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. these are only my humble opinions): The Earth First! Journal is recorded on mi­ · Earth First! Journal · crofilm by University Microfilms, Inc. Old school with a twist of All correspondence regarding subscrip­ added diversity! . DELUXE 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION tions, merchandise orders, donations, We need to hearken back the positive letters to the editor, articles, photos, aspects of the·early part of our move­ graphics, etc., should be directed to: ment. Let's stop kissing the asses of our CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Earth First! journal opposition. It is one thing to treat some­ The Samhain (November 1) 2000 issue of the Earth First! Journal will be the POB 1415, Eugene, OR 97440 one like a living being; it is another to 20th anniversary issue of the paper. The deluxe issue will include articles Phone: (541) 344-8004 kowtow to them. Some of us EF!ers from a diverse collection of authors, a list of EF! victories, memorials to Fcrt: (541) 344-7688 these days would probably assail Howie E-mail: [email protected] fallen places and comrades, "top-1 O"lists, EF! action "records" and"firsts," http://www.earthfirstjoumal.org Wolke for squashing]ames Watts' hand an EF! movement timeline, and much more! Send your writings, drawings, in the early 80s with cries of ~'nonvio­ nominations, musings, photos, poetry, proposals, pontifications, Business Manager: Brian Wilga Office Gofer/fundraiser: Jim Flynn lence., What else can we learn from the poophead-bound letters to: EF! 20th, POB 1415, Eugene, OR 97440. early EF!ers? How about knowing the Subscriptions/subboosting: Frog Merchandise Goddess: Isabella Editorial Staff: Kylene Weber, -~------1 -nightcrawler, josh Laughlin, Adam Volk, Kris Maenz -BY FAITH W'ALKER Poetry editor: Dennis Fritzinger Web weavers: Jeff.and Steven Volunteers: Jim B, Dug, Whirlwind, shared songs; sharing enables him to hold a territory Sax, Jim F, Kim B, Katie, Jib, Catfish, through more breeding seasons. , Yarrow, Kurt, Craig, James B, Lauren How this occurs is a bit of a mystery, but it's clear that Artists in this issue include: Asante, they have a quite sophisticated neighbor recognition Kylene Weber, maximum traffic © system, resulting in stable neighborhoods. Early in the Cover photo by: Kurt Jensen Fauna. n. animal life. breeding season, when territories are being staked, neigh­ Back cover by: Kebhen Grifter Cabala. n. an esoteric, secret matter or bors will respond to each other with the identical song SCHEDULE mysterious art. in battles peaking at 200 songs per bird, per hour. Later, Earlh First! Journal is published 8 times a year they will respond not with the same song, ;but with a on the f>Olstices, equinoxes, and cross­ In springtime, male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) different one held in common. This less threatening quarterdayson oraboutNovember 1, Decem­ duel with operatic fury and savoir faire. Most male songbirds response isn't upgraded to song-matching unless a neigh­ ber 21 (Winter Solstice), February 2, March 21 have but one song, and wieid it in such a way as to attract bor crosses into another male's 'territory. To stranger (Vernal f4uinox), May 1,June 21 (Summer mates and compete with other males. Some, however, like calls, however, even strangers off-territory, males will Solstice), August 1, and September 21 (Autum­ the song sparrow, have a half dozen or so song types, called respond with songs that aren't shared with neighbors. nal Equinox) by D:aily Planet Publishing, POB repertoires. Mter a male hatches, he learns songs from older, Females, meanwhile, can individually identify neigh­ 1415, Eugene, OR 97440. US subscriptions territorial neighbors. In particular, he learns songs that his borhood males by the songs in their repertoires. They are $25. Outside the US, surfacedeliveryis $35 and airmail is $45. POSTMASTER: Send ad­ neighbors share, but :riot those unique to individual birds. · find their mates' songs most attractive, followed by dress changesEF!foumal, POB 1415, Eugene, He then attempts to establish a territory near his tutors, · neighbors' songs of the same type. Thus;' the communi­ OR 97 440. Application to mail at Periodicals sometimes replacing a bird who dies. The following spring, cation hidden in song variations-which can also em­ postilgerates is pendin&at Eugene, OR 97 401. his first breeding season, he retains only th9se songs of ploy, following and leading, asynchrony and tonal Deadlineforthenextissueis: his neighbors who survived. Lifetime-reproductive suc­ frequency manipulations--:-is stunningly complex and cess hinges not on repertoire size, but on the percent of decidedly bird-brained. · May;·ts Page 2 Earth First! Beltane 2000 010101 TECHNOLOGY IS NOT FAILSAFE, BUT ... 00010 Now when I travel, I can safely carry with me people you wouldn't wtheEF! · for~es of darkness. · · logged onto your computer, but 111000 Journal. As the rea.der knows,· There is a website wJ;lere yol.l . there are easy ways tq deal with 010010 technology is not neutral; canleameverythingyouneed this as well. . · 010100 it has been tragically de- to get going, as well as Easy-to-crack passwords. are of­ structive, an

' • . Dear SFB, found themselves walking preciate this, and so will he. up front? I'll take tl;uee! I've been reading the Journal upright, who probably also said, Thanks a lot in advance. For the Earth, for a few years now, ·and I was . - "huh?" · ""' ·· .. ..:..::.ANGIE . .. . . ' . -ED STEIN, KEF! wondering, has anyone ever ..,.-RORERT .BERMAN Ed. Note: I( readers don't already Dear .eds, done an anthropological study know, the Journal gives out(reepris- It appears to me that the only oh the early members of the · ·Dear friends at Earth First!, oner sitbs. Just let us know, and we'll welfare ~ystems that are operat- movement? Their profile seems . · Greetings! from M:irineapolis (re- sign 'em up. ing in tbis country are cowboy, to have been: white, chauvinis­ · · fuctant .former home of the corporate and farm. These are the tic, beer-drinking good ol' boys Minnehaha Free State). Firstlwant Dear SFB, same people th~twill not support until they drop; who hunted, · tp ·give y'all mad props for the That poem: "How I Infiltrated anyone else's need for nwnetary fished, and drove their pick-ups excellentjobpublishingthepaper. Austin EF!''has really got me in support. Cowboy, .cQrporateand down to the forest edge with ·l've -been reading theJou.'rnalfor a terrible quandary. Reason be- . farmersarealwaysthefiistpeople that . ass-kickfng country and quite some time now, and it has ing, I wear underwear-boxers · to complain about government western music blasting from t'he only gotten better. Secondly; I have in fact! Indeed, some of my intrusions and are also the first to radio. But a curious · phenoriJ.c a request which has been a long Katuahn bra's and sis' are knoWn c::ry like babies for welfare pay­ cutting. One of the reasons hy­ enon happened when they got time coming. I have a friend and to do so as well. As I understand ments from that same govern­ brid poplars are·grown is because to that forest edge. ' Instea~ of comrade who is a prisoner of the it, we are less than true Earth men.t. I call for the end to public they sprout from cut stumps, and . reaching for a saw to cut down ·fasciststate,andl'vepromis.edhim First!ers because of-this peculiar lands ranching and' an dpen cuttings can be planted to form a those damn trees, Which would that I would write and as~ if there trait. Sometimes, you just want · hunting season on all privately~ new tree. From the photo, it looks seem their natural inclination, ' is anyway he can get a, subscrip- to give up"Can't we all just get owned anima,ls which flre pol­ like they wifi just sprout back or they reached instead for a_box tion to the Journal at a reduced along?" I propose that boxers, in luting and poisoning ou.r public . Frankenstein will just take the of nails and a hammer to spike . rate. Because prison wages aren't natural colors,. are here forth wildlands. leaH for the end of cuttings to repropagate the hy­ 'em. What caused this cutious exactly liveble wages and because judged appropriate attire for . corporate tax breaks and an end brids. Next time drag a chain be- quirk in their personalities? he can .only receive this type of Earth First!ers who choose to · to cash payments to farmers who . tween two bulldozers to uproot Were even they dumb- · · · writtehmatenalifhepays wear them. All of my activities practice out dated ·and unsus- them and steal soine cuttings to founded, scrafchirig for if, 1 was wondering to help the Earth have included tainable farming practices·. plant next to an tmwanted sprin­ their beards and going, if you could send him my boxers (exceptfor "Depends" -BAD BRAD kler system; septic tank or a drain. "huh?". My· guess ..a , ~~bscription with on a blockade ... ). Let's ease up Hybrid poplars do an excellent is their iiberrant behav­ the p~ice . pn At· .. I a.m on PC underclothes. My favorite. Dear SFB1 job clogging these conduits. . ior has an evoh.itionaty ' · Willing to supplement forest,green, I).()Xies say "Keep It .~ice try in cutti~g ~l:le . Fr~nken . -BIG T()OTHED AsPEN component· to, .it; like .I .. tJ any other neq:ssa,iy : Wild." Hey; hows abb'Uf 's6me­ trees. You should have dont; your . those first hominidswho '" f costs. I will really ap- one printing that up-with a fist research o~ hybrid poplars before . coni:in'iled on page 24 . , ' . .. ' ' May~June 2oOo Earth Fi~tl Page 3 Biodevastation 2000 Greets Gene Doctors in Boston Except for the Church of Euthanasia banners read­ ecosystems all over the world. BY ANDREA DEL MORAL ing "Save the Earth, Kill Yourself" and "Eat a Queer Earlier that day, a group of guerrilla gardeners Thete couldn't have been more police and FBI if Fetus for Jesus," most ofthe people at the rally were planted herbs and puppet plants in the Boston Com- it were a terrorist bomb-making convention. The · in high spirits and on topic. Many were costumed, . mons. After refusing a formal public debate, BIO was conference was timed to bring over a thousand and one group of bunnies carried a banner reading greeted by a makeshift debate on the sidewalk, to anti-biotech activists to Boston on March 24-26, "Violent Fringe Element Against Biotech," taking which several BIO attendees stepped up. And during the days just before the Biotechnology Industry advantage of negative press since the WTO protests. the final luncheon, 30 silent labcoats marched a Organizations' (BIO) largest conven­ funeral procession with a coffi.n for biodiversity to tion ever. Our convergence was two the doors of BIO. At the same moment, the last and a half days jammed full of inspi­ · infiltrators were getting arrested inside for jumping rational panels and workshops which on their chairs and taking the microphone, one were partly training sessions for the yelling: "Disease and starvation can't be cured by arguments in the street, the signs corporations! Bullshit, get off it, the enemy is profit!" and puppets being ma.de, and the · Industry's confidence was visibly shaken. plethora of media interviews people Throughout the week, people continuously linked found themselves in throughout the biotech ,to more than food safety and consumer week. But it was clear that the energy rights. Corporate domination and global economic was more than ammunition for ac­ issues made ·it into tivism. For those of us familiar with even the least favor­ convergences and gatherings, the ex­ able press coverage. cited air buzzing between people was Biodevastation 2000 a wonderful emergence into a social, was a success in festive sphere. For others, it was a many ways, and delightful shock to see people laugh­ without a doubt one ing and making friends in the mo­ of the most signifi­ ments in between. Several times cant aspects was that throughout the week people com­ the anti-biotech mented that not only can we beat their arguments, The rally paraded down Boylston movement refused we're having way more fun than they are! Street to the Hynes Convention Cen­ to ·be stuffed in a Famous names such as Barry Commoner, Van dana ter, where 10,000BIOmemberswere single-issue corner. Shiva and Ralph Nader drew part of the crowd, but beginning their conference. Under­ Connections to rac­ lesser-known speakers and workshop facilitators cover cops, uniformed cops, barri­ ism, feminism, pris­ provided the real sparks for thedebate. Chaia Heller; cades, snipers and helicopters were ons, forest defense, of the Institute for Social Ecology, brought people to in full force to maintain control over · herbal medicine, an­ their feet during the panel, "Corporate Agendas and the allegedly violent crowd; but the archism, democracy Globalization." She spoke of biotechnology as be­ afternoon's event proved them fool­ and overall societal ing a move from material to informational capital­ ishly wrong. People chanted, "Mu­ problems received ism. "She linked the biotech industry to the WTO, tant food equals mutant people!" constant attention. World Bank and IMF in that they creat~ a world in and then "It's more than food, it's As Seize the Day which informational capital can ,rule. She also of­ power! Get off your corporate tower!" chanted, many in fered a proposal of how to combat their trend: What Biodevastation 2000's at­ the audience joined extending our protest power into direct political tendees lacked in violence, they in: "I swear to all control over our lives. made up for in volatile creativity. tribal nations, I swear There was a wide array of panels and workshops. Each day of the conference, Sunday to every race, that I Some ofthe presenters included Jane Akre and Steve . through Thursday, a handful of ac­ will never rest, until 'Wilson with their story-telling rendition of their tivists infiltrated and deflated the· uneasy, self­ all oppression is ended. I will never rest, until all current court case with Fox TV over the rbGH and righteous inood ofindustry. Sunday evening there oppression is dead." Monsanto expose. For a shift from talking heads to was aGE food dump at the site of the Boston Tea BIO meets in Berlin in September and in San talking puppets, Shoddy Puppet Company came Party. Monday morning, stink bombs went off Diego in 2001. from Philadelphia to present "The History of Mel­ inside the G E tree session, and four people dumped For more first-hand. coverage, visit ons," a contemporary tragic folktale from Chiapas. 7Q pounds of GE soybeans outside: At every social · www.boston.indymedia.org. . . From Devon, England, activist band Seiz,e the Day event, there was a rowdy presence at the entrance For more information on the fight to stop genetic played a short set of clever, theatrical songs. that made BIO people feel more like fugitives than . ,engineering, contact Northeast RAGE, POB 437, Sunday brought the sun and over 3,000 people to superheroes. At the closing party, a few activists Winter Harbor, ME 04693; [email protected] or the Copley Square, including nearly every puppet com­ · borrowed the microphone from the band and told Bioengineering Action Network (BAN), POB 11331, pany in the nprtheast and , many curious locals ~ the crowd that they were ruining cultures and· Eugene, OR 97440; [email protected]; www.tao.ca/-ban.

A Round Up'I'M guzzling, Gf.loving poodle to Lumen Foods a major health Wolves and Poodles food manufacturer and the nation's largest maker of vegetarian "jerquee." Lumen is promoting tht'use of genetically-modified ingredients in its products. A something evil this way comes wolf to the Antichrist as described by It has even gone so far as to set up a section on its website, called Biotech Cardinal Biffi, Archbishop of Bologna. The Cardinal said,, "The Antichrist Education Series, that contains government-sponsored studies, reprinted ar­ espoused vegetarianism, pacifism, environmentalism and animal rights." He ticles and letters from scientists from around the world. then further ~tated, "The Antichrist was already on Earth in the guise of a A well done poodle with a side of mashed potatoes to The prominent philanthropist whose concern for human rights and the environ­ Stranger, an alternative newspaper out of Seattle, Washington, for ment and advocacy of ecumenism masks · his real aim-the destruction of publishing a "Three Cheers for Meat Issue." Included was how to Christianity and the death of God." catch, kill and cook the following animals: dogs, cats, A nature may bat last but certainly hits hardest wolf to the thirsty lobsters, rabbits, chickens, goats, pigs and monkeys in drought-affected eastern Kenya who stoned to death a herder cows. Advice was even given on how watering his livestock. A group of herdsmen had stopped to water their cattle to kill a dog. " ... you can wring its at a pool in the northeastern Wajir when a number of wild monkeys attacked neck, shoot it through the head, them with stones. The exact type of monkey is not known, although baboons or run over it with a van." have been known to throw objects at rivals. A quick, someone call whine­ An I can finally see the light wolf to Bill joy, chief scientist for Sun one-one, get a whaamb~lance Microsystems, who came out against accelerating technological change in an poodle to the Seattle cops who essay published in Wired. He suggested that new technologies could cause complained about their inju­ . "something like extinction" of humankind in the next few genera­ ries after the WTO protest. It tions. He worries these technologies can open a door to self­ seems many of the crowd­ replicating, mutating, mechanical or biological plagues. control devices they used A Mother Nature knows her true enemies wolf to the on the demonstrators tornado that took out the FBI office in Fort Worth, Texas, harmed them as well. One in late March. The office was hit hard enough to blow out officer claimed a gas mask the windows, scattering files throughout the downtown that fit too tightly broke streets. Agents were forced to do a grid search of the area to his teeth. At least they get recover their top secret paperwork. worker's comp.

P~~ge 4 E4rth First/ BelfliM 2000 Northcoast EF! U n1eashes a Week of Action There were many flaws with the much stamped timber harvest plans (THP) up lar to the one that destroyed .seven doors and climbed onto the roof. They touted $480-million Headwater's DeaL and down the North Coast blatantly homes in the Stafford area, devastated refused to leave, forming an encamp­ One of the most bogus exampl~sis the ignoring the Endangered Species Act. the recovering salmon run in Jordan ment on the roof. They came down of "Hole in Headwaters," also known _as Governor Davis has received as much as Creek on January 1, 1997. their own ac_cord. · Timber Harvest Plan S20. Located Within $300,000 from corporate timber inter­ "The whole watershed is trashed," ._ Early in the morning of AprilS, 12 the recently designatedHeadwaters Pre~ ests since taking office a little over a yeai: said Soma, a forest activist, "Maxxam is Earth First! activists, supported by SO serve, the hole is an unprotected 70S ago. Those campaign contributions have ripping apart the last vestiges of an9ent others, locked themselves to four trucks acre stand along ·the South Fork Elk greased the wheels for companies like belonging to Colom­ River. The area was recently approved Ma:xxam, Simpson, Hawthorne Group, bia Helicopter Corpo­ for logging by California Department of Mendocino Redwood Company and ration logging crews. Forestry (CDF) Director Andrea Tuttle· Sierra Pacific. Ma:xxam/Pacific Lum­ withoutcriticalpublicparticipation.As Along with the Hole in Headwaters, ber has been usingCo­ part of Redwood Action Week, many other areas within Ma:xxam's lumbia Hellcopter Northcoast EF! took it into its own hands · "holdings" remain threatened. Cur­ crews in the Jordan to see this area and other threatened rently the corporation has 1S tirriber Creek area. PL plans stands remain wild. harvest plans filed that would log a to log alllS THPs With At 7:30a.m. on April 2, Tuttle was combined 1,040 acres of residual and the help of Columbia's visited by 60 Earth First! activists at her intact old-growth forest. helicopters. The com­ Arcata home demanding that thedirec~ Early in the morning on April3, activ- - panyisanout-of-state, tor stop pandering to the timber indus­ ists blockaded three gates leading to non-union employer try and take strong measures that PL has used more - to protect endangered coastal frequently every year salmon and water quality on to replace local jobs. the South Fork Elk River. Four Upping the resis­ activists climbed the fir tree in forest left in Jordan t~mce on April 6, 17 EF!ers shut down her yard hanging banners that Creek." These block­ business at Northwest Forestry and read "Corporate Timber Lac­ ades are in solidarity Marine in northern Arcata to protest key" and "Andrea Tuttle is an with· a lone treesitter the company's use and distribution eco-terrorist." Others rallied in one of the Jor,dan of herbicides on Humboldt County's in her driveway with signs say­ Creek THPs who is oc­ forestlands. Using lockboxes and u- ing "Your actions ai:e killing cupying an ancient - locks and wearing stickers that said, ourriversandsalmon,""Clear, redwood tree.- "This product causes cancer and birth cutting kills coho" imd :"The _· - · The week of action defects,"they blocked the company's Earth is not dying, it's being ·continued onApril3 as poison storage area. A few activists killed and those killing it have -· eight. people began . were able to negotiate a meeting to~ names and addresses:." camping on the roof of ward a resolution with the head of Before departing~ activists _ - Hawthorne Timber the company. deposited some mud frointhe Company. Led by aJo-' "It's illegal to dump a gallon of diesel North Fork Elk River, an area where _multiple THPs in the Jordan Creek wa­ cal band, SO demonstrators marched to into a city sewer system, yet Ma:xxam downstream residents have lost :their _ tershed to stop logging residual old­ and took over the office of the new~ and Simpson are allowed to spray 40 drinking water and salm~n nms dueto~ :, ~~O'wtinedwood'. At the main gate one comer to town, now owners of the gallons per acre of these poisonous, extreme clearcutting by Maxxam/Pa- brave activist hung suspended SO feet in former Georgia Pacific forestlands. Many diesel-ladden chemicals into our water­ cific Lumber. Andrea Tuttle and CDF the air by a rope swing that rim across demanded that Hawthorne withdraw sheds," said activistJackNounnan. Last are soon expected to_lift a temporary the road between two .redwoods and THP 412, the Skunk Train Old Growth year: PL sprayed 6,867 acres of clearcut moratorium on logging in that water- was anchored to the access gate. Eleven cut, _and stop liquidation logging or Humboldt County forestland with her­ shed, worsening flooding and the others-blocked the other two gates with leav~ Northern California immediately. bicides including Oust, Roundup, resident's water quality. lockboxes and were joined by 7S sup- Tying themselves together with yam, Garlon and Atrazine. Tuttle and her boss Governor Gray porters. Three supporters were arrested. activists took over the Hawthorne office For more information contact Davis have stonewalled any meaning- -Three separate THPs in Jordan Creek and raised a banner on their roof which Northcoast EF!, POB 28, Arcata, CA ful reform of forestry laws to protect willeventuallyclearcutacombined260 said, "Stop liquidation logging." After 9SS 18; (707) 82S-6S98; California'sdwindlingsalmonrunsand acres of residual old growth. A huge yarning the building with a symbolic n c e f @ h u m b o 1 d t 1 . c -o m ; water qua.lity. CDF has also rubber- landslidefromaMaxxamclearcut,sirni- web of life, protesters blocked the front www;humboldt1.com/-ncef.

