may download, preserve and print this material only for private, research or nonprofit educational purposes. The user may not alter, transform, or build upon this material. • lfS Beltane Vol. 20, No.• S May-June, 2000 THE RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL $3.50 Climbing Proud-The New Canopy was really only the beginning. They would try several ~~ BY SPRIG other treesits that would postpone logging in the One night in 1985, Ron Huber and Mike Jakubal Millennium Grove until the massacre a year later. were sitting around a campfire disconcerted that the The history of treesitting as a tactic has evolved traditional, short-lived blockade was the only action tremendously since the first sit in North America -..... in the works to stop the logging of 700-1000-year-old which was set by spurring up the tree. Todaywookies trees by Willamette Industries. Jakubal was a rock girth trees or free climb to set the first line. Later that climber, and somewhere in that late night conversa summer of 1985, sitters started to tie in to other trees tion, he and Huber dreamt up a way to sustain a perch in the Millenium Gwve, creating the first small 80 feet up in a Douglas fir. Within days an affinity village of about five to six activists. R. Dendron was group from Cathedral Forest Action made it a reality. the first female treesitter in 1986. Loggers came to work one morning to find Jakubal, In 198 7, Randy Prince stayed up for around 42 days that day known as "Doug fir," on his platform pre- · in Southern Oregon's North Kalmiopsis treesit. He pared for a week-long standoff in the unit. The unit only left his seven and one-half by three-foot pod was part of an area locally known as Millennium complete with typewriter because two days earlier a Grove in the Oregon's Willamette National Forest, logger cut into a third of the tree with a chainsaw east of Sweet Home. rendering the sit unstable. During the summer of Surprisingly, the debut of this innovative tactics 1987, treesitters went south to help with the first didn't hold the US Forest Service and Willamette redwood sits on so-called private lands. These were Industries off long. After lunch they started to fell trees much higher-130 feet up in the Headwaters groves as close as 20 feet from his platform. At the end of the in Northern California. workday, they had cut every tree except for the one he was sitting in. The loggers did their dirty deed and Roots then went home, so Jakubal thought. Probably the When you look into the roots of treesitting, you see first person to witness the massacre of a forest 80 feet natural ties between the direct action tree villages of up, Jakubal "quietly climbs down to inspect the shat today and the aboriginal tree peoples of New Guinea, tered remains of the once mighty trees. He sits on a Africa and Indonesia. There are tree people called fresh stump. A Freddy lunges out from behind a bush, Mava and Muscona in New Guinea living in tree tells him to stop, falls flat on his face, gets up and houses 75 feet up. They sleep in close quarters, shit arrests 'Doug fir'," recounts an old, yellowed edition of from catwalks and have developed a sophisticated the EF!f. (Lesson# 1 for treesitters: Make sure there is yodeling-like language to call from tree to tree. always a wookie in the tree.) That may have been the end of the first treesit to save old-growth forests, but it continued on page 23 CREMATES CARGILL was not expecting were two junked cars with people BY FosTER WILDNESS AND EMMA GARDENER locked down blocking both sides of its . four-lane On March 20-21, three thousand or so farmers divided main entrance at 7:30a.m. As the teams drove gathered in Washington DGfor the "Rally For Rural in, the laughter couldn't be contained as we watched America." In opposition to the destruction that ge groundskeepers hammering temporary "No Trespass netic engineering is inflicting on the planet and in ing" signs and hanging yellow tape to create an solidarity with the farmers worldwide who are resist enclosure for the scheduled rally. We drove right past ing globalization, activ them. Some magical be ists from Grain RAGE (Re ings also managed to close sistance Against Genetic and chain the back gates. Engineering) and the Employees arriving Agricultural Action Net found themselves in a two work (AAN) decided to ~ mile traffic jam, as Cargill bring the resistance to the ~ security and police man front doors of one of the § aged to squeeze cars (just ~ companies responsible, ~ barely) past one blockade. Cargill, who happens to ~ Employees had to drive have its world headquar ~ past huge signs proclaim ters just minutes from [;; ing "Cargill burn your Minneapolis. Cargill was ~ fields!" and "Cremate chosen because it is one of ~ Cargill!" and had to en the largest privately ~ dure white-dad RAGE'ers owned corporations and ~· yelling, "Burn the build- the largest grain handler ings, pull the crops, this is in the world. It is a major where the research stops!" player in food distribution, agricultural biotech re and singing, "Take these crops and shove it." This search and the push for globalization. Cargill recently clearly was not the sign waving rally Cargill expected. gave the University of Minnesota $10 million to help The police finally arrived and pushed us all back to the build a molecular biology research building and claims highway where we couldn't see the blockade. After an the solution to the farm crisis is to open up China to hour, the fire department arrived. After blowing the Minnesota grain, something our Governor Jesse "No gaskets on a jaws of life, they cut both lockdowns out Mind" Ventura also espouses. and didn't arrest them. We even got our blockading Employees coming to work at Cargill on the morn devices back. ing of March 21 were not in for business as usual. The company was expecting a rally at 9:00 a.m. What it continued on page 23 ~ - - ~ - - - ~ - - - ~ . - . - . EARTH . FIRST! NO COMPROMISE IN DEFENSE OF MOTHER EARTH POB 1415 • EUGENE, OREGON 97440 • (541) 344-8004 A MESSAGE FROM MY. SOAPBOX Earth First! Journal Tills last month I spent many a night land or area we are defending inside tacles of the hydra and start address . Beltane in our merchandise room perusing old and out? If 't know our shit, ing the root causes. issues of the Earth First! Journal. Thus, I May 1. 2000 frequently found myself laughing Vol 20. No. 5 the old "Dear Shit fer Brains" and n~ed tore-embrace the concept The Earth First! Journal is published by often fell asleep confused ,.. a~.U'-'~' of monkeywrenching. an editorial staff from within the Earth we are heading as a tnr'""''"'"'. of property and eco First! movement. Entire contents are copy found in these old has been a successful righted 2000. We allow reprinting if credit ing and inspiring. to save the wild. By is given, except for those articles specifi many critiques of cannot do it all, but as cally copyrighted by the author. Art, pho tographs and poetry are copyrighted by they're a bunch of in the last couple of the individual artists and permission for ness," misatlth the bastards down. use must be received from them. I was inspired by a alone have seen Earth First! Journal is a forum for the no The early EF!ers fur farm raids by compromise environmental movement. ing out a fairly Front, strate- _ Responsibility rests with the individual many of them , American For authors and correspondents. The contents who were out Cascade and a do not necessarily represent the view rowdyroadshows at Michigan State point of this newspaper, the Earth First! movement, local Earth First! groups or Judging from many Earth Liberation individual Earth First!ers. · actions, theywere trashed geneti Submissions are welcomed and should to make asses of crops and tree sites. be typed or dearly printed. Send a SASE if to authority and movement going you would like them returned. If you want defended. There is supporting these confirmation of receipt of a submission, for a group of people should be extremely please request it. We encourage submis go head to head with a supporting this sort of sions on Macintosh disks or via e-mail. Art or photographs are desirable to illustrate about the land the This support can have articles arid essays. (Prints are best, nega planned to despoil and than effect on the Feds' ability to tives are good, slides are fair.)They will be the road leading in to a wild area. jury and harass a few activists returned if requested. After thinking about the early days dare to speak out for these groups. All submissions are edited for length and clarify. If an article is significantly the movement (and reflecting on my 1 Like I said, just some opinions or a -meager.experience) I have some sugges rant-you be the judge. edited, we will make a reasonable effort to tion on where EF! should go (no, I'm not -NIGHTCRAWLER contact the author prior to publication. ISSN 1055-8411 Earth First! Journal is referring to moving the Journal and yes, indexed ir( the Alternative Press Index.