BY DAVE GOLD dent, who are trying to save our right to dig up the land. It ain't there to look at. He gave us it so . This article is reprinted from the Beltane 1983 (j) .. !ARW~L your old ladies could make your toast in your edition of the EF! Journal. ·lousy toasters, and you bet they don't have toast While Albuquerque Earth First!ers Neil Cobb in Russia." and Bobby Seeley risked-life-and limb in their Earth First! Smashes Earth Last! The Earth First! members could hardly believe defense of the Salt Creek Wilderness, other mem­ their ears. When they were informed by Earth bers of Albuquerque EF! took on Earth Last! Steve Blake and the other a mad eco-corporatist Last! that it was now time to get down on their The idea was to have a dual action: the blockade David Gold. They were so deep into the insanity of knees arid pray to the oil rig, the symbol of and arrest in the Salt Creek Wilderness, and a their cause that they raved and ranted simulta­ progress, they could stand no more. demonstration outside the Federal Building in neously. Their message of destruction was so ter­ Luckily one Earth First!er, "Grizz" Logsdon, Albuquerque. It started out as a typical demon­ rible it can only be quoted directly: always carries his 20-pound, two-foot pipe stration. Dave Seeley gave a rousing speech which "In Earth Last! our motto is: Progress First! People wrench in his back pocket just in case he finds inspired all the EF! 'demo~strators. Karen Brown Second! Earth Last! We need energy and don't need any bulldozers in the wilderness that need whipped-the crowd into a frenzy chanting "Drill people and we sure as hell don't need the Earth!" "fixin." Grizz stands at least seven feet tall and Watt, not Wilderness!" and other slogans. Lenora said Gold. is solid muscle except where he stores his beer. Olsen brought a large sheet which had a highway "All mountains are useless ..They serve no func­ This mountain of a man laid into that symbol · sign depiction of James Watt with })is horns and tion at all and should be removed. Their disorderly · of progress while the other Earth 'First!ers bared fangs. shapes cause confusion. Mr. Watt is just beginning cheered him on. Grizz made quick work of that During the Climax of this orgy of sentiment, a wonderful and orderly process. We will all be rig. In less than 30 seconds it was scrap. Need- , from out of nowhere a pickup truck emerged with happier in a flat world." less to say, the downtown office workers were a 10-foot, black model of an oil rig on the back. "We love our Cadillacs. We each drive one, even impressed . . On th_e front .of the rig was a poster identifying when we're all going to the same place. And we want · The Earth Last!ers took offlike the chickenshits the owners: "Earth Last!" The symbol of Earth to have television sets in every room, and we want . they really are. Standing amidst their pile of Last! is a picture · of the Earth with the same them on whether we're watching them or not." rubble they cried out, "No Earth! Go back to roadside symbolism as th,eabove mentionedJames Meanwhile, Blake, the redneck, hollered. "If you Russia, youcommie faggots. Get a haircut." Watt poster. Earth iastJis to corporate plans of all don't get outta here I'm gonna personally kick After'Earth:Last! had been chased away, Karen destruction whatf:arth First! i~ to love of th~ land. your fannies so hard they'll fly a.Il the wayback to once again railied · the crowd. Dave Seeley Ridi:qg iit the back . of. the ··pickup were two · Russia where you come from. You should be going smashed a head of James Watt. Finally, every­ screarri*Iig mchnbers of the ~qiabolica.l organiza­ ·down to Ro'swell and asking good Mr: Yatesfor a job. Qne went off to Jack's Lounge to celebrate. an- tic;>:q:_, One was the horribly' mi~gUided redneck You shouldbe thanking James Watt a_nd our Pt:esi- other:' Earth First! vH:tocy. · · . '

May-June :Zooo Earth First! Pa$e · s ~ ~ Incredible Ed'ible s~~lmon? · .. ,:.;·:;. ' ~- ·-:_-~ 5-~ ·-=.. .

rivers and open waters are all "mistakes" that the destructive human intervention), aquaculture pro­ BY KETA RosE industry has owned up to at various times. How­ duction will have to increase sevenfold in the The recent death of a PCB- · ever, while the industry may apologize, its efforts next 25 to 30 years just to maintain current per poisoned orca whale in the to make fundamental changes to prevent such capita consumption~ Aquaculture companies such waters of British Columbia has occurrences are slow if at all. as the Canadian/American company AF Protein again raised public alarm GE fish are just one more extension of an indus­ are clamoring for a piece of that market with its about the perils facing the try which puts profit before ecological and human own transgenic offerings hoping it will be ready world's oceans and aquatic health. As fisheries researchers will admit with for market within the next year. life. Habitat destruction, pol­ some prodding, they are not only conducting . Although AF Protein promotes the "ideal" in­ lution, poor practices in the "pure science" but also working to establish regu­ dustry, one in which these genetic mutations are commercial fishing• industry lations for "inevitable commercial applications." grown in landlocked farms (thus, unable to escape and a dwindling food chain So far it is known that GE fish, when put into into the wild), the reality on both coasts is that fish are all part of the continuing decline in marine populations of wild fish, tend to eat more toed farmers have put up massive resistance to anything life acro_ss the planet. Although it is time that (owing to their larger size), yet don't have the other than open netcage farming. Netcages, where serious attention should be turned to working on same swimming abilities as natural fish. This means farmed fish reside in the ocean, only kept from solutions to these problems; govemments and that they have a tendency to stay and monopolize wild populations by use of· a net, is the most industries have decided that it is time to rel~ase the food supply. Their larger size means that in a extensive aquaculture practice in North America. one more threat into the marine environment in dash with wild salmon, they are the winners. Netcage farming has proven itself to be an ecologi­ the form of genetically-engineered fish. It is also recognized that GE fish will breed with cal nightmare and is responsible for the introduc­ One of the international forerunners in fisheries · non-GE fish in a laboratory. Not only will they tion of Atlantic salmon to the West Coast (which sdence and in the development of market-ready interbreed; but the larger sized GE fish appear to appear to be actually breeding in the Pacific waters genetically-engineered fish is the Canadian govern­ be more attractive to wild fish. Fisheries scientists now for the first time). ment. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Bill Muir and Rick Howard at· Purdue. University Even if the fish were to be raised in landlocked Oceans (DFO) is a major player in assist- farms (a highly unlikely scenario given ing industry with the development of the whole history of aquaculture on this "enhanced" fish for the aquaculture continent), companies promoting these industry around the world. Government dodgy technologies have not even be­ scientists maintain that the research gun·to address concerns about human taking place at their West Vancouver health and food safety. AF Protein has laboratory is mainly in the interest of done no long-term testing of its employ­ advancing scientific knowledge. How­ ees or others who routinely eat transgenic ever, this is coming from the same de­ fish. (The company can't sell the fish, so partment that willfully promotes both ~ the workers eat them.) Instead of ad­ commercial fishing and aquaculture in­ dressing. the very real concerns about dustries in a region where wild fish transgenic food health and safety, it stocks are at crisis levels. instead.focuses on how the taste of the The "enhanced" year-old coho fish is identical to other farmed fish­ salmon being experimented on at the something that is highly irrelevant to laboratory look like wild fish in al­ health concerns. most every respect. Their coloration ' According to government scientists, is the same and markings are identi­ it will be some time before all of the tests cal but their histories and develop­ are completed in the quest to determine ment are radically different. Beside whether genetically-engineered fish will an average wild coho of the same age, ever be safe to release into any ecosys- the differences become startlingly ap- tem. However, in early March, Aqua parent. The genetically-mutated fish are about have created laboratory models that show that if, · Bounty Farms, the American wing of AF Protein three times longer and about 30 times heavier as in our experiments, the genetic change also announced that its genetically-modified salmon than any young coho could ever be. These fish are reduces the offspring's ability to survive, a eggs would be on the market to fish farms world­ just some of the thousands of genetically-modi­ transgenic animal could bring a wild population wide by late fall 2000 or early spring 2001. fied fish at the lab being tested-all paid for by to extinction in 40 generations. Activists must now turn their attention to this Canadian tax dollars. Genetically-engineered fish hatch sooner than impending ecological disaster. Genetically-engi­ The genes, which regulate their growth, come normal fish. If these fish were to breed and hatch in neered fish pose an incredibly grave threat to from other salmon species. They are injected into a the wild, the natural cycle .of salmon, which is marine ecosystems and all creatures within it. batch of coho eggs, and as the new fish grow, their timed to other cycles in nature like the hatching of Unlike poor fishing practices which can be altered genes incorporate and introduce the new DNA. At insects, temperature variations and ocean currents, or modified, these "Frankenfish" will forever alter maturity, both types of salmon (wild and genetically would not be followed. If these fish were to survive the wild if they escape. Industry and government engineered) will be about the same size, but the rate despite those problems, there would be a severe alike must be targeted to put a stop to this research at which they get there is the variable that excites an disruption to the cycles of wild salmon (that is, if and development that is threatening animal, en­ industry rushing to get food onto the dinner table. transgenic fish even have migratory instincts). vironmental and human health the world over. ~ Wild coho take four years to reach their mature size, Early versions of the transgenic fish tested in For more information on GE fish and biotech- transgenic fish take only two. both Canada and New Zealand have had mis- nology t. ontact the Bioengineering Actl.on Net~ Although this issue has just come to the fore­ . shapen heads, lumpy and distorted gills and excess work (BAN), POB 11331, Eugene, OR 97440; front, these experiments started as early as 1989, cartilage growth throughout their bodies. In New [email protected]; www. tao.ca/ -ban. when companies worldwide started to look at Zealand, these genetically-deformed fish commercial applications for genetically-modified caused such a controversy that in March, fish. The DFO claims that it was only in the early the company conducting the research de­ days that it looked at commercial/government stroyed all of the GE chinook salmon it research partnerships. As late as 1996, it explored was experimenting with and discontin­ the possibility of apartnership with Monsanto. It ued the program (though they did freeze is unclear to this day what commercial/govern­ the genetically-modified sperm from the ~ ment alliances do exist since the government is fish for possible future projects). not officially receiving any research assistance Researchers and activists alike have raised from private interests in this area. However, this the alarm about genetic engineering and in does not mean that information sharing and as­ particular, it being applied to the aquacul­ sistance do not exist between private and public ture industry. Why then, are government parties. This should not be a surprise to anyone agencies sucp as the Department of Fisher­ familiar with government kowtowing to the aquac­ ies and Oceans even continuing research of ulture industry-one that has caused untold eco­ this nature-research that has the very real logical damage on both the East and West coasts potential of devastating the marine world of North America. Accidental releases of non­ and its inhabitants? native species, the application of drugs to farmed The , Unit~d Nations has predicted that fish wpich make their way into ~ qative popula~ due to the inability of the world's oceans tions and ~ the dumping of "blood water" into to continue to sustain life (caused by Grizzly bear meets salmon in the Great Bear Rainforest.

P~~ge 6 Ellf'th First! Beltlme ZOOO A1L4N17CSALMON GETALLMIXED-UP rivers of the Eastern US, although they pia Snowe, and Gov. King also prom­ BY WHIRLWIND once churned in the Hudson, · ised lawsuits and attacks on the ESA Once upon a time, the good folks Merrimack and others~ The last few if the feds listed Atlantic salmon. By who lived in the easternmost corner of holdouts still return to the rivers of dropping the proposed listing the the United States, Downeast Maine, DowneastMaine, butin 1999onlyless feds all but guaranteed a whole new would head to the best fishing pool 150madeit. Yep, that's less than 150- two-year process if the state plan after supper to watch Atlantic salmon. total. In the United States. didn't get the job done. There were a couple thousand of the The writing's been on the wall for a Within the first year, the heads of the fish in each of the rivers that rend long time. The US Fish and Wildlife state environmental agencies gutted Maine's rocky coastline-the Dennys, Service (USFWS) in 1991 determined even the paltry recommendations of Machias, East Machias, Narraguagus; that the fish in five of the Downeast good-old-boy biologists who set bare Sheepscot, Pleasant and Ducktrap. At- riversfacedimminentextin<;tion.Aciti- · minimumstreamflowsintheDowneast lantic salmon, Salmo salar, are substan- zen petition to list Atlantic salmon un- rivers. The scientists said that if the tially different from their more famous der the Endangered Species Act (ESA) rivers got really, low, the big blueberry relatives on the West Coast. They act forced the issue; and in 1995 USFWS and cranberry growers in the region Migration route ofAtlantic salmon morelikesteelhead,returningtospawn and the National Marine Fisheries Ser- shouldn't take the last drops of water for decades remain in place and un­ in their natal streams several times if vice(NMFS)proposedlistingSalmosalar away from the salmon. But in the changed. The local \Vatershed councils uninterrupted by humans or nonhu- as endangered. This, of course, freaked warmth of the summer of 1998, those remain mired in political turf battles and man predators. They are a completely . out industry leaders and government scientistswereoverruledbythegroupof lack funding to make any substantive different genus, not just a different spe- puppets, who said a listing would dev- state agency commissioners, and grow­ changes for the salmon's benefit. des. The salmon that still struggle to astate the tenuous Downeast economy. ers like Cherryfield Foods got to deplete Nevertheless, at listing hearings in spawn in eastern North America are Maine Governor Angus King, a Cham- theriversfurther.It'snotevenclearthat late January and early February, King also significantly different genetically ber of Commerce Party Independent, Cherryfield stopped pumping immedi­ and his ilk trotted out the old standby from Salmo salar in the British Isles, followed the lead of his counterparts in ately when the rivers reached the lower arguments that no one should buy although they're the same species. Oregon and offered the feds a palliative level set by the commissioners. anymore: The state plan must be But like salmon everywhere, the wild state action plan to avoid a listing. King At the beginning of 1999, a handful given more time to work. What do Atlantic salinon remaining in Maine- made the argument. that won gover- of individuals and environmental biologists know? Those fish aren't the last of their genus in the United nors in Alaska; Texas and Oregon tern- groups including t~e Coastal Waters really wild. It's the ocean's fault and States--areonthevergeofdisappearing. poraryvictoriesbeforehim:"Ourpeople ·. Project, Trout Unlimited and Defend- that's beyond our control. It's terrifically tempting to blame in- willhaveabetterattitude-anddomore ers of Wildlife sued over the listing. In March the process stalled again dustrial forestry for decimating the good for the critters in question-if They followed the old, successful argo­ after a court forced the agencies to re­ salmon, especially in a state still knowrt · they're working on their own plan in- ments that have always forced listings lease genetic reports to the state under as the Paper Plantation for its economic stead of facing restrictions imposed by after the feds accept inadequate state the Freedom of Information Act and andpoliticalmanipulationbyBigPaper. the feds." No court has upheld such plans: The plans arebased on volun­ gave the state extra time to review the Butmostofthebiologicalevidenceshows state plans, but King; like the governors tary and future measures and don't do documents before finalizing its com­ the most serious threatscomefromfarm- of the other states, swore that his plan enough to protect - tliefish ~ - · · ·- ·· -- -- · ments on the petition. NMSFS andUSFS ing-ofblueberri_es, cranberries and fish. would be different. In an attempt to let the state save face, have until November 17 to make a final Aquaculture is a huge problem; intro- The feds, like the dull fish they are, bit Babbitt announced in October that the decision about the fate of the last wild ducing rogue genes and competition the poisoned bait in December 1997, agendeshadfotind "newevidence"that Atlantic salmon, although they may is­ when the Frankeiifish escape, as some dropping.the listing proposal and ac- forced them to propose an emergency sue a response sooner. It is not clear if the il)variably do._ Agti~a.d~e sa~~ watero- ·-ce:p~?- ~~~-,s~~t~ p,f~ ~~-- ~ -~ay _to. re- listing. This news came one week before lawsuit to force emergency listing will fromsalmonstreamsdurmgcnttcallow cover t'fi:e fisn. Note: They didn't Just · ·· he hadtorespond:to-thelawsuit..______hasten th~ decision. . flows and dumps pesticides all over the suspendthelistingproposal,astheydid By December 1999, only one female The story of Atiantic salmon is as place (if a little is good, more is better; with· coho. salmon in Oregon earlier salmon spawned in the Sheepscot River. old as the hills of Maine, a story of right?) With no shading along the. thatx~ar.Theyhad some political in- Theonlywildsalmonmakingitbackto obstruction and stalling and whit­ bariks-buffers are required on .forest . centive. Documents .show that Interior the DennyslUver w:ere killed by poach­ tling away until there were none. By land but not agricultural land-salmon Secretary Bruce Babbitt· made a deal ers. The entire hatchery broodstock for the rights of justice and the words of streams heat up to intolerable levels. with William Cohen, then a Republi- the Pleasant River was destroyed after the law, the last wild US Salmo salar Sedimentation from agricultural and can Senator from Maine, to squelch the biologists found them irlfested with a will be listed under the ESA before ·forest lands are also a major threat. listinginexchangeforCohen'ssupport virus.Morethantwoyearsafterthestate the year is out. What remains to be Atlantic salmon have been gone for in that year's bitter £SA reauthorization plan went into effect, obsolete dams on seen is whether there will be any fish more than a century from. the major battle.Maine'sotherUSSenator,Olym- theSheepscotthathaveharmedsalmon left to benefitfrom that protection.

gray whale birthing lagoon is Magdalena Bay, which hosts several -industrial plants on . its shores. The SALT MINE NIXED Mitsubishi Corporation has proposed building tour­ The proposed salt plant and its attendant piers, BY MARK]. pALMER ist hotels, on the shores of the bay, as well. Only San giant conveyer belts, evaporation ponds, roads and Ignacio Lagoon is in relatively unspoiled condition. In a ·stunning buildings would have covered 116 square miles. The saltworks aren't the only obstacle for the gray and · surprising Conveyer belts, carrier vessels, pipelines, heavy whale's survival. The Russians animally kill up to move, Mexico's. trucks, bulldozers and pumps sucking water from 167 gray whales in the Arctic waters of Siberia, President E:mesto San Ignacio Lagoon would have generated enor­ ostensibly to feed the local native villages but also to Zedillo announced mous quantities of toxic brine and other pollut­ maintain large fox fur farms. Recently, the Makah on March 2 that he ants, as well as industrial levels of diesel fumes, fuel Tribe of Washington has recommenced hunting for cancelled the pro­ spills and raucous noise. The development would gray whales, killing a small female gray whale in posed saltworks also have attracted thousands of additional people, May 1999 for the first time in 70 years. The govern­ planned for the miles of new roads and further industrial develop­ ment of Japan is pushing to allow · trade in gray shores of San ment to the la-goon area. whale meat (now banned by international law), and Ignacio Lagoon, part of El Vizcaino Reserve; the Gray whales migrate from the high Arctic wa­ environmentalists fear that]a pan's hunger for whale largest wildlife refuge in Latin America ..This wil­ ters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas to the warm meat will generate pressure for Russians, Makahs derness treasure has also been designated aWhale lagoons of Baja to give birth, a migration that and qthers to expand commercial whaling. Sanctuary and an International Biosphere Reserve stretches nearly 8,000 miles. They face many Throughout themaririe habitat of the gray whale, by the United Nations. hazards, as human development and pollution of offshore oil drilling is a growing threat. In,addition "A combination of effective, sustained action by the offshore waters and surrounding lands is to the threat of a catastrophic oil spill, offshore oil Mexican and US environmental organizations, and intensified. An estimated 26,000 gray whales re­ drilling operations involve the use of toxic lubri­ the letters and cards from hundreds of thousands of main in the wild today. cating muds and other chemicals that end up in concerned citizens around the world, were respon­ ESSA and Mitsubishi already operate one of the ·the water, as well· as · producing loud underse~ sible for finally halting the proposed siiltworks," Iiugest saltworks in the world on the shores of noise. The high Arctic is experiencing the most said David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute's Mexico's Ojo de Liebre Lagoon (also known as intense effects from global warming trep.ds, and International Marj.ne Ma:mmafProject. Scammon's Lagoon) and Guerrero Negro Lagoon. scientists believe that increased warming of Arctic Two giant corporations, Mexico's federally owned . Opposed by whale scientists and ~nvironmentalists waters may be interfering with the biological pro­ Exportadorade Sal, S.A., (ESSA) artdJapan's Mitsubishi when it was built in the 1960s, the saltworks has . dtictivity of the waters during the short summer, Corporation, had proposed to build an .industrial .· been implicated recently in several serious pollution c_ausing gray whales to starve. saltextraction'plaritontheshores()fBaja:California's incidenls, including ·spillage·of toxic brine which For more_·inforination' contact the. Earth Isla11d San Ignacio Lagoon~the last undeveloped gray· .. has poisoriedmorethan 100 endangered sea turtles· Institute, 300 Broadway, Sari : Fr~mcisc6, CA 94133; whale birthing lagoon in the world. and hundreds of thousands of fish. The other major [email protected]; wwwearthisland.org. . May-June ·20{j(J·Ei:llth First! Page· 7 Glen Canyon Dam: Next on the list? a 55-foot-long salmon-colored dragon mation. Here we, along with the river BY KATHRYN WILDER danced through the boisterous crowd. dragon and the activist musidans, sang Lees Ferry. Morning comes too soon, The ceremonial dragon, symbol of river and danced and lent our hearts to the albeit slowly. Faint light, pink clouds, health, came from China. If the dragon spirit of a river struggling for life. the .Vermillion Cliffs behind us turn­ is happy, the legend goes, the river When the bulk of the crowd left and ing... vermillion. The jagged Moenkopi flows; if the dragon is upset, the river the moon rose above the Moenkopi rim opposite backlit with early sun. floods. Although Glen the River Dragon cliffs, a calm settled over the few of us Hoodoos and crags in prayer hands appeared happy enough, the river at remaining. Ken Sleight, who has earned greet the day; cold and sweet memories, Glen Canyon Dam c~m neither flow nor his nickname "Seldom Seen," showed linger; clouds slide through yellow to flood, trapped as it is behind thatcon~ up and talked of the pre-dammed Colo­ white, the sky to soft blue. The river crete constric;¥qn. . _ rado in Glen and Grand canyons and of keeps up her song at the Paria ·Riffle Environmental and indigenous lead­ his initial meeting with Ed Abbey right where waters merge, pea-green and clear ers spoke from the makeshift stage. Katie there at Lees Ferry. As Sleight rigged for blue scouring rocks at the morning's Lee sang and read from All My Rivers Are a Grand Canyon river trip that fortu­ low flow. Trucks rumble by, boats (the Gone, her love letter to her river and itous night, he and then-park ranger motoring kind) getting towed to the canyon. Behind her hung a life-sized Abbey talked until the wee hours, dis­ put-in. One Grand Canyon trip will poster of Secretary of the Interior Bruce cussing what to do about the dam while launch today-the Mill,ers, we were told. ·Babbitt standing It's river time. · over Glen Canyon On March 14, sixty-five celebrations, Dam, sledgehammer rallies and demonstrations took place in hand. Keynote in 21 countries in honor of the ;'Third speaker David Annual Day of Action Against Dams Brower elaborated and For Rivers, Water, a:nd Life" (see on his talk of the page 15). At Glen Canyon Dam, one of evening before. "I am the West's mostreriowned environmen­ glad we saved Echo tal mista,kes, more than 250 river sup­ Park [in Dinosaur porters gathered for a "Restoration Cel­ National Monu­ ebration and Rendezvous." ment],"hesaid, "but .The roots ofthis celebration took hold we never should in the last century when a few river- have lost Glen Can­ . loving folks put_their headS together yon... Forty years over mediocre coffee in a quiet Moab, later, we are trying Utah, restaurant. Within weeks, Glen to correct that mistake." Brower, along- drinking all Sleight's beer. A few years Canyon Action Network (GCAN), a side indigenous leaders, led in the sign- later, TheMonkey Wrench Gang appeared. people's movement to preserve and re­ ing of the II Glen Canyon Declaration/. Like life itself, the events of these two store the integrity of the Colorado River which calls for the decommissioning of days are a collection of moments that watershed beginning with decommis­ thedamandtherestorationoftheColo- will eventually run together, drops of sioningGlen Canyon Dam, was formed. radoRiver.Nearly200supporterssigned w~ter forming.thememory's river, but On the first day of the two-day ren­ ·the document. for now, some remain distinct-standing dezvous, a teach-in was held at North­ _ o~ _ ~he _()pp~sH~ " ~idepf_ the r~s_erroir, . , _JV~v~s, _ Jif:U_~~ . i!JJ.,~ . ~99J~~Jn my mind. - . el!l•~()na · D_niversity(NAU)Jn .Fleig".-­ a crowdof700gatheredina-reaetionary ··~ · -Like watching David Brower rise to the·-- - staff, Arizona. It included a series of "Celebrate Lake Powell" rally. Salt Lake occasion or walking to the bathroom presentations on issues pertaining .to City's ChannelS evening news showed . with Katie Lee shielding her eyes from water in the West and the damming footage of pro-dammers raisiJig the the sight of her river's waters backed up and freeing of rivers worldwide. Later, American flag and reciting the Plt~dge of behind the dam. Like the prayers and NAU'sClineLibraryAssemblyHallheld Allegiance. The same station described incantations of Navajo medjcine man an audience of nearly 450 for a memo­ the GCAN event as "spirited," running Thomas Morris spanning cultures and rable evening performance. time; and the crowd's single Folksinger Peg Millet, who voice bellowing out the words - served a·prison term for en­ to Bill Oliver's theme song: vironmental activism, and "Drain it, reclaim it, unplug it, long-time radical singer­ and rename it; liberate Glen songwriter Bill Oliver revved Canyon from Rez Foul!" Or up the-crowd for Katie Lee, standing next to Sleight as he whose original slidesand sto­ spoke of Abbey; was -it river ries of Glen Canyon in the - wind or spirit that touched 1950s and '60s stirred even my skin? And theri sitting be­ the dispassionate. Lee, who side the. Colorado with my turned 80 last October, still .., traveling companions,, the carries herself, her guitar and ~ night quiet but for the river, a a tune with the grace and § man movin'g from the shad- ~ gusto of the vivadous Holly­ ~ ows fluid as a wildcat and his wood starlet she once was, Qwords, "Now this is more like and she sang the river's story z it," carrying away the inten- right into our hearts. David sity of the day, leaving me Brower took .yet another with just us and the river, the stand to defend rivers and canyon, the moorilight, the the Earth he has fought to protect for footage of celebrants rocking to the reasons I'm here. over 50 years emphasizing that "the rhythm of Bill Oliver's guitar. The Den- . Strurig together, moments like these question is not will we drain [the reser­ ver Post said of the rendezvous; ')The create the current of this movement to voir]; but will we drain it in time?" sincerity of the participants bordered free our rivers, restore the Colorado and The following morning hundreds of on the inspirational." What the media· ·resurrect lost canyons like the Glen. people carpooled and bussed to the Carl didn't note was _that that inspiration May there be inany more. Hayden Visitors Center where GCAN comes directly from the heart of the For information contact the Glen staff and volunteers constructed a stage river, and the river's pulse reverberated Canyon Action Network, POB 466, supported by the beds of two pickups, through us all that day. Moab, UT 84532; (435) 259-1063; one the dull blue bashed-in '73 Ford Evening found us drifting downriver www.drainit.org. once owned by Edward Abbey. Perhaps via the highway and landing at Lees According to Katie Lee, Kathryn lt\!ilder Abbey's truck didn't relish the thought Ferry in Marble Canyon, 15 river miles "lives among the castles by a real part ofthe of seeing Glen Canyon Dam and "Lake · below the dam, where the celebration river." There she writes, runs rivers, and Foul" any more than Abbey had, for it continued beside th~ flowing waters of leads writingworkshops both on and offthe broke down en route--a busted water the Colorado. At this arbitrarily chosen river. Her publications include the _Walk­ pump of all things. A bus carrying cel­ dividing point between its upper and ing tbe Twilight anthologies, and stories ebrants from Flagstaff blew a tire near lower basins, the river runs falsely clear and essays in American Nature Writing, Page, but everyone arrived safely and and blue and 46 degrees Fahrenheit at Sierra, Standing Wave, The Bear De- luxe, Bugle and others periodicals. · enthusiastically nonetheless. At noon, flows controlled by the Bureau of Recla- . 4 Page 8 Earth First/ Beltane 2000 arid Southwest, emerge from their burrows to mate and lay eggs, and the larvae are born and FORVs undergo metamorphosis. All this occurs when the presence of thunderstorms indicate that tion is another seri­ the appropriate temperature conditions exist, to en­ ous concern. Spedfic sure both suitable conditions for toad survival and problems can in­ adequate availability of prey and that moisture, an­ clude the inabmtyto other critical ingredient, is sufficient. The toad can recognize mating mistake the thundering of ORVs across the desert floor signals, warning for the sound of early summer thunderstorms, how­ calls and calls by ju­ ever, and emerge during the wrong season and in the veniles. For instance, absence of water. This can have significant adverse one· study reported impacts to the population. Although the mechanisms that small mammals may vary, a wide range of species may suffer from such became unusually . impacts. . . aggressive and disori­ The timing of ORV .use can also play an important ented after being ex­ role. Infant survival of kangaroo rats is jeopardized by posedto the Barstow ORV use because adults locate their offspring by ·· to Las Vegas motor­ · responding to repeated scratch-whines. ORV use dur­ cycle race. ing the late winter and·spring poses the greatest threat The results of disturbance and stress-related impacts before the offspring have dispersed. Similarly, when BYD) SCHUBERT AND )ACOB SMITH can take longer to materialize but are no less sigilifi­ ORV activity occurs during the peak of lizard mating, The noise of off~road vehicles (ORV) is among the cant. Wildlife disturbance by ORVs is a serious prob­ reproductive.success can be reduced. least-endeartrig qualities to hikers, mountain bikers lem for many species, and OR:V noise is clearly a major Long-term exposure to the stress of ORV activity (of and other non-:motorized recreationists. The noise of component of these disturbance impacts. Put simply, which ORV noise is typically a major component), is ORVs can do more than simply annoy humans, how­ noise can stress (and thus adversely impact) wildlife. linked to numerous health problems. Noise exposure ever. ORV noise can cause significant adverse impacts Wildlife exposed to noise can suffer high levels of is linked to stress, ulcers, tension and coronary disease to wildlife in at least two ways. First, exposure to ORV physiological stress even if they appear to fully adapt in humans, suggesting that similar effects might mani­ noise can result in hearing impairment/or even loss, . to the noise. One potential outcome of disturbance is fest in wildlife species as well. Rats exposed to high with severe consequences for animals dependent on displacement. When a species is dependent on a noise levels suffered impacts which included reduced their sense of hearing for finding prey, avoiding preda­ narrow range of habitat characteristics, displacement body weight, increased heart rate and the shrinking of tors and interactingwithother individuals of the same into marginal or even unsuitable habitat has lasting ovaries and kidneys. species. Second, wildlife exposed to ORV noise often · effects on survival and productivity. For one thing, ORV noise is loud and, under many experience stress and other disturbance effects. Over A 1971 Environmental Protection Agency report conditions, can travel long distances. For another, a time, such impacts can lead to altered movement argues that noise acts as a physiological stress produc­ great deal of existing ORV use occurs in fragile habi­ patterns, behavioral changes and long-term strfSS ing changes similar to exposure to extreme heat, cold, tats, such as desert and wetland ecosystems, which impacts all with potentially significant adverse results. pain and other high-stress environmental conditions. often are home to wildlife species that are especially Animals exposed to ORV noise often suffer from One consequence is the alteration of wildlife behav­ sensitive to noise and other human disturbance. Many ·impaired hearing. Studies have documented hearing ior. Noise levels above 90 decibels cause mammals to species live in and are adapted to quiet environments, loss caused by the noise of dune buggies, dirt bikes and retreat, freeze or become startled. Amphibians, rep­ and ORV noise often greatly exceeds ambient decibel other ORVs inflicted on a wide range of species, tiles and mammals suffer deleterious effects from levels. Third, although the displacement effects of including the Mojave fringe-tOed lizard, kangaroo rat moderate exposure to ORV noise. These effects in­ noise disturbance can be severe, many wildlife species and numerous birds. Several studies have reported cluded physiological and behavioral hearing loss and are limited in their ability to relocate to avoid ORV bleeding ears and nasal passages after exposure to ORV the misinterpretation of important environmental impacts. Finally, rapidly advancing ORV technology activity. Hearirigirnpairmentandloss;unsuiprisingly, acoustic signals. allows foi .ever greater penetration into wild and is a very serious concern· for most ·Wildlife . .Loss of For some species, the noise of ORVs can directly sensitive habitats. The blanket of ORV noise grows hearing sensitiVity can lead to increased exposure to interfere with critical life .history behaviors. For in­ ever larger. predation, increased diffiC1llty killing prey and other­ stance, early suinmer thunderstorms provide an es­ Article courtesy of The Road-Riporter, POB 7516, wise significant disruptions in predator-preyrelation­ sential environmental cue for the couch's spadefoot Missoula, MT 59807;. (406) 543-9551; ships. The impairment of intraspecific cot;nmunica- ·· toad (Scaphiopus couchz} The toads, inhabitants of the ·[email protected]. Center for Biological ·Diversity Wins Back the Wild West ·In a landmark settlement between •Ban OSFS use of ethylocol-based an­ habitat" for the endangered the Center for Biological Diversity and. tifreeze. This type of antifreeze is deadly Alameda whipsnake. The the US Forest Service (USFS) on March 1, to California condors, pets and wildlife. whipsnake has declined dramati­ over 50 endangered spedes will be pro­ The USFS must also conduct an educa­ cally due to habitat loss and frag~ tected by sweeping changes to South­ tion campaign urging the public to stop mentation in the East Bay Hills ·area em Califomia's four national forests. using lethal antifr~ze and instead use near San Francisco; California. The Combined, the Los Padres, Angeles, Sim one of.the readily available alternative designation was proposed in accor­ Bernadino and Cleveland National For­ . brands, dance with a legal settlement agree­ million acres of critical habitat in Alaska ests contain 6.1 million acres stretching •Install anti-perching devices on all ment between the FWS, the Center for for the endangered Steller's eider, a from just north of the Mexican border · electroniC communication sites within Biological Diversity and Christians Car­ northern duck. to near Monterey. the current range of the California con­ ing for Creation:. , .. The proposal identifies over 25,000 The center sued the USFS on June 18, dor on the Angeles and Los Padres Na­ More recently, in response to a law­ square miles of coastline and marine 1998, charging that the agency had tional Forests. All new andre-permitted suit by the center, a New Mexico federal .sanctuaries, including: 15,800 square systematically failed to protect a host of power transmission lines must be made judge ordered the FWS to designate miles of Alaska's North Slope, 1,200 · endangered species. The center won on bird-safe within five years. critical habitat for the imperiled Mexi­ square miles of the Yukon-KuskokWim March 1. According to the terms of the •Create ari education campaign to can spotted owl. ·Citing systematic de­ Delta, marine waters in Kuskokwim Bay settlement, the USFS must amend all inform hunters about the deadly im­ lays by the federal agency and 11 years and 9,000 miles of coastline from four forest plans to ensure the protec­ pact of lead poisoning to California of intensive research, petitions and law­ Nunivak Island to the eastern Aleu­ tion and recovery of imperiled species condors which feed on carcasses shot suits by activists, the judge ordered the tians, along the northern and southern by 2002. In the meantime, it inust irri­ with lead bullets. The USFS must also agency to complete the designation by shores of the Alaska Peninsula and east mediately enact a long list of protective promote alternatives to lead bullets. January 2001. to Kachemak Bay in Lower ·Cook Inlet actions. The agency must: •Close approximately 10 percent of The center pe~tioned t9list the spot­ and the Kodiak Archipelago. •Close off nearly five square miles of the campgrounds in the Los Padres Na­ ted owl as a threatened species in 1989 In accordance with the same settle­ forest, including a poorly planned camp­ tional Forest to protect Arroyo toad and because its old-growth forest habitat ment, the FWS last month proposed to ground and 17 miles of off-road vehicle California red-legged frog habitat. was being liqUidated on national forests designate and protect 4 7 million acres trails upstream of littlerock Reservoir •Close access sites near the Sespe Wil­ in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and of critical habitat for the endangered on the Angeles National Forest. derness and stop placer mining on Piru Utah, as well as in Mexico's SierraMadre spectacled eider. Excluding overlapping • Remove livestock from all penin­ Creek to protect Arroyo toad and steel­ Mountains. areas; the total area _to be protected for sular bighorn sheep habitat on the head trout. the two imperiled sea ducks is approxi­ Wellman grazing allotment on the Eiders Protected ·. mately 57 million acres. San Bernadino National Forest and More Good News On March 14, 2000, keeping to a Since 1993, the Center for Biological remove cattle from dozens of miles of In another win, on March 8 the US settlement agreement with the Center Diversity has produced over 100 species streams and riparian areas through­ Fish and Wildlife ServiCe (FWS) offi­ for Biologi<;al Diversity and Christians listings, critical habitat proposals, en­ out the forest. cially proposed to designate and pro­ Caring for Creation, the FWS issued a dangeredspeciesstatus reviews and habi­ •Close and obliterate roads. tect over ·400,000 .acres of ·"critical proposal to formally designate 16.3 tat protection lawsuits. May..fune .· 2000. Earth First/ Page 9 Rr=s1 ·, · JNG RADIATION- UPDATE ON YuccA MouNTAIN - 1 ' considered extreme by the Department of Energy can be estimated that between 70 and 130 accidents' BY AELFGIFU AND DIXIE (DOE) who insist that nuclear waste casks (which could pccur during this transportati()n to Yucca Mt. For over 50 years the United States government have never been full-scale tested) are infallible and Corbin Harney, Newe Spiritual Leader and a pow­ has experimented with the explosive powers of unlikely to leak. This does not take into account the erful figure in the fight to stop nuclear insanity, nuclear energy. Although the risks and potentially fact that nuclear testing has already contaminated constantly spreads an urgent message worldwide. fatal consequences of this deadly activity are now water in the state of Nevada and affected the lives of "We are really concerned about the nuclear waste known by scientists and general citizens alike, the thousands of people, animals and plants with deadly that is traveling on our land. We don't want our government still tests nuclear weapons and trans­ radiation causing cancer and mutating DNA, affect­ Mother to be [con]taminated with all kinds of ports and dumps nuclear waste in areas which ing life for generations to come. radiation. Nuclear radiation is shortening all of our threaten the lives of mil­ · lives. This is very serious_:_if the government lions of people and our puts nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain it will environment. One of these 1. travel thousands of miles and poison the land, proposed nuclear dump­ s water and air all over our Mother Earth. ·we ing areas is Yucca Moun­ ! only have one water, one air and one mother tain, 90 iniles north of Las .· ~ Earth. Now we rely on you people, its really Vegas in the heart of the ~ important for us to uriite ourselve~ together Nevada desert. Many ~ until we put a stop to this nonsense." people consider this beau­ :,,. April 1 was the occasion. for the 5th annual tiful wilderness to be sim­ [ Nuclear Fool's Day parade, a noisy, colorful, ply a desolate wasteland, ~ messy event composed of a two headed, 40- devoid of life and perfect -· footlongrattlesnake, three-eyed frogs, for holding permanent mad scientists, a mock nuclear high-level nuclear waste. waste cask and a Yucca . To the Native Shoshone, .· Mountain on wheels! Paiute and Washoe people, These wacky charac­ Yucca Mountain is a sa­ ters all played ma-- cred site, still used for spiritual gatherings as it has jor parts in a street been for thousands of years. som, a Western theater piece The 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley was intended to Shoshone grand­ which started protect the Newe Nations (Shoshone) territory, in­ mother says, "We on the steps of cluding Yucca Mountain. In 1948 a military inva­ want the world to Las Vegas City sion by the US government forcibly relocated the know that if they Hall and pro­ Newe peoples living near Yucca Mountain to create (the government) gnissed onto the a massive nuclear testing and dumping site. To this continue to put federal building date the Western Shoshone Nation is involved in that waste into where Newe elders three court cases against the government regarding Yucca Mountain, we spoke of the injus- the violations of this treaty. don't have to worry tices committed According to Shoshone beliefs this powerful moun­ about water no more be­ against their people. tain is home to an ancient snake, which, if disturbed cause we will no longer be here. Come to the annual will burst forth and dispel its venomous fire. Proph­ If you look at the desert now, at Mothers Day Spring Gathering ecies relating to the awakening of the snake foretell Mercury, there are no animals. At one time . May 12~15. You are officially invited by that when this occurs, the land will shake violently that land thrived with deer, antelope, jackrabbits, -the Newe Nadon to partake in daily sweatlodges causing giant floods and widespread destruction. In the little collie animals, you dori't·see them out and sunrise ceremonies, workshops,' nonvioh~nce the past 20 years there has bee~ over 600 earthquake there now, What are you leaving for your children training, hear speakers from aro~nd the world, events of 2.5 or greater -magnitude on the Richter and your children's children? This nuclear waste camp, eat food and be involved in direct action to scale recorded within 50 miles of this area. Combine will take all pur lives." · · shut down the Nevada Test Site! this with the fact that if water seeps into the neu­ As if this isn't bad enough, the transportation of For more information contact Shundahai Network, trons contained within the nuclear rods, all it would this deadly toxic on roads near lakes and cities, 5007 Elmhurst Ln, Las Vegas, NV 89108-1304; (702) take is one small earthquake to cause an explosion rivers and wildlife poses an immense threat to the. 647~3095; 647-9385 (fax); [email protected]; 10 times worse than Chernobyl. This theory is stability of natural life. Using the DOE's own data it www.shundahai.org. ·

DucKTRAP DEERYARD WtNs APPEAL BY RoN HuBER The Maryland Bank North America Corporation (MBNA), scourge of the Penobscot Coast, must find a land trust or other entity to take a permanent conservation easement over the Ducktrap Deeryard by March 30, according to an order issued March 16 by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection. The board was responding to an appeal against the company's 40-cabin sprawl development on the slopes of Ducktrap Mountain in Northport, Maine (see EF!J March-April2000). . Critics of MBNA's attack on the thickly forested. Meguntic'ook Range along Penobscot Bay's western shore h(ld told-the-board that MBNA had earlier promised to "permanently Conserve" the heart of the deeryard, a densely forested-area: halfway up the mountainside, but then reneged on their promise by proceeding with the 40-cabin development in that very area. The board contended that the area was critical to the survival of the western Penobscot Bay region's deer herd, who overwinter in the dense woodland on the mountainside, not to mention untold numbers of other wild lifeforms The board wrote: "The applicant [MBNA] shall, by March 30, 2000, submit to the Department for review, acceptance and recording a conservation easement in favor of IF&W, or another government or non-government entity, perma­ nently protecting the Management Area and travel corridor described in the final Forest Management and Deer Wintering Area Management Plan dated February, 2000 and accepted by IF&W on March 6, 2000." The order came as a complete shock to developer MBNA, whose Vice President for land abuse, Shane Flynn, whined that the company was already negotiating with land trusts and that such an easement would hinder it's future d,evelop­ ment of the land. Flynn and a clearly surprised Phil Ahrens, MBNA's top corporate law dog, tried repeatedly but without success , to convince the board not to require them to protect the land. In addition, the board ordered Department of Environmental Protection permit reviewer David Silver to modify "Finding 6B" to note that the depart­ ment considered the project's impacts to the local school of wild Atlantic salmon in nearby Ducktrap Harbor, as well as in the Duckttap River. Page 10 Earth First/ Beltane 2000 BEWARE OF PERM Pam and I hemmed and hawed over it for a few BY jiM FLYNN months; The government was not going to let go of When organizing the 1998 Earth First! Round River this one, insisting on upholding its permitting regu­ Rendezvous in Oregon at Twin Lakes (you remem­ lations. We had little to gain (having all the docu- ber, the most beautiful RRR site ever), Pam and I made the mistake of trying to work with the govern­ ment. To facilitate communication, Pam and I (through a good friend) offered up our phone num­ bers to the folks at .the Umpqua National Forest supervisor's office. Originally we were communicat­ ing directly with the resource manager-a good guy named Jerry Harriman. In the government's mindset of hierarchy and accountability, Pam and I quickly became the home­ coming queen and king of the event. At all future meetings before, during and (tragically) afterwards, Ha! As if. So we cast a wide net, the Forest Service asked for us personally. And when subpoenaing a bunch of the bas­ the RRR was over (here comes the tragic part), We tards, requesting all sorts of "re­ were singled out to be the beneficiaries of $250 lated" documents, saying, "Bring it citations for not securing a special use permit for on, we'll see you in court!" "our" event. Even though we had a friendly working ~ After much deliberation, they relationship with the Umpqua NF resource people threw in the towel. The case was throughout the event, followed their Operation Plan dismissed. We won! to the letter, got kudos from Jerry for our efficient The 1998 rendezvous site at Twin Lakes, in the Umpqua National Forest Lessons to be learned: 1) Don't drinking-water system and well~built latrines! me­ give them your real name even if ticulously cleaned up the entire site and closed all the ments from the discovery process) and $250 each to they seem nice; use fake, real-sounding names. trails, the Department of]ustice issued us citations to lose. So we decided to cop ..a plea. The federal 2)Throughout the. process continue to remind appear in federal court and pay the $250. prosecutor asked us to remind him of what kind of them that we don't have leaders. 3) Don't sign Well, we decided to play their little game and met deal he had offered us before:;, We replied with, permits. Unless you are the president or CEO of them in court. We moved for dismissal based on the "something like $35 to $50 each with a guilty plea Earth First! you cannot legally sign! 4) Use the unconstitutionality of the Forest · Service's special to Failure to Obtain a Special Use Permit." discovery process to get all the documents you use permitting regulations and to save !:he taxpayers When the prosecutor relayed the deal to the can, and don't give up in court. money (high on our list), but the Department of Department of justice, Forest Service law enforce­ justice insisted that the trial move forward. The ment officials in Washington DC freaked out! We judge reluctantly set a trial date;,infening that this didn't even know they were still involved with or could be settled outside of court/(It should be noted interested in the case. They came back with a here that early on in the dis'cOvery process we counter offer of something to the effect of" $5,000 discovered that one of our people, Terry Johnson, each and our signature stating that we promise was an infiltrator working for the Forest Service. (See not to attend an unpermitted gathering on a EF!J ]une-July 1999).) · national forest (ever)." No EviCTIONS SINCE DEADLINE The snow has been falling lightly on the canyon black cargo plane flying a mere fifty feet off the walls as many new lambs begin their lives roaming ground. The spectacle of a four gun bomber big the sagebrush near Big Mountain. Despite the big enough to carry several tanks slowly passing over deadline no forced evictions have taken place as of traditional Dineh elders, sheep, and HPL hogans yet. According to the healing in San Francisco on was quite alarming. Smaller Sesna style planes Febuary 22, no official forced evictions will be continue near daily fly bys usually around 100 allowed to take place until a verdict has been feet from the ground. released on the Manybeads vs. United States On the positive side, there has been a lot of Government case. This verdict is international support on the land not expected for another three recently, including supporters months to a year. However, at from Germany, Italy, England, that timetraditionals living on the Swedish parliament and the Hopi Partitioned Land (HPL) Japanese peace walk. However, could face immediate, mili­ as the deadline past, many are tary-armed evi<:tions. In the beginning to return to their meantime, blatant intimida­ homes. Historically, after a tion and harassment can be major deadline harassment expected towards the steps up as supporters traditionals of HPL. dwindle. Therefore, now is a In the beginning of Febru­ great time to come support ary, two middle-aged men the elders of Big Mountain. dressed in·plain clothes driv­ To the traditionals of Black ing a fancy white pick up · Mesa, this is a way of life and truck approached one of the not just a deadline. The flocks shepherds hogan on HPL un­ are growing, the grandmas are announced. After probing for weaving and Dineh grandchil­ names and the whereabouts dren are befriending Hopi of long-time supporters, it be­ youth. These are the traditional came clear they had unfriendly ways which protect all life on intentions. They were asked to Black Mesa. As Pauline leave several times by the two Whitesinger's 17 year old grand­ female supporters who were alone daughter, Rachel explains, the sheep in the hogan at the time. While are like our banks, but they are more ignoring these requests, they continued to scan the powerful because they are living! homesite for supporters and information. When For more information contact, Black Mesa Indig­ one of the supporters began to take .their license enous Support POB 23501, Flagstaff, AZ 86002; (520) plate number, they proceeded to leave, but not 773-8086; granmonta@l)otmail.com; before turning to her saying, "You better be careful www .blackmesais.org. This is a nonviolent.effort!No out here, especially at night." weapons, alcohol or drugs!· · On February 13th several supporters sighted a -BLACK MESA INDIGENOUS SUPPORT Page 11 Earth First! Beltane 2000 r]J~ flu dtkt ot ({)huJ_ C7lllli tant to white pine blister rust, which has taken many BY MADRONE AND MSH of the pines in the area. A pair of spotted owls are In mid-summer 1999 a new treesit campaign was known to nest a half mile from unit five. A creek that born of Cascadian resistance. One more beacon of runs just east ofthe unit is home to :ihe enc;lat:lgeted ·"' sanity on this lost nation's public lands. It was July 4, coho salmon and Umpqua cutthroat Q:outtBlack bear, 1999, that the first act of defiance was taken against ·Roosevelt elk, pileated woodpecker, deer~Yin"g squir­ the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Herbert rels and owls have all been seen in tlit for;est The Lui(nber Corporation in the Right View Timber Sale. A biological opinion for this sale was rul~d illegal by beautiful sugar pme, Dudly (or was it deadly?), was the. Judge Rothstein in 1998, and the BLMhastt>een unable first tree climbed in the unit. Madre Loca is the to prove that they have a legal biological opinion. · Douglas fir that has held us above the ground for eight The BLM is using the notorious. Salvage Rider . to months. She stands tall and proud in the middle of the exempt Right View from environmental laws. On unit where BLM has planned to build a logging road. March 15, eight months after the original death sen~ On July 12 the treesitters in Madre Loca awoke to tence, everything changed. Stirred from slumber by ·· loggers tramping through the forest. The loggers were rumbling vehicles, the treesitter in Madre Loca poked quite confused when they discovered the treesit. After his head from the platform, knowing what was up. having a nice conversation they told the occupants . Hardhats, badges and five-foot saws were Jllarchirig ..., ., that, "We're gopna have to tell our boss about this." A - down the hillside. They had come to cut the unit. fewhourslatertheBLMcametovisitandissueda 160- About 25-30 law enforcement officials were present· acre forest closure that is still in effect. The tre¢sit is from federal, state and local agencies as well as about located in unit five, the last standing unit of the Right 14 employees of Herbert Lumber. The closure notice · · View Timber Sale. Of the four other units that have was read and the sitter was informed that he was already been butchered, two resulted in massive land- "interfering with an agricultural project," and was peaked with the collision of a falling tree (40 feet from slides dumping tons of sediment into Cole Creek,. a asked to come down. Declining the offer, the loggers the treesit) to a large Doug fir that was tied in with tributary of the North Umpqua River. Theforestarourtd were given the green ljght to proceed. They began to: walkwa}rs. The resulting chain reaction jerked Madre Madre Loca was full of Doug firs of all ages, incense work at a reckless speed and at times yelling "fuckyou" · nearly knocking the sitter off the platform. cedar, grand fir, madrones, the treasured sugar pine as a tree was felled. The air was filled with the smell of Thirty-two acres were decimated in one and a half and all the diversity that an old-growth forest offers. dying trees, the sound of technological ignorance, the days. It took less than 36 hours to destroy a function- The sugar pines were huge and seemed to be resis- screeches and cries of falling elders'all around. · ing ecosystem. Madre Loca and a "buffer zone" of The Earth shook violently with the crash of about one acre remain standing. The life of the treesitter each tree. Law enforcement officers waited remains in great danger due to blow down from the below the tree at all times and .stood post edge effect. The Madre Loca treesit will remain occu­ around the closure, which had been extended pied until we have proof that the trees remaining will to keep those concerned even further from the not be cut. Please help us to save these trees and bring murder. With no way in for suppprters, the the sitter to safety. Mischief and Trouble, the crazy sitter was lisolat.ed and prepan~d"' .for .~ w~ ' fl~:!Jg ~.quirrels, play~ i:q..M~!4~e ~o.ca.. ~~c!f l)ig,ht-,,We longed stay. Maintaining composure,.he spoke . heard the great homed owl and the frogs still croak. A truth to power and found most of the ecocidal mouse moved into Madre a few days after the logging participants very ill"informed of forest issues ·· was done. We mo11m the lostof our elders, friends and fin general. "The Earth is here for us to use," .the 111agical place that existed, but the forest will " came one not so surprising reply. As the crews . forever live in pur minds. and hearts. The BLM and b,roke for lunch, one logger whistled a pathetic . Herbert Lumber will neyer take that away from us. replacement for the birdsongs that no longer F()r more informatiol) coi1tact Madre Loca Alliance, ·filled the air. Psychological harassment .was . POBlll22, Eugene, OR 97440. For great facts and intermittent, and physical endangerment photographs,checkoutwww.umpqua-watersheds.org. Prairie Dogs: "Warranted butpreclud~d" from .ESA... the commissions responded by passing a proposal not to participate, in any BY ]oNATiiAN PRocroR form, . in the reintroduction of black-tailed prairie dogs into Arizona. The The black-tailed prairie dog deserves to be listed as a threatened species, but Kansas Legislature was next to fail the test. On February 21, a proposal to will not receive federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections due to a lack repeal the state's mandatory prairie dog poisoning laws (first enacted in 1903) of money and staff, said US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officials on met defeat in a House Agricultural subcommittee meeting. This proposal February 4. Predator Conservation Alliance (PCA) is responding with a merely would have allowed private landowners to manage prairie dogs as they demand for immediate action from involved states and federal agencies. saw fit instead of being forced to poison them. . . • The FWS ruled the black-tailed prairie dog "warranted but precluded" for Since the two petitions were filed in the summer of 1998, none of the involved protection under the ESA. This means the species is biologically imperiled and states have changed the management status of prairie dogs from that of a pest or in need of protection and a recovery plan, but the agency will not proceed with non-game species to that of a wildlife species of special concern. Nor have the a listing proposal or ESA protection. states asked for any reductions in poisoning or recreational shooting of the This decision is the federal government's response to two petitions to list the species on federal and state lands. black-tailed prairie dog for protection. The first petition The agencies have already shown steps for protection are was filed by the National Wildlife Federation in July 1998 possible. The Forest Service placed a temporary moratorium last and the second by PCA, Biodiversity Legal Foundation and year on prairie dog poisoning on all Forest Service lands. Last biologist Jon Sharps in August 1998. September the Burea11 of Land Management banned recre­ With this decision, the FWS has formally acknowledged ational shooting on 15 prairie dog · towns in north-central that the black~tailed prairie dog is threatened with extinction. Montana to increase the ch(lnce for success of an adjacent FWS Unfortunately, the decision only establishes formal recogni­ ferret reintroduction program. Also last year, Arizona closed its tion of the problem, but changes nothing on the ground. shooting season on black-tailed prairie dogs. Although this Noting budgetary constraints and a heavy workload, FWS move was more symbolic than effective (black-tailed prairie instead passed the buck to the 11 states within the black­ dogs were extirpated from Arizona over 40 years ago), it helps set tailed prairie dog's historic range, highlighting the ability ~ the stage for a possible reintroduction in the future. . and recent "com1!lltment" of these states.to improve the ~ We remain committed to seeing prairie dogs occupy 10 percent plight of the species. As of now, the states have yet to act. ~ of all suitable habitat on public lands throughout their historic Unfortunately, all indications are that the states are not ~ range.:This will benefit-path the prairie dog and all of the species truly committed to improving the situation. I. that ~re associated with the prahie dog ecosystem including the The Ar~zqp,a Game. and Fish Conp::~1issi~11 set a terrible " black-footed ferret, swift fox, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk preceqeqt...,...the first state act~on on the black-,tailed since and molintainplover. . · ... ·· .. ··. . , ,, ,,> . the· "warranted but precluded" f~nding. Only three 4

learning, teaching and adaptation, nests. If potential nest sites were lo­ clirtlbers are scheduled to return in early BY liD rooted in self-governance and re­ cated, a climber was sent to verify Aprirto do more extensive surveying in Like the forest itself, the Fall Creek spect, growing toward freedom and the nest. The surveys on all 96 acres units where no nests were·found. tree village transforms and evolves liberation· for all life. were completed in three. days, all With the help of supportive locals, as the winter calm passes and the .Current Forest Service activity here under the armed guard of Forest Ser- we will continue to flag trees with roads of forest defense become in­ vice Law Enforcement. potential nests so they can be identi­ creasingly more exciting~ Our scope The unnecessary and fied. Although the management pro­ is on the Clark Tiinber Sale, a would­ .,. excessive law enforce­ tocol for dealing with voles has yet to be 96-acre clearcut ofpublicly-owned - ~ ment presence that ar­ be determined, we still support the ancient forestinthe Willamette Na­ ! riyed with the survey­ surveys and skeptically hope for the tiona1 Forest by Zip-0 Log Mills of S. ors has yet to reappear, best in terms of protection: Eugene, Oregon, '[ leaving us wondering We are planning forest action/wil­ ~ . .· . . Knowing this· ancient, beautiful derness survival and necessary ecosystem needs to camps this spring ~nd remain wild and free forits_own sake' summer to coinbde as well as ours, we have:held strong with Eugene Active for nearly two years: Existence (see page These trees will never feel the bloody 30).' We hope to gen­ axes of Zip-0, will never .fall to serve erate new energy and the greed of the masses or to give rise to support, as logging a sterile, monoculture treefarm...... · . season is just around We will sparetheforest the·reaHty' the corner! The. sec- of corporate culture civilization, de­ . ond planned Direct spite eviction tactics usedbythe US Action Training Forest Service, whicii nave ranged Camp an:d Skill Share from humorous to inconve:q'fent to •- is June S-'12: The for­ life threatening. .est needs you! Life at At. Fall Creek for two years now, we Fall Creek· iS notori­ have endured road and forest clo­ ously exciting in the sures, witnessed the destt:uction and . spring and summer. burning of out ground camps and Come for a visit or personal gear and have been kept up stay for a while. nights pyattempts to annoy us into For more information willful eviction. We hav.e had our contact Red Cloud lives endangered while occupying Thunder/Cascadia For­ road blockades, as law enforcement est Defenders, POB officers recklessly dismantled them 11122, .Eugene, OR from underneath us. We stay ever has focused mainly on the recently :;., 97440; (541) 684-8977; ready to defend the forests against raids court-ordered red tree vole surveys. It [email protected]. To {") from ground or air. The agency has blatantly ignored g express your outrage All of these Forest Service offensives the surveys required under the ~ about lOgging on pub­ have only served to make us stron­ No-rthwest Forest Plan. The Forest llic lands, contact Rep- ger. Through building a community Service admittedly has little experi- · resentativE Peter that is fluid, creative and interde­ ence surveying for voles and has yet Walking the traverse at DeFazio, 151 W 7 Ave pendent, constructing and occupy­ to determine the most effective what they're really up to. Suite 400, Eugene, ·OR 97401; ing treesits, road defense, ground means of . finding these canopy Although some voles were found, we [email protected]; (541) support and in town campaigning, dwellers. The surveyors walked spe­ l>elievethispseudo-sdentificprocesswill 465-6732; 465-6458 (fax) or Chief we keep our larger vision in mind. A cific transects in each unit and at never accurately represent or protect Michael Dombeck, US Forest Service, vision of a forest protected as well as certain coordinates looked up into the diversity of life found in the forest. Auditors Building, 20114thStreet SW, the beginning of a cycle of constant the canopy with binoculars to locate. Wildlife biologists and independent Washington DC 20090; (202) 205-1661.

for recovering lynx to the USFS, the very agency whose management ·policies resulted in the. lynx ...while the Lynx is listed as Threatened decline in the first place. Both the USFWS and the . USFWS concluded that the threat to the lynx is the conservation groups who have fought for lynx pro­ .BY SARA FoLGER ·"lack of guidance to conserve the species in current tection during the past six years have said that A lynx is a rare cat, similar to its cousin the federal land management plans." Therefore a logging, road building, motorized recreation and bobcat, but with longer legs, and much larger conservation agreement recently signed by the increased human access in lynx habitat are the main paws. The lynx' paws are about th.ree and one~ half. US Forest Service (USFS) affecting ail forest man­ reasons for the ·speqies' declfue. To continue to inches across, the sanie as a paw ofa.mdtintain_. agement plans Within surviye in the the lower 48 states, the lynx is going lion three to six times the lynx' size!_.the lynx~ : . .· to need more than a few amendments to favorite prey is the snowshoe hare; whichif de- , · · national forestmanagement plans. pends upon for 60-90 percent of its diet. T<;>,aidin· · It was bad enough that PCA and hunting, the lynx has an acute sense of hearing, othG,r conservation groups had to and its eyes can detect tiny differencesin •· · ·· · wai~ Six years and file three law­ light intensity, allowing it to see white suits (two we won and the last hares on white snow, even in low ltgb.t. ' was filed ·on. March 13 because Finally, after many delays, the US FJsl1 of yet another delay by USFWS) abd Wildlife Service (USFWS) listedtlie to get the agency to finally pro­ lynx as a threatened species under tb.e . teet the lynx' We atenow look­ Endangen!d Species Ad (ESA) across ... ing at a proposal to give the its historic range in the _lower 48 · · · USFS a lead on recovering the states. The Predator Conserva- lynx. It appears· that USFWS is . tion Alliance (PCA)is pleased that .takihg a new approach to the USFWS has finally acknowledged recovery of threatened species­ that the lyrix is iri 'very serious delay, defer an·d delegate. trouble. Hopefully this deCision We are still waiting to see the details of means that in decades and genera-· lynx habitat "will serve as the listing decision. If _our fears prove justified, tions to corne, outdoor enthusiasts a blueprint for recovery." we will pursue all administrative and legal means from Maine to.Washington will have the chance What happened to the practice of the USFWS necessary to ensure the survival and recovery of to catch a glimpse of this beautiful animal or at being responsil:>le for managing recovery of listed the imperiled lynx throughout its former range. least discover its tracks in the deep snow. ·species, including writing its own recovery plan? . For more information contact Predator Conser­ PCA is skeptical of the agency's proposal for From what we have read thus far1 it looks as though vation Alliance I 234 E Menden Hall St, Bozeman recovering the lynx. In making its decision, the the USFWS has. pelegated primary responsibility MT 59715: (406) 587~3389.

Mll)'~fune 2000 Earth Pfrstl · Page 13 U'wA WIN A CRITICAL INJUNCTION: BY PATRICK REINSBOROUGH BLOCKADE REMAINS AT DRILLSITE The U'wa people of Colombia have won an important victory in their life" oil project during the House floor de­ delity Inve.stments. Fidelity offices or-death .struggle to defend their an­ bate on the US military aid package to have been hit by over 50 demonstra­ cestral homelands from oil drilling.On Colombia. When Oxyofficialsarrived tions and direct actions as activists March 30 a Colombian Court ordered at her office they were shocked to be around the world .express their soli­ Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to halt all greeted by the U'wa president and darity with the U'wa. construction work on the Gibraltar 1 supporters from the U'wa Defense Just as Colombian trade unionists drill site because it is on the sacred Working Group. have joined the U'wa "in blockading ancestral land of the U'wa. tribe. The During the intense one-hour meet­ the drill site, Perez was joined by Patricia judge ruled that the drilling would ing, Meriage admitted on record that Buritica, a representative of the Cen­ violate" fundamental rights" · tral Organization ofWork­ of the. U'wa people includ­ ers of Colombia, for a com­ ing their right to life. · munity teach in and then Roberto Perez, the Presi­ a march on Fidelity's Bos­ dent of the U'wa Traditional ton offices. One hundred Authority, issued· the· fol­ Boston area activists with lowing statement in re­ colorful banners and gi­ sponse to the verdict: "The ant puppets staged a raliy injunction speaks of the sus­ and called upon Fidelity pension of the project not to meet with the U'wa rep­ cancellation. We have taken resentative. When Fidel­ an important step and· are ity refused several custom­ happy because we have ad­ " ers publicly divested, and vanced in our struggle even ~ many more vowed to though this has come at ~ spread the word. great sacrifice." · g;; The injunction has Even government officials . bought the U'wa some were willing to admit that · A river running through U'wa homelands time, but thousands of the injunction was a serious I · U'wa continue to block- setback to their efforts to drill in the the U'wa had not been consulted on ade the drill site demanding perma­ region. Alberto Calderon, president of the company's plans to drill Gibraltar nent protection for their full ancestral state oil company Ecopetrol told a news 1. Oxy's admission about the lack of territory. To achieve this goal and pro­ conference, "The project has been para­ consultation gives strong credence to teet their ~lture and homelands the lyzed," The Colombian. government the ongoing legal challenges to OXy's U'wa need the support of activists in and Oxy are appealing the decision. drilling permit in international and the global North. It is up to all of us to The injunction was announced as Colombian courts. show Occidental shareholders like Fi- Perez traveled to. the US to directly "OU maintains the balance of the delity and Vice President Al Gore that confront repres.entatives of the corpo­ world and is the blood of our mother. we will not allow them to quietly rations that are conspiring to destroy In accordance with our natural laws profit from Occidental's crimes. Orga­ his traditionalland and culture .. With whicndon't penp.it the exploitati.on or niz~ in ,YQ\l_L£9Pl~un_ity to support the help of Representative Cynthia destruction of nature, we demand that the U'wa resistance. McKinney (D-GA), Robertp was able you respect ourrights, our culture and For more information contact to surprise Oxy Vice President Larry our lives," declared Perez. Rainforest Action Network, 221 Pine Meriage. Merh1ge had requested a The U'wa representative also trav- Street Suite 500, San Francisco, CA meeting with McKinney in response eled to Boston to confront one of 94104; (415) 398-4404; to her remarks on Oxy's controversial Occidental's major shareholders, Fi- [email protected]; www.ran.org. Organic Tea Strains Sri Lanka Natural organically grown products are not new to Sri BY HEMANTHA WITHANAGE Lankans, nor to the people in many other tropical coun­ .. The greenery; wet soil and pure water springs brings you tries. They are available in the forests and even in home · the impression of virginity. Darkness in the forest and gardens. These kinds of products have a great demand in .sounds of birds and insects create a different world.· You .the north. Foreign demand for organic products can have can experience this in Sinharaja, which is the most famous negative environmental effects on untouched lands .in virgin forest in Sri Lanka. It houses the highest number of southern countries ~ species and the highest endemic population in Sri Lanka. ·· Sinharaja Plantations Organic Ltd., is set to clear the 62 The National Conservation Review of the country's hectaresoflandsinSooriyakanda Village in theRathnapura natural forest carried out from 1991-96 recorded 337 District, close to Sinharaja; to grow organic tea, 'flowers species of woody plants in the sample plots that were and vegetables for the international market. This area invent.oried. Of th~se species, 192 are endemic and 116 holds virgin forest, secondary forests a:t;1d cardamom and globally threatened. Because of its importance, Sinharaja tea bushes as undergrowth. Cardamon is ·a valuable spice . Man and Biosphere Site was declared a World Heritage and a natural organic product, which generates incomes Site by the United Nations Educational Scientific and: for SO families of the Ilumbakanda Village, located near · · Cultural Organization in 1989. · the site. Additionally, these forests offer the environmen- The forest spreads in about 72,000 acres through West- tal service of generating water for the Delgoda Ganga ern, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces. Twenty- River, which is used by the population of the Ilumbakan.da two~thousand acres constitute the core area. village and other downstream villages. Until1972 the forests' total area reached over 120,000 · Nevertheless, the Board of Investment, a government acres, but unfortunately it was reduced by logging activi- body, has already approved this project, in absence of ties between 1972-77. The logging was stopped thanks to . any Environmental Impact Assessment. Villagers' orga­ the work of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society-Sri nizations, together with environmental groups, are ve- Lanka and soine concerned individuals. Since then, the hemently opposing .this project, · logged·areas have regenerated with giant trees, and the It has also been announced that a very powerful secondary forest is luxurious. cabinet minister is supporting it due to his relationship As with many other forests in the country, Sinharaja ·· with the project proponent. Defenders of the forest hope Forest has also been subjected to heavy encroachment. that the chief minister of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Thousands of acres have been cleared for tea cultivation . : Council denies the. permission for the project. At the since British colonization. After independence, a policy of : same time, they·are urging UNESCO and other concerned nationalization was applied and these lands were taken by . .people to take actions to protect this unique .habitat. the Land Reform Commission in 1974. Tea cultivation For more information contact the World Rainforest was stopped, but in 1999 problems started again due to Movement, Inc.; Fosseway Business Cenre Stratford Road, the release of 62 hectares of dense forest adjoiningSinharaja Moreton-in-Marsh GL56 9NQ UK; (441) 608-652-893; for organic tea cultivation. [email protected]. Page 14 Earth First! Beltane 2000 Hunting in Ontario's Wilderness Parks? These latest assaults have to be put in the context source budgets each cut by roughly 40 percent, BY ANITA Iw tower over a luxurious understory and dove into the bush after being hit from be­ was first approached by of tree ferns, conical-shaped sassa­ hind. Other occupants of the car were frog marched the aboriginal leaders and fras, pomaderis, mountain pepper out of the car while cine man was hit a group of 40 peaceful sup­ and cushion-like mosses. ·with a hammer repeatedly through porters. The loggers re­ For more information see the window and a woman was sponded angrily by www .geco.org.att/ attack.html. stabbed with an iron bar. They were punching and throwing Send letters of protest to Victorian thrown into a ditch and made to sit several people to the Minister for the Environment Sherryl with their heads down on the ground ground before leaving. Po- Albert Hayes, indigenous to the threatened area, Garbutt,+(613) 9637-8920 (fax); while they were beaten. They were lice did not attend. serves an eviction notice. [email protected].

in no way benefit Northcliffe. With this in mind, localgreen groups have D.iRECT ActioN foR tltE BooRARA .FoREST set up forest camps and organised nonviolent actions in protest with BY MARTIIA CLEMEN of our majestic karri and jarrah forests have been that the reading process has some success. Pro-industry and tim­ over to companies like Simcoa and slowed and a great deal of police and ber groups have also organised pro­ The southwestern re- Sotico(formerlyWestfarmerBunnings) forestry resources are being diverted to tests and actions, most notably· fire gion of Western Austra- to be turned, for the most part, into allow for logging. So far there have bombing forest camps and forcing lia was a unique and spe- underpriced seventh grade woodchips. been about 20 arrests and multiple people to leave, ramming and ctal place up until about Due to the heat generated by direct "stopwork" actions. There are already chainsawing structures, and blockad­ 200 years ago when European invasion action, as well as public opinion peak­ three occupied tree platforms in. this ing the ·local Craft Shop and Environ­ and colonialism began, and the native ing at 92 percent in favour of ceasing forest; some have cables attached to ment Centre. The centre was forests and its people were extermi- all old-growth logging, the RFA was them and are tied off further into the firebombed in two separate, unsuc­ nated. Although most of Western Aus- overturned. Unfortunately, instead of forest to protect a greater area. We are cessful attempts to raze it, and threats tralia is comprised of desert and even taking the bold steps necessary to save relying on public outrage to change of violence and vandalism have been thoughlandclearinghascreatedahuge both the timber industry and the for­ their minds and continuing direct ac­ made against local "green minded" area that is contaminated by salt, ests, what we received was a cop out. tion to reduce their profits. people and their businesses. clearfelling continues unabated in the Parts of the popular icon forests were On the political side, the forest issue The Department of Conservation and remaining few areas of old-growth for- put into reserves, and a "gradual pha·s­ has made waves. Even traditional Aus­ Land Management directs all of the est. This activity is accelerating the ing out" of logging in the karri up to tralian apathy was shaken in parlia­ operations in the forest and is in charge already shameful record of destruction and after the year 2003. In short, they mentwhen Greens MP Christine Sharp of safety in its worksites. Despite that has left Australia with the highest moved the goal posts and are continu­ unveiled a montage of the largest stump breaches of its own "Calm Act," it rate of mammal extinction in the world. ing business as usual. on record her~.8 metres in diam­ continues to endanger the lives of pro­ Boorara Forest, near Northcliffe, is one Boorara Forest has been earmarked eter. This stump is located in Gardner · testers, workers and innocent bystand­ of the. few remaining areas of hapitat for clearfelling, and machines are cur­ Block, a huge area of once-pristine old­ ers in the forests. Treesitters have had for threatened creatures such as white rently clearing pristine bush to build a growth karri, now a muddy wasteland to watch as bulldozers push trees over and red tailed cockatoos, bandicoots, logging road hampered by the efforts not far frorri Boorara. The politicians metres away and clear right up to the numbats, chuditches and fire-tail of protesters camped on private prop­ have not failed to notice the desire of base of their trees, cope with explo­ finches. erty nearby. The forest is an area of the states' voting population to protect sions goirtg off and watch chainsaws Forest protesting in recent years has about 1,000 hectares, a vital wildlife our native forests. A new political party felling trees nearby. beeri concentrated on individual forest corridor between a conservation park. called "Liberals For Forests" was cre­ The only way to win this campaign blocks, with protesters camping in the artd Entrecastaux National Park. Just as ated with its first policy being an im­ and save Boorara Forest is to stop the sites, erecting tree platforms and other important is that it is a water catch­ mediate ban on old-growth logging. logging. As a group we are under­ structures, locking on and refusing to . ment area, with three rivers running Polls have shown they already have fundedand overworked, like most en­ move. These tactics have resulted in through it and numerous streams and more support than the. current Liberal vironmental organisations. More than escalating public awareness, through natural springs. After the machines left, government. anything we need people to come the media as well as peoples' personal it turned into a barren, wasted ·land­ There has also been organised local down and see for themselves the ex­ experience of witnessing the destruc- scap~the same as all the rest of the involvement. The majority of the resi­ tent of the damage done and help to tion and visiting the forest camps. land for miles around. dents of Northcliffe. are aware that end it before it is lost forever. We In 1998 the state government The fight to save Boorara Forest is the town will suffer from the loss of. urgeptly need support of all and any launched its propaganda campaign to shaping up to be the largest;scale and if this unique and beautiful place. Most · kind these. forests are. to stand. The try to sell the Regional Forest Agree- most intense push to end the carnage; of the logs will be dispatched tomills time is now. ment (RFA)-a 20-year m~nagement . •· with people ·from all different back­ in nearby towns, and the short-term For more information contact plan. This agreement handed the last grounds converging. The results so far economic gain yielded by logging will [email protected].

Page 16 Earth First/ Belttlne 2000 \ LASKA CflON ENTEr(( ..· ALASKA -:; state of siege Pain in the .Access oday Prince William Sound is still a paradise TUnknowable, vast mountain amphitheaters hug calm, green-water fjords that . are occasionally distracted by the plumes of orcas. Massive glaciers hold their ice in fractured suspense. From an island mountain peak, you can·still see the Sound as it was before the first human stepped foot, not a smoke cloud, airplane, city, boat, or SUV in sight­ just hundreds of square miles of forest, mountains, and ocean. But come June 7, the wild character that is Prince William Sound will face an onslaught of bumbling humanity. The Sound, just beginning to recover from the 11-million gallon Exxon oil spill a decade ago, will suddenly be an hour drive from a quarter-million people. An extra 700,000 visitors and as many as 2,000 cars a day will start pouring · into little Whittier (pop. 300) with the opening of a controversial road. The town is absurdly unprepared thanks to false promises for state and federal funding. It has three public toilets, few parking lots, sparse housing, almost no public safety, no medical facilities, and a budget barely in the black. "Please listen to the people whohave testified he~e tonight," Whittier resident Bill Rome tQld state officials at a hearing. "You are inviting a disaster." For years Whittier-founded during World War II as a hidden outpost-has been only serviced by infrequent, rattling, and adventurous train passage through five miles of mostly tunnel. Like Denali National Park, where vehicle access is limited to school buses, Whittier has kept visitors to a manageable annual stream of less than 200,000. But, Gov. Tony Knowles began work last year, anyway. "One word symbolizes what this means, and that word is 'access," ' Knowles said, as he gleefully deto­ nated a ceremonial first-explosion. Rushed road work has had its problems. The tunnel had so many electrical violations, human lives could have been put at grave risk from "explosions, fire, electrocution and possible asphyxiation from toxic fumes," state officials told the . Anchorage Daily News. Assuming they safely make it through the tunnel, hordes of urbanites and tour­ ists will spill out into western Prince William Sound, toting guns, Budweiser, and fishing gear, to board boats with oil-spitting engines. For those boaters who run out of booze, a state agency has been flooded _with requests for permits f9r-floating structures like liquor stores, lodges, and fuel sta­ tions for jet skis. Federal and state agencies don't have the funding, staff, nor coordination to handle this onslaught. In the Sound, 23 of 25 important species have not recovered from Exxon's sickening Exxon spill (they only r~covered 5 percent and still have avoided pay­ ing a $5 billion judgement against them). Considering the cumulative effects of outboard motor spills, fuel dock spills and what-have-you, "we' re basically inviting a pemianent source of pollution into the sound," observed Audubon's Stan Senner. "The long term impact of the road will make the Exxon Valdez pale in significance." Portage Glacier, Alaska. Prince William Sound dE A slick introduction to Alaska n four centuries of resource exploi­ tracts. Then there were the wackos Democrat governor likes to describes but public relati I tation in Alaska, few plunderers who wanted to use Alaska to test the them, the oil industry's relationship Exxon, whic have controlled the region politically industrial use of nuclear bombs, pro­ with Alaska should be characterized percent of its sp and economically as the oil industry po~ing to blow out ll harbor with a as a shrewd, lying, stealing villain. $5 billion pena does today. . series of explosions. Who, other than a governor profit the compa Alaska has always been a treated But the discovery of oil on coddled from the start of his political to those injureQ f as resource colony. Russian imperi­ Alaska's North Slope forever career by oil industry sponsors, they've stalled tl alists enslaved coastal indigenous changed the political climate in would expect anything more than lecting interestl.c people to produce sea otter pelts, Alaska. The oil industry bought poli­ selfish greed from an industry that the earlier judgr nearly driving the animals to extinc­ tics like candy at a conve~ience store. flushes $500,000 an hour' from the The leftover tion. Miners beat their horses to death When, in 1989, Exxon aliowed a state in North Slope profit? and we do noM trying to get to remote rivers and captain without a driver:s license to Despite their lavish gains, the in­ federal scientist fields in vain search of gold. board its supertanker after a dozen dustry avoids oil spill prevention, Exxon Valdez o Having clearcut away most of the vodka doubles, the nation woke up clean up, and monitoring in favor of for decades." Lower 48, logging corporations to the type of industrial tragedy that public relations. British Petr' moved to Alaska where they enjoyed occurs when we let Big Oil go hog Just after its 11-million gallon oil was caught illeg lucrative, government-subsidized wild. spill, the first people Exxon flew to ing waste, after road building and long-term con- Rather than a "partner," as our Alaska were not technical experts, tion. And justJ. , Ten more· threats

Road building in the Copper River Delta The Delta; America's largest intact wetland, home to world famous Copper River Red salmon and the traditional land of Eyak Native people, is threatened by a 30-mile road. Should developers have their way, this pristine region would be marred by clearcuts, strip mines and oil drilling. www.redzone.org

Endangered wildlife Under Alaska's "intensive game management" law, ecosystems must be· managed to produce the "maximum sustained yield" for caribou, moose and other sport hunting targets. "It turns the state into a feed lot," says a biologist. Meanwhile, Cook Inlet beluga whales are being considered for listing as endangered species just as developers are building a new port to export more natural resources through fragile beluga habitat. www.akwildlife.org ·

National Missile Defense system Ron Reagan's doomed "Star Wars" fantasy may be heading for Alaska, with a "theater defense system" planned for deployment in Ft. Greely (home to leftover radiation from past military projects). Clinton could approve this project, which has a long record of failure, as early as this summer. At a cost of $10.5 billion in annual taxpayer dough, NMD is little more than a subsidy for military contractors. www. alaskaactioncente r. org

Logging and road building in the Tongass National Forest America's largest national forest, the Tongass has been crisscrossed by logging roads. On some islands there is hardly a tree standing, but . Alaska's corporate Congressmen are trying to get the forest excluded from a road moratorium. www.akrain.org

Universityland grabs In place of direct funding, state and federal politicians are attempting to give land to the University of Alaska for resource development. The latest proposed ·giveaway: 500,000 acres. Prior University clearcuts can be seen from space. www.alaskaactioncenter.org

Recreational snowmachines and personal watercraft. Believe it or not, plans are afoot for a snowmachine "superhighway" from Alaska to Canada. This comes just as snowmachine-related deaths are rising statewide, as well as conflicts between dogsleds and snowmachiners. Meanwhile, the personal watercraft industry is trying to establish a foothold in Alaska, recently sending its own trade representa­ tive up to soothe increasing concerns about the noise and pollution known as Jetskis.

Toxic military sites . There are more than 648 military toxic sites in Alaska, most in rural communities where food, water and surrounding plants and animals are contaminated with toxic poisons. www.akaction.net

jead ahead .. Photo by RobertS. Finnegan/Northwest Media The tourism industry The tourism industry is really beginning to rub Alaskans the wrong way. Not only have their giant cruise ships been found dumping tons of toxic l garbage into coastal waters, but they hold communities hostage to their tions personneL which has worse air quality than Chi­ In Juneau and Washington D.C., patronage, leaving when locals try to impose reasonable taxation on ich only recovered 5 cago, oil drillers poison Cook Inlet Big Oil has its lap dogs. The Legisla­ these floating waste dumps. www.seaknet.alaska.edu/-lccll pill, still hasn't paid a with 3.3 million gallons of drilling ture in Juneau has given more than talty-the amount of waste a year. $1 million to an oil industry lobby Snowmachine, road, and resort access in Denali National Park ,any makes in a year­ Environmental issues aside, Big group, has dwindled the budgets of For the second year in a row, Denali won listing as an endangered ! from the spill. Instead Oil sponsored for a deceptive adver­ state agencies and programs designed national park by a nationwide park monitoring group. Among the their fine in court, col­ tising campaign to impose an unfair, to monitor the industry, and is com­ dangers it faces are snowmachine access and pollution, in addition to Jon money set aside in regressive tax .on Alaska dividend posed of past, and even present, em­ proposed .road and resort development. Though Denali locals are ~ent. checks (a state "balanced budget" ef­ ployees of the oil industry and its ser­ organizing to oppose a resort in the heart of the park, state and federal :roil "is not degrading fort that lost in an advisory vote ·by vices. Sen. Frank Murkowski is us­ officials have an ear bent to the, big surprise, tourism industry! ii,know what to do," a 84 percent); have attempted to mo­ ing high oil prices as an excuse to drill st said last year. "The nopolize against the interests of con­ the Arctic Refuge. Oil industry's "Deathstar" project oil spill may be there sumers and Alaskans; have laid off But the tide is moving out, expos­ Greenpeace protestors are currently huddled in a small hut on an artifi­ hundreds . of workers through ing the industry's filthy practices. . cial island off the Northern Coast of Alaska hoping to stall the first troleum, meanwhile, downsizing; and their pipeline com~ More are more ~laskans are begin­ undersea pipeline in the Outer Continental Shelf. The pipeline, part of :gaily reinjecting drill­ pany hired an industrial espionage ning to yell those words that make the BP's "Deathstar" project, has a 25 percent chance of spilling oiL The :r hiding the informa­ outfit to spy on past and present em­ industry cringe: Tax Big Oil! shifting ice pack and treacherous arctic conditions would make the spill tloutside Anchorage, ployees. Join us in our calling. impossible to clean up. www.greenpeace.org SUbsistence is resistance

n a rainy day in Juneau last fall, five Alaska tion since .colonialists first invaded in the 1762, have continually fought Native women trailed a fishing net gently political efforts that would restrict their cultural relationship with their out into ~ local lagoon. Police and federal land. As a way around a massive Native land claim movement that sprung 0 officers stood on the banks, taking notes and up after oil was found on the North Slope! Congress imposed a "settle­ videotaping. The women brought in five salmoh that ment" whereby every Alaska Native would sacrifice aboriginal title to day, fish they would later dry and give to community their land in exchange for nearly $1 billion and 40 million acres of land. elders. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act required Natives to become Action Center "It's for the sake of the children that all this is tak­ shareholders of regional and local Native Corporations. campaigns involve ing pl

A more direct approach . The Alaska Action CenterorgahiZed more than a year ago to respond to the desperate feeling that we, as Alaskans, have little voice in decisions that affect our communities. We set out to organize and assist a wide range ofgrassroots groups across Alaska. We aim to strengthen those who have felt the blows of isolation, neglect and disenfranchisement, and foster a sense of empowerment, inspiration and unity. Our work empowering communities has received popular support from small towns, Alaska Natives, community councils, and so on. These group's are often overwhelmed by powerful and wealthy special interests exerting undue influence over politicians and public opinion. Our ap­ proach of earning community support first is refreshing to residents, who, once informed and organized, are more likely to defend their back yards or their issue with limited compromise. · · In our short existence we have worked on dozens of projects: And along the way the Alaska Action Center has earned a reputation as a visible and· important player in ~Iaska due to our · fierce dedication to the twin causes of social and environmental JUStice. · Social issues such as Native subsistence, public transportation, and homelessness are naturally wedded to environmental issues like deforestatibn, oil drilling, and industrial tourism in terii1s that all have a common enemy: vested corporate interest and the commodification of human and natural resbl,lrces. Join us in building a powerful and peacefulmovement for democracy, ecology, and community. · ...• ~ ...... •...~ ...... ~ .. ~.~-~········ · ·············• • ~arne: ____ ~------~----~------Mail to: • • Alaska Action Center • • Address: ______--,- ____;.__~-,----.,-- • • P.O. Box230916 • : Anchorage, AK : : Ph~_~e/fax; . · 99523-0916 : ·• · E>-rnail: 'akaction@alaska:com • . . . .. · . . . . · ; ' .. : . . . , . ·...... • ~ ••••. •• ~ •• ~ ••••••••••• .•••• IIi •••••••.••••••• li ••••••••••••••••••. ;: __ ,- - . -. -... _ ·J . . . Dear Ned Ludd, . Nighttime football I have an ethical dilemma. On my ride home · Get some friends together, divide up teams and every day I see this huge ugly tree farm with the play any number of games- i.e. football, soccer or sign "Genetically Engineered Tree Experiment No even stomp the saplings! The point is not to score Trespassing." Being a good tree hugger, I was but to cover as much ground as possible. For experi­ Dear Ned Ludd, taught to save the trees but this one is causing a ments to be ruined, one need only ruin 60-70 What do you think about liberating genetically major internal dilemma. I mean, if those trees percent of the site. So have fun, keep the game short engineered animals from labs? Do you think there contaminate the forests nearby then we'll have GE and ~o trample some baby monster trees! are any risks inherent in those sorts of actions? I just forests! What should I do? can't stand to see animals exist in labs, but I'm -'-CONFUSED IN KALAMAZoo· Hide and seek scared of them mating with other wild animals. Tree identification labels, stakes, tags, signs and In a dilemma, Dear Confused, the like can all be removed, smashed or rearranged. -IvANA DuMoRE A dilemma indeed, but one easily solved. First This is especially appropriate when you don't have Dear Ivana, off, the companies planting these trees are engi­ much time. This sort of fun can really cause head­ Well that's a tough dilemma. Lab raids have been neering trees for profit. Yes, that means making aches for the scientists at the research facilities. an effective tactic in highlighting the horrors of good ol' Monsanto Round-Up Ready™ Trees. Those - Make sure to hide your goodies well and resist the vivisection as well as liberating animals (duh), so trees can (and will) contaminate nearby forests urge to walk off with anything. I'm not going to say that people should not free creating a virtual "Frankenforest." Those bastards transgenic (GE) animals from labs where they are are plundering the genetic realm just as they have · Advice being experimented on. I will say that there is a plundered the rest of the natural world. Be careful. The test sites can be enormous and you tremendous risk for genetic pollution involved. If So my friend, if you feel it is a threat to native . can easily get lost among the rows of monocultuied transgenic animals somehow get out into the wild forests (arid I agree with that sentiment) then trees. As ironic (and gratifying) as it would be to use a (intentionally or by accident) and mate with wild follow your conscience. How to, you ask (props chainsaw to mow down the biohazards, noise is a animals, those foreign genes could be spread into to the "Nighttime Gardener's Guide" for this serious consideration so keep it simple! Also, be pre­ the greater environment. information)? Foresters on the cutting edge of pared for the obvious public relations slant that the So I recommend that people do a considerable nocturnal forestry research have devised the fol- multinationals will take on this sort of action. Overall, amount of research before conducting any lab raid lowing strategies: ' be creative. Just think of all the possibilities~ GE tree (or any action for that matter); Ask yourself if it occupations, nighttime logging competitions ... makes sense to risk the pollution of the natural Ring barking (or girdling) world by liberating transgenic animals. If you feel Trees acquire nutrients through their root sys­ that the risk is not too great and you are fully tems and subsequently their bark. If the bark is committed to providing homes for these animals, severed in a full ring around the tree, nutrients will then I say go ahead. Otherwise, I say don't do it and have a hard time traveling up the tree. Thus, we are risk the lives of even more animals and the greater looking at a tree starved for nutrients and a failed ecosystem. Beware, there is no way to tell that an experiment. This is effective for trees that are not animal is genetically engineered. Even a tag on its fully mature and do not have tremendously thick cage could be incorrect. bark. It works well on poplar, cottonwood and My advice: Be careful, liberate to your heart's aspen. You'll need good tools: Saws, hatchets and desire and consider getting those animals sterilized. mallets will usually do the trick.

trees at the British Columbia Ministry change lignin content, which ac­ of Forest's (MoF) "Tree Improvement celerates growth and yield." San Francisco Bay Area In the first known anti-genetic en­ Branch" in Saanich, BC in late March. On January 3, four incendiaries gineering action in Australia, the "The MoF is committed to transform­ were ignited at Rancho Veal corpora­ group Free Seed Liberation (FSL) ing BC's wild forests into tree farms. tion in Petaluma. There was an esti­ claimed responsibility for pulling up "So we acted on our conscience and On March 26, the Earth Libera­ mated $250,000 in damages. ahout 100 genetically-modified pine­ decontaminated the majority of conif­ tion Front (ELF) made its second TWo trucks belonging to Petaluma · apples in Brisbane. Sometime around erous test trees, numbering in the hun­ appearance in Minneapolis, Min­ Chicken Farms were totally destroyed March 3, protesters br.eached a two­ dreds." We cut, sawed and lopped nesota to protest the reroute of by incendiary devices onJanuary 15. and.:a-half-meter-high barbed wire young trees and ring barked the larger Highway 55 over ·sacred Mendota B&:K Universal Breeders in Fre­ fence to carry· out the late night raid. trees," stated the communique. · land. From the communique: "Four mont were targeted on February "Our governments should be di­ On April 1, just one month after ail machines had wires and hoses cut, 25. Four incendiaries were set re­ recting research dollars into moving ELF raid on a greenhouse containing dirt and sand poured into gas tanks, sulting in the burning of trucks. our- society toward sus- GE O(lts at the University of Minne­ oil tubes and exhaust pipes, engine B&:K breeds lab animals for vivi- tainable organic sota-St. Paul campus, a group calling . parts smashed and messages were . section. In late February, 29 win­ food production, themselves the "Genetic Jokers" left. The_road is not nearly done, dows were smashed at Neiman rather. than devel­ visited the US Forest Service's and neither·are we." · · Marcus causing $100,000 in dam­ oping crops such (USFS) research department. On March 25, near Oxford, En­ ages. It was targeted because of its as these pine­ From the communique: "Six gland, the main electric supply sale of fur products. apples, which are vehicles belonging to tP,e USFS . cables were toppled at the being developed were trashed. The tires were flat­ Campsfield Detention Centre by the Long Island, New York purely to benefit tened, windows were etched, Campsfield 7. "The aim was to cause Six different fur stores were tar ~ the food process~ spraypainted messages left, and major inconvenience to the run­ geted on the night of January 20. ing and biotech­ paint stripper poured on their ning of the private detention cen­ "Windows were broken, locks glued nology indus­ hoods. The building was deco­ tre. Campsfield House holds around shut, lighting ripped down and slo­ tries,." a spokesper­ Legendary rated with painted messages Nighttime · 200 men, mostly political refugees. gans were pasted on the wall." This son for the FSL said. · Forester Johnny like 'No More Tree Pharms' People are being held without was part of an open ended attack on "The Ministry of Appleseed and 'April Fools!' charge, without time liniit, and with:­ all aspects of the animal abuse in­ Forest Defense," a According to the US:FS, the out decent access to legal represen­ dustry, and we will not stop until nighttime forestry agency is looking to 'improve tation," stated the communique. all life is free from exploitation and . group, claimed credit the productivity of forest prod­ The action was dedicated to Barry abuse!!' stated the communique. for the destruction of ucts' by genetically mapping . Horne (UK ALF·prisorier). genetically-modified poplar and white pine trees to

May-June 2000 Earth Fir~tl Page 21 BtSpraying Coming to a National Forest Near You

continued from page 1 with a greater chance of becom­ One of the most lethal and egregious of these is ing Btk resistant. What the Forest Btk. Commercial Btk insecticides are formulated . Service doesn't disclose, however, from naturally occurring bacteria. Btk's effects are several scientific studies show­ upon adult Lepidoptera are not fully known. Btk ing that TMs and spruce bud­ protein spores are eaten by feeding caterpillars. worm (another native species and Once ingested, the protein attaches to the intesti­ _ frequent spraying target) have nal walls, where it grows, produces toxins and an ancientrole in a healthy for­ eventually bursts the intestine, killing the cater­ est ecosystem. These species have pillar. In nature, Btk is one way caterpillar popu­ periodic cyclic population in­ lations are kept in balance so they don't strip an · creases. In a relatively recent ecosystem of its plant life. study, Catherine Parks, research Human societal use of Bt was perhaps first pre­ scientist at Oregon State Univer­ saged by Rachel Carson in her book Silent Spring. sity, revealed that during drought _ Lamenting and fighting societies' us.e of pesticides, periods when: populations peak she hoped for a way to ecologically utilize natural for the caterpillars of conifer biological methods instead. Coupled with this hope needle eating species, the result­ was, of necessity, a hope for change in societal ing defoliation helps trees to sur­ awareness, to work in harmony and humility with vive by reducing the amount of nature. Unfortunately for Lepidoptera and numer­ moisture lost through transpira­ ous other species, corporate societies have learned tion/evaporation. Instead of the use of biological poisons without achieving the retaliating, the defoliated trees necessary humility and respect of humanity's place survive by using their energy to in nature's web of life. Instead, fueled by the build up starch reserves in their mindset of control and dominance over "subservi­ roots. Of course, some trees die­ ent" nature, viewed as a resource for profit and providing nutrients for the soil, utilization, the multitudinal minions of today's reducing competition for scarce society have developed, produced and unleashed moisture and creating homes for Btk to further manipulate the natural world to woodpeckers and numerous other enhance commodity production. species. Since these species have survived.together nation with other bacteria has resulted in the Commercial formulations of Btk are composed for countless centuries without the help of modern · death of mice as well as severe infection and hos­ of Btk bacterial protein mixed with various chemi­ managers or Btk, then why the "need" for spraying? pitalization of humans. As with any biological cals utilized as emulsifier.s and surfactants to dis­ As with many government programs, it is moti­ organism, the tendency to evolve and adapt to perse, spread and adhere the protein to vegetation vated by a strange combination of fear of nature surrounding or changing circumstances is inher­ over a wide area. The actual formula percentages of and desire for commercial profits. Managing the ent. This tendency is increased significantly when Btk can be as low as 2.1 percent. The rest of the national forests for timber production requires levels of Bt spores naturally present are artificially chemicals referred to as "inert" are exempt from dense stands of trees on large areas of land. These increased by commercial spraying. Given the evi­ public disclosure as industry "trade secrets." Yet tree farms would lose some of the economic har­ dence, such spraying is foolish at best and an inert ingredients make up over 97 percent of Btk vest potential if the natural thinning of native ecological and societal nightmare at worst. The spray formulas, containing known ot suspected Lepidoptera was permitted. TM population cycles respiratory, eye and skin irritants of Bt impact carcinogens and are unstudied-including chemi­ peak every nine years. In typical paradox, the USFS numerous species. Birds have been known to aban­ cals listed as hazardous by the federal Occupation, continues to plan timber sales in old-growth stands, don nests in spraying areas or produce fewer sur­ Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The while pretending to be concerned about the loss of vivingyoung. To date research has consisted largely uses of Btk are many, varied, profitable and grow­ critical old-growth habitat as a pretext for spray­ of laboratory experiments upon animals. The full ing with yet more research, genetic engineering ing. Another reason the USFS gives for the spraying impacts of Bt V> wildlife species has never been and the opening of potential new markets. is to protect humans from being irritated by the adequately assessed. Taking its cue from Carson's half heard hope, certi­ stinging hairs of TM caterpillars. Apparently wood So many species are disappearing incrementally fied organic farms are permitted to use Bt as a "natural" workers, and loggers in particular, develop in­ ever closer toward extinction's abyss, many rare insecticide. This helps organic farmers to contend creased hypersensitivity and allergic reactions·to Lepidoptera among them. It is an -unfortunate with Lepidoptera and other insects that feed on crops. the caterpillars' mildly stinging hairs. Stay tuned anthropocentric world view which allows hu­ The non-organic agriculture industry has gone even as the agency next plans to remove the stings of mans to comfortably rationalize numerous spe- further, growing corn that has been genetically engi­ bees, the teeth from bears, or even your own· - cies as pests.or parasites. It is a commodity-blinded neered to produce its own Btk. Agricultural use of Btk, _minds, all to "protec~" us from harm. mindset which calls natural cycles epidemics or from spraying to GE-Btk corn has been significantly Cumulatively, widespread use of Bt is not only · catastrophic. Such viewpoints remain in denial, responsible for part of the serious decline in monarch threatening the survival of numerous Lepidoptera blind t<> our human population rises and the and other butterfly and moth populations. species, it has impacts throughout the food chain. consequent damage inflicted by modern techno­ Other variations of Bt, such as Bti, are used to The various Bt formulas tend to be specific to logical societies on the Earth. curb mosquito, bl~ck fly and other insect popula­ certain genera or species, such as all Lepidoptera, all It is urgently imperative that we joiil together and tions near urban and resort areas. Btk has been black flies or all mosquitoes, This isbecause various act to prevent these atrocities. Once again, the people used by governments from New Zealand to Nova types of Bt proteins match the pH range of the host. responsible have names and addresses. The corporate Scotia to the US in order to slow the spread of the. Different genera vary considerably in their pH manufacturers include: Abbot Laboratories, North Asian gypsy moth. Timber corporations and the US ranges. However, while the Btk which kills Lepi­ Chicago, Illinois 60064; (800) 323-9597 and Monsanto, Forest Service also use Btk on millions of acres to doptera may not kill other genera outright, the Robert Shapiro, 800 N. Linbury, St. Louis, MO 63167; target the caterpillars of native moth species which toxins produced and the harmful inert ingredients (314) 694-1000 defoliate and sometime§ kill trees. in commercial sprays have a wide range of damag­ The USFS is responsible for its inane spraying and The growing widespread use of Btk has severe ing impacts. Caterpillars are eaten by many types needs to hear from the voices and acttons of con­ repercussions to Lepidoptera species. Many-moths of wildlife, providing much needed protein in the cerned people. Address your comments to USFS and butterflies, as with many invertebrates, have lean spring season. Btk toxins from infected dying . Btk Project Leader Bill Funk, (503) 808-2984; Re­ evolved over the ages to fill very specialized eco­ and dead caterpillars are passed throughout the gional Supervisor Harv Forgren, POB 3623, Port~ logical niches. Many species subsist by feeding food· chain .. Many forest speCies. have evolved to land, OR 97208; (503) 808-2200. The street address only on a very limited range of flowers. As native depend upon the cyclic population rises of TMs as is 333 SW 1st Ave, Portland, OR. - · habitat continues to be lost to development and f,Qod sources. Essential soil microbial communities. The League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Moun~ commercial extraction the range of available plants are impacted as well, with Btk's spores and toxins tains BiodiversitY Project along with four other is lessened. Many specialized species are conse­ causing levels of mortality whose full extent ahd groups, are preparing to file a lawsuit in federal quently becoming increasingly rare. Btk sprays .implications are not yet understood. court to. prevent the spraying of national forests . that extirpate rare Lepidoptera species also harm Unnaturally high levels of Btk spores in an E:jCO­ They will be represented by Ficaros, Dugan, Rosas rare plants that may depend upon only one species systems also present other dangers including mu­ and ·Regan, Bahr, Stotter. The Forest Service is of butterfly for pollination and seed propagation. tation, adaptation and resistance. Btk ·toxins· are al-ready attempting to circumvent the legal process Unlike less populous rare species killed by Btk, harmful to mammalian species if they enter the . and spray before an injunction can be obtained. the more numerous TMs, while .suffering severe bloodstream. In most cases the host's pH balance Your help is needed in the fight. For more informa­ mortality, are unlikely to be extirpated. They are prevent ·this from occurring. However, research tion and/or to. contact BlueMts. Biodiversity Project, among the coyotes of the Lepidoptera-resilient exists of instances where Bt interaction and combi- HRC 82, Fossil, OR 97830; (541) .468-2028. Page 22 &JI1h First/ Belt:Jme . ~ Canopy Action Network Takes to the Trees

continued from page 1 least 45 treehouses and a total of four unique story. One of the most success­ nonhierarchical organization and the Wookies do much of the same except and half miles of walkways before the ful treesit campaigns occurred recently irrepressible quest for freedom." their language is not so sophisticated, final eviction. Another creation of this at Watch Mountajn, near a timber Spring recently witnessed the cut­ and they bucket their shit and bury it time period was internets or webs con­ town called RaJ1dle in Lewis County, ting of the Rightview Timber sale in logging roads. The Mava and necting tree to tree composed of nylon Washington. It was an ideal example from the Madre Loca treesit a hun­ Muscona people live in trees of a community organizing dred feet away (see page 12). He joins in rugged mount~inous .ter­ around a treesit. the lineage of sitters like Jakubal, rain because it is the most de~ Huber and Julia who have had a fensible ::position. Altpough Leaves and buds .. treeline perspective on the destruc­ law enfq:icemenf hav:e be~J} The occupations of threat­ tion 0f the old-growth forests. Survi­ able to pull treesitfers~ ddwn ' ened· forests are stretching vors of the Road Wars, also witnessed from shorter ttt;e,sHs, tbey are from months to years. Julia . countless atrocities to nature. still one of the· more empow­ "Butterfly" Hill knew Lesson ered actions· to be a part of. #1 and lived it for two years. Seedlings and saplings The Efe, an African pygmy . The most publi<:ized and well­ At one point in fall 1999 there tribe, climb tall trees to gather known/ treesit campaign was were 11 treesits. Presently, there are frUit and walk fearlessly around built ·on her connection tci five active ones. Eagle Creek, on the branches. As many as 20 .Luna and her personal dedica­ Winberry, Fall Creek, Freshwater and climbers may be in the crown tion, but like life, it had a Madre Loca will soon be joined by of a tree at once. Some of the bittersweet ending. Many summer sits not yet publicized. best Cascadian climbers are at treesitters continue to sit de­ Around each treesit or village is a home 150-200 feet up, half­ spite the losses and small sue• community of dedicated forest ac­ naked, barefoot and without. cesses. It is because it's more tivists willing to do whatever is their safe;o/ clipped on. Using . than a tactic. It has become a needed to defend the last remaining vines, the'Efe.construct bridges symbolic way of life. The life ancient forests. From sitting in trees between :hees. Similar tech­ of the tree and the life of the to organizing public events to mid­ niques called traverses are used tree·sitter become intertwined. night escapades, there are people that in moderti day tree villages. Treesitting can actually heal work at every level to make these They are a means not only to and sustain Earth defenders campaigns a reality. connect one sit to the next but g- living in our disconnected re­ In a show of solidarity, a coalition to link as many trees together ~ ality. Spring, aregulartreesitter of treesit/direct action forest cam­ as possible, so they will be pro­ "' at several Oregon treesits ex- paigns has formed using the name tected. The Efe are superb arbo­ pressed it like this: Canopy Action Network. Sharing our real engineers and can tie vines "Living closer and ever look- collective knowledge and energy, like into many different knots, each ing to nature, breakthroughs branches reaching out, we will fill in with a special function. One climbing webbing cargo nets, trawler fishing nets are made, deep personal issues are those holes that have been cut into technique they use seems like a combi- or circus nets. Activists also used brought to light, and a new level of the forest canopy and make our green nation of girthing with prussic-like carabinerdipstapedontotheirwriststo trust is necessitated by the willingness corridors stronger. treesitters and for- vines for.stirrups. The Dayak people of prevent law enforcement from using · to live in the elements for a purpose ,-est activists around the world send us Malaysia (see EF!J june-July 1998) are . . · their harnesses to pull them from the higher than narrow, self-centered your info and link up to the universal amazing tree climbers as well. They trees. Law enforcement further devel­ aims. Personal vision, communicated carabiner. Sometimes the web of life have been blockading development oped its evil techniques like cutting off and shared through simple means, needs to be tied up with truck rope. and deforestation· of their native·for- every branch below protesters that re­ weaves the colorful fabric of the com­ For more information, go to our ests for the last 15 years. Inherently, fused to come down. Another sit to note munity. We eat and sing together, website at www.pickaxe.org/ tree people are tree defenders. was the Mother Ship at Kennet Camp, ramble at dawn and rant at the com­ links.html or call us at 1-888-pickaxe; The practicalities of living in the up- Newbury, which was built between eight ing of night. Everyday is an exercise in [email protected]. per canopy were passed down from slender trees and could hold up .to 30 traditional peoples to scientists study- people complete·.. with kitchen. The ing rain forests. In the 1920s, Max three-story sit in The Beech at Fairmile Nicholson, who would later be one of took tree squatting to a new level. thefoundersoftheWorldWildlifeFund, · In 1996, using:the arboreal:technol~ was part of an English ·· expedition to · ogy developed during Road Wars; the explore the forest canopy in then Brit- Owl Creek tree village at Headwaters ish Guiaria. With the help of native inNorthernCalifomiawasthe.f.irstUS climbers, they were able to string rope . manifestation of the long-term upper­ ladders froni tree to tree. In tlle 1960s, canopy encampments that we see to­ an American researcher named Elliot day. In 199 7, the Love Pod was another Me Clure built a treesit in Malaysia 120 ' highlight in treesitters' history. It was feet off the ground. For over three years, · the first wrap-around treesit, roomy he and other students of the canopy enough for six or perhaps more. To­ were witness to the glorious details of day you'll find variations of this origi­ life in the rainforest. This is similar to naldesign, now called donuts, in most themagicalvisitswithwildlifethatonly . sit scenarios. In addition, the rocket treesitters today are privy to. Me Clure stove has revolutionized some sits. It last climbed this tr(;!esitat the age of 65; is' energy efficient, made out of re­ by 1977, it and the surrounding forest .. cycled tfn cans arid ash and can boil a had been cut down to make way for the potofwater using about 12 sticks (see Trans-Peninsular Highway. If only he . EF!J -September-October 1999). The too had learned Lesson #1. Luna treesit niay be the originator of the first rain water collection system. Branches . While Fall Creek in the Willamette The evolution of the tree villages of National Forest hosted the first gym today came out of the Road Wars in complete with exercise bike 200 feet England beginning in 1994. The up, platforms made ·with recycled Whitecroft woods hosted the first mod­ innertubes anc;l sticks are the rage at em day tree village in beech trees 60 feet the Winberry treesit also in the up. This was the beginning of the re­ Willamette. Th~ Eagle Creek sit in the naissance period for treesitting. With . Mt. Hood NF in Oregon now hosts a the help oftalentedroCkclimbers, people pod that •one can actually walk up­ set up hammoCks and platforms that right around a 500-year-old tree named were connected by rope walkways. Later Truth. It is now complete with pro­ in Stanworth Valley; another campaign pane heating, cooking and lighting. to bloCk motorway expansion from Au• . There have been many other treesits gust 7, 1994-MayS, 1995, there were at in the paSt 15 years, each with their own May-/line 2000 Earth FirSt! Page 23 Dear SFB, Bush said "environmental prez­ ronmentalists. An award from a mail· is swift enough and inex­ couple of hours my son was cruis­ I was just reading about BLU _dent," he showed enough teeth wise-use group did come to him pensive enough to meet this de­ ing around, completely unaware magazine on the internet and they to make you instinctively dutch in the mail, but he recieved it in mand. that he was regarded by someone had a link to Earth First! so I your throat. I had the same reac­ the same mood the.FBI once ac­ -ROBERT BOLEY (or perhaps the majority?) there clicked on it and right at the top tion while reading Chellis cepted an award from a Sante Fe as a disease. For the fucking record of your website you have "prison­ Glendinning's promotion of "sus- anti-nuclear group; with astonish­ DearSFB, dudes and dudettes (who ever you ers" so I clicked it on and in true . tainableforestry" on national for­ ments. And to visit Charolette Hi. I am a member of an.ALF are and to all who hold that opin­ revolutionary style they give all ests in northern New Mexico Talberth' s Post-Forest-Guardians­ cell in a highly populated city on ion), my son is not a disease. The the pertinent information regard­ (Brigid 2000). Glendinning used bomb contention on the (March the east coast. Though our clan­ real .disease is the way in which ing political prisoners, and the this term three years ago to advo­ 1999) Earth First! website: I do not destine actions are done in the most children in the Westernized whole rotten prison industrial cate the La Mariga Timber Sale, nowandhavenever"forment(ed) middle of the day without any societies are raised, not the chil­ complex. I have always judged which sought to clearcut and hate and violence." _masks to hide our identity. One dren themselves, much less chil­ organizations by their relation­ high-grade a few thousand acres In the radical psychology move­ great example of olle of our un­ dren are raised as my son is being ship to political prisoners and this of rare Southwestern old-growth ments of the 1960s-80s; we pio­ masked~or urban camolifHige raised. Your car that' is plastered to me is the true test of a revolu­ ponderosa pine forest. I asked her neered the idea that politics campaigns with eco-stickers is inore of a dis­ tionary organization. There are so · about this at that time, and she by listing and was when ease than any child, okay? It sad­ ' many groups out there that don't responded by waxing poetic about caring is more w.e tar­ dens rne that so many people in even give ·lip service, but .your the remarkable "ecological knowl­ effective and geted gro- the liberation movement don't organization is for real and not edge" of those who intended to d e m o - cery and accept children. Yes I know about fake in my book and thus com­ cut the sale. When pressed, she cratic-and h,ardware population this and that (I am, by mands even more respect from acknowledged that she had never simulta­ ·stores in our the way, limiting my children to me than previously. So in my been to the sale site, and·was not neously repairs town that one). Remember, what counts is humble opinion Earth First! is the aware that it involved old-growth the broken sold inouse the lifestyle that children are Shit! forest. Having been made aware, world we are and rat glue raised in. I urge everyone to ac­ - TIYESHA MEROE she nevertheless continued to sup­ trying to re­ traps. Not only cept children in the struggle for port this deforestation. place .. To are these ·traps Earth and animal liberation. Ev­ ·· DearSFB, Ike DeVargas, a close personal be the ob­ uime(:essary, but erything you love and fight for is Having spent nearly the last friend of Glendinning's, is the ject of such they ·. · are ex­ (unfortunately) in the hands of decade in New Mexico and com­ owner of the logging company projections tremely cruel and . our little fellow human beings. mitting the last five years to de­ that was awarded the La Monga and attempts .·inhumane. · Our Let's show them some respect and fending her forests, l am -com­ · sale. De Vargas has a long history -at character as­ goal was to prevent acceptance and sow -the seeds of pelled to respond to Chellis of encouraging violence against sassination has consumers from pur- futUre liberationists, 1est we end Glendinning. Undeniably, there environmentalists arid once pub­ been a painful experience. But, in chasing these devices and to stop up with yet another generation of are legitimate social justice issues licly burned forest a,ctivists in ef­ my heart, I know that we are all stores from selling these devices. huinans untouched by the plight that must be resolved in northern figy. He was also the recipient of a aiming toward a saner, more sus­ All live arid humane traps wotild of earth and creatures~ It is hard New Mexico, and sustainal_>le major award by a notorious Wise tainable world: What this tem­ ·remain on the shelves.' Our "ur­ enough being a single parent, try­ communities are a worthy goal. use group. More recently, this cast pestcomes down t-o is justa differ­ ban-cammo" consisted of very ing to find a place in the libera­ Unfortunately, this message has of characters pushed for a timber ent slant on how to get there. nice clothes. Remember, people tionmovementwithoutthe added been co-opted by wise-use activ­ sale called the Agua-Caballos sale. Sustainability by.conservation vs. do judge you b11sed on your ap­ · stress ofknowing we are regarded ists. Chellis Glendinning has of­ One of the biggest timber sales sustainability by our culture. It's pearance. Now is not the time to with so much contempt. ten been an adversary of northern ever offered on New Mexico's an archetypal conflict of our show off that "Meat is Murder" or -A. CHAMPAGNE New Mexico's conservation com­ national forests, this sale proposes time-and deserves real .discus~ "ALF" T -shirt. Also make sure you munity, bypromotingafalsepara­ to log over 10 million board feet­ sion. My hope for this crucial dis­ walk up and down a few cines and Dear Shit For Brains, digrn has contributed to the cut­ -again from old- growth ponde­ cussion is less projection and more that you have some groceries in I see a lot written about stop­ ting of its last remaining stands of rosa pine forests-under the guise honesty. your cart. Nothing will catch the ping corporate America from ancient ponderosa pine trees. of"sustainableforestry" and "for­ -CHELLIS GLENDINNING management's or security's at­ dominating the destruction of the Some "activists" have been so ro­ est health." National .forests will tention more than someone world. Excellent! Now please read manticized by the distinctive never be safe from deceptions like Dear SFB, pushing ·an empty ·cart' for -an slow soyou don't get .lost. The mountain communities of "El this until we end the federal tim­ Hi! The last Earth First! Journal hour or so. Once we began our revolution that separated the Norte" that they have confused ber sales program once and for all. had an inspiring article about El "shopping," we would fill our American colonies from England sustainable, rural needs with pure Once the logging program has Jardin de la Esperanza in New York carts with all the rodent glue traps was funded by the wealthy land profit and greed enterprise. This ended, there will be a lot more City. I was moved the actions of on display and snap or break off owners. When the US constitu­ confusion has debilitated efforts jobs in ecological restoration in Alicia Torres and her community the UPC bar code that the man­ tion was written "we the people" by conservationists. northern New Mexico than there to create and protect this sanctu­ agement usually scans when it is did not include the slaves, bonds­ One of the most tragic results is currently are in logging. ary. A few days after receiving the time to reorder. meh or serfs. These people along the La Manga Timber Sale, in -CHAD HANSON article, the New York Times ran an Next, we would push our carts with the paid labor class and which dozens of SOO-year-old artiCle describing the destruction towards any in-store garbage cans women were thought of as prop­ ponderosas have been chopped Dear EF! of the park and the arrests .of 30 (the deli" or cafeteria has the most.) erty. "We the People" of 1776 down: trees that were alive before activists., Although I had every When no one was looking we translate into those who are ca­ Columbus' · tragic arrival. More regnancy, another sexu­ Dear Shit . For Brains/Lawn Dear editor, conservationists, he does not replace the Journal. But certain ally transmitted disease. I am glad Fuckers, Someone once commented that spend time in his community stories or issues demand direct my four year old, who was sittln' If you despise your neighbor's when former President George spouting violence against envi~ and immediate action. Only e- in his Burly, can't read. For a carcinogenic lawn, then fill some Page Z4 Earth First! BeltaM :ZOOO cups with water and table salt everyone can have a_piece of the Pear eds: Maxxam isn't about to put its fought. I got something of an to make salt balls which you can pie? I think the EF! movement I think it is healthy .for the timber rights for three acre par­ anti-technology message. I be­ throw onto a snow covered lawn here on the East Coast will be movement in the long run to cels up for sale. Let's move on. lieve technology is the key to our so as to appear that they are snow strong enough without needing examine our shortcomings. I'm Save your fighting energy for success. By developing advanced, balls. In the spring, the lawn will its Journal here as well. I'd like to generally glad the Journal has the corporados. clean power sources there would have brown spots. Oops. Pesti­ add how impressed! was byuFun aired the disagree­ Still Looking for another spe­ be no need for polluting fossil cides don't always keep the lawn Guys" saying that violence is a sometimes cies to work with, fuels or dangerous nuclear waste. green. Better off with trees insted. lot easier to start than to -KAREN_ PICKEIT While I didn't catch anything -SODIUM CHLORIDE (Don't be in such a fucking that argued against that, I was to there-had Most Honorable Shit fer Brains, wondering why we oppose ge­ Hola/Adidos, . A huge hug l,lnd _"thank you!" neticallycengineered crops. My Any Earth First!ers in to Kris Maenz for her insightful impression was that, by creating or Central-America, please -_editorial last issue. I share her quality food crops, that can be to conta<:t us! ( wr\rll'-"fl fear that if Earth First! expands to grown in large quantities in labs, are possible also) ip.clude too m11ny, human c{!n­ the problemof the natural world detail, and be ter{!d values, .we may. become being destroyed for farmland No phone, remote Cultu;ral . Sensitivity First! or would be greatly reduced. By fur­ violent, pacifists worse, Earth Also?!? ther development of genetic tech­ Many Earth First!ers attending nology, perhaps even someday the National Organizers Confer­ organic-based machines will end ence feel the movement is ex­ the need -for environmentally panding to include more social harmful power sources and Dear EF! , _ issues, environmental justice, etc. manufacturing techniques alto­ I come not bearing de\ u_1_.cc.. ia t_­ natur~. . That's cool and I respect it, but it gether. (OK, so I am a sci-fi nut. tion or vituperations so I fq\4e~ '-BRUCE SILVERMAN needs to be clarified that only.a But hey, some of it makes a lot of I . small minority of the movement sense!) I suppose a good sum­ ~o::!s i~!:e~ ~~~~i~~ !~~s l~~- Editor's note: even attends this conference, mary of my beliefs would be that praise. Hownovel!The_one.thing I agree 100 percent with your perh&ps 150 of a movement of rather than only facing the on­ I like about theEF!Journalis that sentiments about accuracy in mpn­ thousands and it is hardly an slaught face on, perhaps we it is a publication of a move­ keywrenching the .correct targets. even cross section. Other EF!ers· should .attempt to redirect it. I ment-not an institution which To the magickal people at EF! Unfortunately, the author of the could argue we've expanded into know our resource are limited, is what you get with many other When I first heard of tree-spik­ piece you attached believed the the mainstream conservation but I think we should put some environmental publications. As ing, I saw it as an exquisite way to public relations department ofUC­ . movement, the punk scene, the of them into a little R&D. Find a movem~nt publication, it pro­ .rid the world ofthe soul-lesskind Davis at face value. A day after the spro­ and support companies develop­ vides you .with ongoing debates of murderers, more commonly actions, UC-Davis had to admit pagan ing alternative, clean products, that are current in its branch of referred to as loggers. then one that many of the crops nP•or-r,,,,p, more efficient land management, the environmental movement. day I was visiting .my beautiful were either genetically and so on. Well, that is just my The EF! Journal is also one of the friend Esmerelda, a tree and saw (the Round-Up Ready© two cents. newsiest publications you will a small, solid object jammed in­ or resistant to toxic "'""'"'-• - Anyhow, moving right along, find. It is chock full of informa­ side of her trunk. I was immensely · Brava© herbicide resistan there is no EF! group in my area, tion from around the world, pre­ saddened as I realized the pain toes). When dealing with' but I would like to found one. sented in a format where every this object was causing her. I ties spreading corporate There are currently issues near to reader can find something to fit thought .about tree-spiking and netically engineered crops ·into the me pertaining to Lake Tahoe and his or her taste for the move­ how pained and unhealthy it is environment, it's important to re­ wildernesses that ment, from a quick snack, to a for the trees, not to mention in­ alize that they will always lie, deny touch. I work _full course.intellectuaL banquet. effective. Half of the tree has ,to and slander anyone opposing ·· to college full Finally your Journal ,shows an ir­ . be cut through before a cl1ainsaw GMOs. ,, and Jime reverent zeal where not only do . ever reaches the spike inside. I - NIGHTCRAWLER right.now. If you beard the green establish- am troubled and conc.erned to any helpful . ment with the same vigor as you ·. l•uu•u•·o,~ when highways to search for you on-line, the added expense that will are being built); im­ Journal's webpage was the first energies away prove regulations (reformist, one I found. Naturally, 1 you are doing. takes too long); make it wickedly promptly requested.the intro­ York City · expensive for the corporation to ductory copy. I was very from there, in operate (satisfying, but a crap pleased with what wasinside. Connecticut. shoot in terms of success)-What You give plenty ofways to an ugly, depressing else? There's conservation ease­ get envolved in various ac­ nature-loving llit : ·.tk !!il\li~S ;-;I

:Jvly LIJT WIT3f LVN:Jt onJ-{owWT PRTST'RYT'D ~ nT'DWOO'D S~:AND this area, I felt a huge sense of respon­ preserve a grove. I believed that a BY jULIA BUTTERFLY sibility about the implications and - covenant would be the best way to If someone had told me that I would consequences of my actions. ensure that Luna could live for an­ live in a 1,000-year-old tree for two The agreement was a nearly year­ other millennium. Trusted foresters years withstanding El Nifio storms, long process that involved input from reassured me that the Luna Preserva­ helicopter harassment, and a media many. Everystep and decision I made tion Agreement offered a potential spotlight that would strip away my - was painstakingly thought out. How for healing and restoration that far privacy and lay me -would it affect outweighed any negative impacts as­ open to intense at­ -Luna? How sociated with pulling out already tacks, I would have would it affect downed logs. After this one time PL run far away from the families -in may never again go in the grove and Northern Califor­ Stafford? How take out standing or downed trees. nia. Such was not woulcl the out­ · During the course of the negotia­ to be my fate. come affect tions, Pacific Lumber wanted me to After 738 days liv­ mainstream denounce treesitting, civil disobedi­ ing in the canopy consciousness? ence and forego my freedom of of an ancient red­ Ultimateiy, I speech. I was unwilling to compro­ wood tree, the Luna - got my guid­ mise my beliefs, morals, values or to Preservation Agree­ ance through sign away my First Amendment ment and Deed of prayer. Many rights. The loudest clamor of dissent Covenant was re­ people dismiss about the deal was giving $50,000 to corded, protecting this as too Pacific Lumber to offset lost revenues. Luna and a 204-acre philosophical This money was then donated to grove of her family and not strate­ Humboldt State University for for­ around her in per­ gic. To me, estry research. How could I ·give petuity. Ultimately, prayer and love money to a corporation that is de­ my hope is that are not strate­ stroying forests, watersheds, and even if people still gies; they are a people's lives-and have them donate do not understand way of life. it to "buy-off" future scientists? my intentions, rea­ My intention I believe that everything in life is sons and beliefs for in the Luna energy and that our work is learning negotiating, then [ treesit was to how to direct it. The same is true for we_can just agree " permanently money. Whether we like it or not, to disagree. protect the tree money_is important to most people There are too and· surround­ in our world. It can be a powerful many vital issues ing area and to tool even as we continue to work that need our help rather than our help make the world aware of the de­ toward protecting the life of all spe­ adversity. I've always tried to no(get structionofandentforests.Manypeople cies and ecosystems for their intrinsic caught up with infighting, attacks and have asked -why another treesitter value rather.than depleting resoun:es pettiness that plagues our movement couldn't have taken ·my place in Luna. and habitat for finandal gain. In the and undermines our strength as activ- Last summer, I seriously considered this, struggle to protect the life of aU spe­ ists. Instead I try to focus on honoring and my ground support coordinator, cies including humans, we must use diversity, thinking positively and un- Michael Rising Ground, was prepared the tools available. derstanding people's intentions. to continue the marathon sit. At that I prayed long and hard over this. It Over the two-year treesit vigil; Luna time an agreement seemed imminent. I became clear to -me· that to pay to symbolized the importance of protect- thought that having another activist - protect the area would be using a tool ingold-growth forests and taking per- take my place would not have ensured to gain freedom for a small but impor­ sonal responsibility. Luna became a permanent protection for Luna. tant symbolic area. I will sperid the beacon of hope illuminating the truth Treesitting is an effective tactic to rest of my life doing everything I can that we as individuals can make a dif~ - -gain interim prot~ction for a threat­ to affect positive change for the planet. terence, and as a joined community we ened area, but we must employ other Let's look into our personal lives, can change the world. When deciding strategies such as litigation, land at the_m()ney we spend on vehicles howtoproceedinmyeffortstoprotect swaps and acquisition in order to and fuel to reach the _places and people w_e are defending. Where do the electricity and gas come from that we use in our campaign head­ quarters to function? Computers that The agreement Julia Butterfly -many woods actions himself.); 4) we use to spread our message are a and others crafted to protect Luna Sanctuary Forest, a nonprofit known source of toxic pollution. What is and the surrounding three acres - and trusted by local activists, is able to happening to a river, the air, indig­ near Headwaters Forest is a cov­ inspect the property for -compliance, enous cultures and the poor because enant to restrict use of property, and Julia, as well, has the right to return we use these tools? Ultimately, we essentially a conservation ease­ to the Luna property With some ad­ must-challenge everything we do and ment but with broader reach and vance notice.; 5) The agreement carries decide if the good outweighs the more specific restrictions. the restrictions in perpetuity, even ifthe bad, while trying to reduce the harm Specifically, the agreement out­ land's awnership is transferred. we cause in every possible way. lines five provisions: 1) It states that For every finger pointing at the the purpose is to preserve and maintain .estruction caused by corporations, the ecological value of the Lunaprop­ 50vernments and consumers, I see erty; 2) that Luna shall remain undis­ three fingers pointing back at us. turbed on the Luna property, about 2.9 They stand for power, responsibility acres, in perpetuity and under no cir­ and love. We have the power to cumstances shall Luna, living or dead change our world for the better. We ever be removed from the Luna prop­ have the responsibility to do it. We erty; 3) Pacific Lumber gets to remove have the love Of all life to make this some downed trees (once), subject to a transformation of consciousness last­ written Ecosystem Protection Plan ing. The three fingers rest in the which prote~ Luna, the soil and the palm of our hands, and there lies the ecosystem from damage. (As an aside, . change we wish to see in the world. note that this ecosystem protection - Let us continue to do everything we plan is to be overseen by an Earth can to bring about freedom, justice First!er-tumed-forester, veteran of and peace for all our relations-plant,­ animal and human.

Page 28 Earth First/ Beltane 2000 ..,....,.i~""MMENTA'RYA130UT71-lE LuNA VEAL: 13utiNV n-tE ·13u I '7 'ERFLY negotiating her own deal for trees in treesit" ended with no replacement BY ANDY CAFFREY Headwaters Forest with just a couple installation. I was shocked to first I have yet to of friends and enemies, her snatch- hear of the sit ending on the evening .. meet anyone in ing away of the treesit from Earth news andto hear Julia praise Hurwitz's the movement First! or her praise of our worst en- enlightenment because of his "pro­ who hasn't heard emy Charles Hurwitz and his gressive" deal to end "her"sit. Julia Hill speak, Maxxam corporation, seems, well, Ironically, the message of the sit who hasn't been not out of line at aU for any organi- had initially been one of unity, similar · · deeply moved by zation that still has any of its wits- to the Steelworkers/EF! camaraderie her passion, spirit or tactical sense-left. developing around the Kaiser Alumi­ and intellect and I helped put (mthe first Headwaters num strike against ·shared nemesis especially, her events in the Bay Area in 1986. The Maxxam. Here, in Stafford, was an presence. You can movement was exciting and smart in example of how corporate ownership almostseeheraura. the early days, incredibly vital and in- of state forestry officials and policies in Iknowofnoonein spiring. It was broken and bruised, California led to illegal, rubber stamp, the movement lonely, scary, frontlines activism that obliteration-logging of hillsides cans­ who wants to si- keptHeadwatersfrolncompletelyabat- ing the destruction of fisheries and lenceorcensorher ing during the decade it took tomobi- towns. in anyway, or cur- lize other more suburban groups and These pro-corporation forestry poli­ tail her speaking individualstoamplifythisstapdagainst cies and the resulting rapacious -engagements. Nor corporate ecocide of the remnants of siltificationofsalmonspawningstreams dol know of any- this unique and powerful forest. remainunchangedafterJUlia'ssitended. one complaining · In the process, Earth First! took a The message is no longer being trans- about her book. bomb in the side, was invaded with an mitted by cell phone from atop pirate Yet movement F.BI COINTELPRO, and fended off a . radio station Luna. Julia gave $50,000 critics of her deal corporate PRhate instigation campaigil (establishing a precedent for the price of with Maxxam are which created bogus EF! press releases, a single old-growth tree and surround­ not being listened monkeywrenching recruitment post- ing three acres) and great PR to our worst to with any kind ers and dozens of death threats and enemywhileweweretryingtoannounce of lo~e or respect physical attacks against activists dur- solidarity with a workers strike against and are receiving ing1990'sRedwoodSummer.Butthose this same man who also owns Kaiser hurled invectives were the good old horrible days. Now Aluminum ~ EarthFirst!stillhasa$50,000 to shut up and not we have ratified nonprofit individuals reward'offered for information that jails weaken Julia. running the "Headwaters Campaign" Hurwitz! Hurwitz's Savfugs and Loan "When you consuming all of the riffraff. looting cost taxpayers $1.6 bill.~!!.~ B_l,lt · · · ·· · · · . "'·' Biet;iffraffar!:-i~.faC!!~< 9rtlY::tr~opl~ _:~: _Jul fawlriltstisl616Ji.i.diaitia-Tau~ about . yeais'iij:>1n a '"he-e~ ---wna··responded to--an emergency re- mixing up her and our messages. ·· then I'll take what quest from the ·citiZens of Stafford to Meanwhile global warming contin­ you say more seri- fight for the stability of the hillside ues, intensifying storms and droughts ously, "is the auto- above their town. These are the coura- up here, and Luna sits poking her lone mated first barrage geous jocks who for next to nothing, head above the ridgeline. Beyond the from those who except a bud or two, rigged what would obliterated 200-foot buffer zone seem to feel we all later be christened Luna, and kept the bought to "protect" Luna, itself say- have to be with Julia, uncritically and sit going for almost two months. Julia, agely helicopter logged early in the sit, completely, or we're againstthe move- unaware, was selling her personal be~ she is still completely encircled by ment. This is the same dualism longings at Arkansas flea markets. · clearcuts and landslides on Maxxam haunting the wise-use mind of cor- Imagine the riffraff shock when land. And this remnant, beating heart porate-fed timber workers. they were not involved in the deci- oftheforest, emanating like Butterfly's Julia Hill was a newbie to Pacific sion to end the sit. I did support work love from Luna, will be salvage logged. Northwestforestactivismwhenshesold for the Stafford Giant treesit (aka A quite sad end to the story. her belongings in Arkansas to come Luna) and Julia for her first year. It's a pity Julia didn't learn the first back and scramble 180feetupatreeand . From threemonthsintothesit, hordes · spiritual lesson of the redwoods, that live there for two mindcaltering years. of volunteers lined up to spot her. theforest'sstrengthandmajestycomes To criticize her presumptuousness at Imagine the shock when "Julia's fromholdipg hands at the roots.

with press advisories and press releases and on to effective FLDRIDARucasCAMPRocal message delivery and soundbites: At the camp, the media was all over us as we played with motorcycle c<~:bles, u-locks and BY YAEL lock boxes. Although we practiced direct action blockades, On March 11-17, 85 college students made their way outto we were often reminded that our tactics are not our message Aicadia, Florida, to hone their skills in nonViolent direct and that it's not always appropriate to take action. action at the Ruckus Society's Alternative Spring Break/Global Other workshops included scouting and banner making. Warming Action Camp. We camped out at Peace River with aU Our legal workshop started with the reminder that we are not the fire ants and were awoken early each morning by early breaking the law to get media; we are exposing an injustice risers banging on pots. It was a week of extensive training and while intervening on behalf of a higher law. One such skill sharing, and all of us left the camp with new ideas to keep injustice that we covered at the camp was global climate our actions safe, creative, nonviolent and effective. change, a serious threat that is leading to species extinction The week started with a nonViolence traiiling session. Real­ and the loss of biodiversity. izing that we are attacking the forces of evil, we went over some The Ruckus Society's Alternative Spring Break camp em­ basics of the philosophy of nonviolence-from Gandhi to powered us as students and gave plenty of idea~ for how to Martin Luther King Jr. Although some students believed in raise hell (and awareness) on campus. Students have a lot of nonviolence oruy as a strategy and others as a way of life, we power in their colleges and communities. From running all understood on some level that nonviolence .leads to ac­ divestment campaigns to pressuripg our schools to quit countability, responsibility and trust instead of the hostility, investing in corporations, from tabling at alternative job fairs . tension, anger and powerlessness assodated with violence. to sabotaging interviews with the big bad corporations who We all received an introduction to climbing, put on some come into our schools to try to recruit students, from peti- gear and got on the scaffolding. Some students utilized their .· tions and sit-ins to whatever else works, we need to utilize all climbing training in a role-play of a direct action on the last of oiu tools and skills to facilitate change iii our schools. day of camp. We touched upon the ins and outs of radio · For more information contact the·Ruckus Society, 2054 communications; scanners and frequency analyzers. We also University Ave #204, .Berkeley, CA 94704; (510) 848-9565; went over how to deal with the media during actions, starting 848-9541 (fax); [email protected]; www.ruckus.org.

May-June 2000 Earth First! Page 29 SUPPORT J18 PRISONERS! june 18, 1999 saw massive protests all over the world against global capitalism and its ecological impact. The following have all been jailed in connection with the protests. Robert Thaxton #12112716, Sean Brown, BP5610, HMYOI O.S.P. 2605 State St, Salem, OR Ashfield, Sherwood Rd, 97310, USA (7 years) Pucklechurch, Bristol BS169LY, Kuldip Bajwa DN7230 (21 England (12 months) months) and Stuart Tokam, Thomas Wall, FF4431, HMP DN7072 .(12 months), HMP, ]ebb Belmarsh, Western Way, Avenue, Brixton, London SW2 Thamesmead,London SE280EB, 5XF, England. England (18 months) jeff Booker DN7071, Elmley, Jon Barnett, FB5538, HMYOI, NORTHWEST RONDAY-VOO! 1000 Eastchurch, Sheerness ME1240Z, BedfontRd, Feltham, TW13 4ND, MAY 16-19, WILLAMETTE NATIONAL FOREST, England (21 months) England (6 months) OREGON jailhouse writings by Political Prisoner Robert Thaxton Adherin' to tradition, when the RRR goes back East, we have a big ol' party "Rob the Rich" and "Puck You Bearden" available for $1 from Anti­ in theWest round about Memorial Day. So, come on over to the Willamette Authoritarians Anonymous, POB 11331, Eugene, OR 97440 Valley, and join us for some fun and mischief. We gots lots to see: Diamond Peak Wilderness, Fall Creek tree village, Proceeds will go to Rob's legal defense fund helping to compile North Winberry treesits, a burnt ranger station that we don't know shit Rob's writings and payJegal expenses. about, SO-million-board feet worth of old growth (16,000 full log trucks) to be butchered in the upper North Umpqua River (only 15 miles away) and Check out the Earth Liberation Prisoner's Network a couple of nice hot springs. · "Spirit of Freedom" website at Directions: From Innerstate-5 take exit #188 onta Highway 58. Go on www .geodties.com/earthlibprisoner about 36 miles to Oakridge (home ada burnt ranger station). Two miles east [email protected] of Oakridge and 200 yards past Dink's (market with neon flashing sign, a.k.a.last stop for beer) turn right onto Hill Creek Reservoir Road (FS Rd. 21). Cove/Mallard Coalition Spring Training Within the first mile turn right (stay on Road 21), and go along the west side of the reservoir. Go near 23 miles to the 24-inile marker post (don't be May 26-June 1 . askin', we didn't put the posts up) and within 1/2 mile turn right on into Sacandaga Camp. Ya done made it! · Come.to the Big Wild for a week-long session of trainings. and work­ shops held in the Wing Creek-Twenty Mile sale area to prepare for a summer of protests in the Otter-Wing and Mackey Day timber sales. TAKE DIRECT Tentative workshops include climbing, edible & medicinal wild plant identification, blockades, bipod set-up, grizzly tracking, timber sale/road ACTION AGAINST monitoring and more. Come prepared for rain. On june 17, interrupt the SMOKEY'S FEES! Freddies' diabolical plan to begin logging by dancing on the "Million Dollar Bridge" which acces~es the Wing Creek-Twenty Mile timber sales. JUNE 10 Come and experience it, fall in love with the howl of wolves and The Clinton Administration is magnificent old- growth stands. Vegan meals prepared by Seeds of Peace. likely to make recreation user fees For more information, corifact hs at POB 8968, Moscow, ID 83843; (208) . , permanent .this summer or .try to 882-9755; [email protected], · enact'a fee =cteriio.prqgram iri•order to keep the program 'goilig. · · · ' If you pay your user fees, you will be counted as supporting the program. The fact that you paid MUTUAL AID will increase the chances of user fees being permanently autho­ LEGAL FUND rized. Donit pay unless you warit Smokey and his private partners A sinall group of Seattle activ­ to commercialize, privatize and ists have formed a not-for-profit motorize recreation on America's group to raise funds towards the public lands. legal support of anarchists and On june 10; there will be a other radical activists who are . national day of action to end fee­ facing trials for politically moti­ demo and to put a halt to the vated acts. Our first project will associated corporate-backed ef­ be to raise defense monies for forts to Disneyfy the wild for fun activists being charged with felo­ and profit. nies fromthe anti-WTO dem­ For more information, contact onstrations here in Seattle. We Wild Wilderness 248 NW hope to be established as a legal Wilmington Ave., Bend, OR; defense fund for future trials as 9 7 701; (541 )3'8 5-5 261; well as create a database of sym­ ssilver@wildwild,.erness.org; pathetic attorneys. www. wildwilderness.org. Send checks, international money orders or well-concealed ,cash (checks/money orders DO-IT-YOUQ.SELF made out to "Mutual Aid Legal (DIY) Fund") to: SKILLSHA~E May 18~21 Mutual Aid Legal Fund 924 Gilman POB 95616 Seattle, WA 98145-2616 Berkeley, California. [email protected] A hands-on gathering of tech­ niques and humane technology workshops. Workshops include seedsaving, carpentry, herbalism, Old zines don't die-they get new editors ... Live Wild Or Die #8 self defense, book binding, wine - A new crew has taken the helm of the unsinkable LWOD and are making, bike mechanics and more! looking for submissions. We also have new T-shiJ;t designs av~ilable: . Please send stamps or other- 1) North Amerikan Nighttime Gardeners Guild wise contact us to get on the 2) Winnie the Pooh: Visualize IndustrialCollapse ma_iling list. POB 4934, Berkeley, Send us something and we'll send you something CA, 94704; (510) 496-2740 .. x3951; · [email protected] . .· · · ·· POB 580444, ·Minneapolis,MN · S,S~sk .:_: .· ~.--- ·~ .::"· ·'

· Earth First! Belta'ne 2000 The Nighttime Gardener: A guide for the Shy Nighttime gardener in North Amerika. With detailed instructions on how to research, locate and destroy ge­ netically engineered crops. Available now for free from [email protected].

Fall Creek Tree Village Jubilee! June 5-12

Red Cloud Thunder has occupied the Clark Timber Sale in the Willamette National Eorest since April 20, 1998 ..Since then, this forest has served as training/spawning ground for grassroot~,, no-compromise activism inform­ GREEN ANARCHY #l · Fiddle Down the ing many of the importance of our public lands .. ... ___ _ Join us for a week of intensive workshops, c~mpaign sharing, campfire .FBI! revelry and aboreal piracy! · ·. · , May 24 11:30 a.m. · Workshop topics include: direct action logistics, camp craft, alternative North FBI Headquarters medicine, wilderness survival and networking. America's . San Francisco Please come as self-sufficient as possible. Bring food, fuel, gear and an open very first is­ Federal Building mind. For 'more information contact, Red Cloud Thunder/Cascadia Forest sue of the pa­ Defenders, .POB 11122, Eugene, OR, 97940; (541) 684-8977. per the police Just before noon ort May 24, 1990, can't suppress. in Oakland, CA, a shrapnel­ This issue is an introduc- wrapped car bomb exploded under MoonshadowNeedslnterns tion to deep ecology, ·primitiv(sm, Judi Bari's car seat, nearly killing social ecology, diggers and more. her and injuring Darryl Cherney. We ~re lool

"Where have I been to-miss such ari outstanding publication?" -Dean Whitehead, West Hollywood, CA

The Caretaker Gazette is for ' Semi me my FREE those who would like to live rent­ I YES• trial issue of E/The free and caretake properties Environmental Magazin·e: If I like it, I can · NAME worldwide. Published since 1983, I subscribe for one year (ti issues) for only $19.95. If not, I'll just return the subscription ADDRESS subscribers receive 600+ property ·I invoice n-iarkcd '\:ancel" . and return it to you. caretaking opportunities each year. The FRJ<;E issue is mine to kpcp with n<> cost Subscriptions are only $27/year. The I or obligation to me: . · CITY, STATE, ZIP , AS9830 Caretaker Gozette, Box 5887-EF, I . "· E Magazine, P.O~ Box 2047, Maric)D, 0843305 . · _. : ·I Carefree, AZ 85377(480) 488-1970 ·L· _· For Faster-Ser-Vice Calll-_ 800•967~6572! ::· - ~ - .·. 1. __ ------.1 · or browse: www.caretaker.org Nl~f-ll'I,JlTJ.Jl!~l) ill~)) (jJJtJ)IIIil''Tlll,lllil 'rtll~ i.\JJ(~S 01., i.\NJ.\JU;IJIS)I until they are sued, this record becomes illegal and you MUSIC REVIEW BY SLEVE can sell your spare copy for $100 (likethe last banned Both Chumbawamba and Negatiylandhave been hovering Negativlandrecord, U2)! WonderwheretheCountryBunny on the fringes of the subcultural music world since the early Children'sBoutique across from Oak Court Mall really is! '80s, although in very di(ferentareas: Negativland is rooted in Gasp as scummy advertising guys caught on tape talk ·US cassette-culture experimentalism, while Chumbawamba about how to create fear in consumers while controlling began as one of the "Crass bands" of '80s UK political punk. the water supply! (I'm not kidding, urtfprtunately.) Both have gotten into legaltroubles in the past for co~yright Oh yes... this record actually does have a unifying infringement. "Your best en­ · theme besides ·Teletubbies tertainment value;" as and the Cookie Monster, as Negativland once said. It's a Negativland member "The match made in heaven (or Weatherman" reads from hell) and a perfect follow-up Alex Berkman's 1929 classic to the unexpected worldwide The ABC's Of Anarchism. success of Chumbawamba's Berkman's explanation/exal­ Tubthumperrecord from 1998. tation of anarcho-philosophy Blissfully, there isn't a trace hasn't dated much and still of "real music" anywhere on holds up. In addition, we get this mind-boggling collage of relevant quotes from Doris mangled audio snippets (at Lessing (any EF!ers who have least for more than five sec­ not read Prisons We Choose To onds at a time). Just what you Live Inside should put it on need when that whiny c;ouch their list), Noam Chomsky surfer won't stop trying to,play and the Teletubbies. Casey Neill songs she just Political, noisy and enter­ learned.. Get 'em stoned, sit taining, along with a direct 'em down with this and watch action bedtime story for the 'em wither. In the sometimes­ kids... What more do you a-little-too-insular EF! music want? Give that acoustic gui­ cirdes, only jTchkung! comes tar a rest and check this CD close to this, although tbere's out. Unfortunately it's not on a readily obvious sense. of snotty humor as opposed to vinyl, so I can't cut it up even more on my turntables. You jTchkung!'s grim militancy. could probably write for a tape. Both of these bands also Hear Chumbawamba gleefully destroy their big hit song have extensive back catalogs. Chumbawamba's·English as they collage it to pieces and change the speed! Rock out Rebel Songs or Anarchy and N egativland' s brilliant Dispepsi to stolen music from the Spice Girls, the Beastie Boys, the CD are good starting points. M* A*S*H theme, the Sex Pistols and Grandmaster Flash To order The ABC's of Anarchism, send $10 to the (stealing from Chic, everyone's a plagiarist!) Try to find Journal, or write to Negativland, 1920 Monument Blvd. out where those bands actually are .in this overdriven MF-1, Concord, CA 94520; or Chumbawamba, POB TR666, short-attention-span cutup! Guess how long it will be Leeds LS12 3XJ UK.

THE LAND OF CAl N rounded off baldies but the valleys re­ aftermath of Black '47, the potato fam­ VIDEO REVIEW BY GARY MACFARLANE tain U-shaped characteristics. ine in the Irish countryside. As depicted in the Cold Mountain, The second is the native people of The editing process goes back and Cold River's new video release, Mining the area-the Cree. The direct docu­ forth between interviews, the land the Land of Cai_n, much is at. stake in mentary approach is taken where the and the issue surrounding nickel de­ North Eastern portion of America. La­ interviews and camera angles use a velopment. One can't forget the in­ brador is the eastern end of the Quebec matter-of-fact style that underscores terconnection by this approach. It is peninsula and is considered as part of the credibility of the message by like reading a Noam Chomsky book · theprovinceofNewfoundland, Canada. avoiding dramatization or ove~; state­ where he methodically demolishes It is a land of caribou, sparse northern ment. This same approach has been the opposition, point by point. boreal forests, anadromous fish and the used to great success in such noted ThefilmdocumentstheCree'sstruggle cold northern Atlantic Ocean. The land­ documentary films as Treblinka: to draw the Canadian government's scape is carved out of attention to their in­ ancient rocks, among digenous rights. the oldest on Earth. Not When the video was surprisingly, nickel is made in '98 there had found in these rocks­ beert no decision on supposedly the largest the mining permit. concentration any­ Although the Ca­ where on the planet. nadian government The story is the same recently granted the as it is everywhere. · corporation's'mining Some giant corporation permit, it is contin­ wants to develop some gent upon consulta­ natural treasure that tion with the Cree. functions as the hunt­ This consultation ing grounds for an in­ process could greatly digenous people. It goes alter or even end the without saying that the company's plans for development would Voisey Bay. One can also have negative con­ Bay only hope for the best sequences on the non-human inhabit­ The interviews bore into your con­ for the Cree and the other inhabitants ants of the area. sciousness. One Innu woman in par­ of this land. There are two striking impressions I ticular, stands out as an icon for all Get this video and see it. We need have from viewing Mining the Land of indigenous people. At once she re­ more of this kind of understated and Cain.· The first is the stark, beautiful sembles photos I've seen of the Saami powerful work. landscape found in Labrador. No won­ or Lapp people of northern Norway, To purch~se one of your own contact der the Innu love this place. Imagine a Sweden, Finland and Russia, thelnuit Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers Video fjord land that has beenweathered by a of Alaska and Canada, and most in­ Project, POB 7941,Missoula, MT 59807; few million years ofgeologkprocesses terestingly, a Gaelic woman (photo (406) 728-0867; [email protected]; where the tops of mountains · are circa 1850) struggling through the www.wildrockies.org/cmcr. · Page 32 Earth First/ Beltane 2000 Earth First! Trinkets and Snake Oil BOOKS WRITE FOR YOUR Anarchist Farm Ecological Resistance By Jane Doe. This anarchist version of Ani­ Movements: mal Farm will inspire activists young and FREE COPYOF~: old. A great read! Fiction, 192 pages, $10. The Global Emergence of Concrete Radical and Popular By Paul Chadwick. A full-color, illustrated Environmentalism MERCHANDISE CATALOG comic (graphic) novel about a group ofEF!ers Edited by Bron Taylor. A thorough study who contact Concrete (a mountaineer/writer of the driving forces behind radical envi­ trapped in a large concrete body) to help save ronmental movements around the world. an old-growth forest. Full of EF! history and Nonfiction, 422 pages; $20. philosophy. Fiction, 160 pages, $18. The End of Nature Desert Solitaire: By Bill McKibben. A Compilat~on of A Season in the Wilderness apocalyptic theory and bottom-line solu­ tions. McKibben pulls no punches in this By Edward Abbey. Our favorite naturalist . enlightening science-based thrashing of poetically shares his experience as a ranger industrial civilization. Nonfiction, 226 in desert country. Nonfiction, 337 pages, $7. pages, $12. Do or Die#8: Green Rage: Voices from Earth First! Radical Environmentalism This journal is filled to the brim with direct action, resistance, theory, critique, sabotage, and.the Unmaking of and subversion. British EF!ers have put to­ · Civilization gether a must read for revolutionary ecolo­ By Christopher Manes. A brilliiuit defense gists. This may be the last issue, so order of radical environmentalism, challenging now while supplies last! 345 pages, $15. the ethics of modem industrial society and Earth First! asserting the right of the natural world to blossom, evolve and exist for its own sake. Direct Action Manual Nonfiction, 291 pages, $13. The antidote to despair. Everything you need­ to know about blockading tactics, techniques Grizzly Years: and devices to defend the Earth, from In Search of the American monkeywrenching to civil disobedience. Fully illustrated; lots of diagrams and graph­ Wilderness ics, 154 pages, $8. By Doug Peacock. A chilling account of . tracking grizzly in the wilderness of Mon­ Earth First! tana. Grizzly Years is a soul jerking adven­ Campfire Poems: ture story. Nonfiction, 288 pages, $14. An Anthology of Biocentric The Monkeywrench Gang By Edward Abbey. A damn good book Poetry about people who are fed up with devel­ Edited by Dennis FritZinger, Karen Coulter opment and do something a}:>out it. Fiction, and Dwight Metzger. Dozens of poets includ­ 387 pages, $7. ing Rod Coronado, Karen Coulter, Darryl Echt, Dennis Fritzinger, Peter Galvin, A Sand County Almanac Mathew Haun, Lone Wolf Circles, Asant6 And Sketches Here and Riverwind, Snaggletooth and Faith Walker. Reading list, 237 pages, $10. There ByAldo Leopold. Introduction by Robert Negativland/Chumbawamba ECODEFENSE: Finch. Illustrated by Charles W. Schwartz. The ABCs ofAnarchism A Field Guide to Special edition commemorating Leopold's See review page 32 lOOth birthday. A classic description of CD-.· $10 Monkeywrenching land preservation ethics. Written in 1945, 1Tchkung! Edited by Dave Foreman and· Bill Leopold·was way ahead of his time. Non­ Resistance~abo.tage & Music Haywood. Forward by Edward Abbey. The fiction, 228 pages, $10. Enough Rope monkeywrencher's bible. (Make sure to Video about opposition to the industrial Think Like a Mountain: machine, EF! direct action and the Professional Dreamers read the security chapter!) Extensively re­ Acoustic folk duo from Oklahoma vised, expanded third edition. Illustrated, Toward a Council of IWW. Appro:x:imately 90 minutes. VHS-$8 : CD-$10 352 pages, $18. All Beings By John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess. Illustrated by Dailan r------~------, Pugh. This revolutionary book probes into EF! Merchandise Order Form how we are all really animals at heart. # size price Nonfiction, 128 pages, $10. · Refuge By Terry Tempest Williams. An unnatural story of life in the radioactive American West. Tempest William's masterpiece inter­ weaves her mother's breast cancer and shore­ birds threatened by the rise of the Great Salt Lake. Nonfiction, 304 pages, $12. Waste of the West: Send me a new DCheck here for a Public Lands _Ranching By Lynn Jacobs. Encyclopedic overview of grazing. Contains contact list, graphics, charts and maps. A monster of a book. Nonfiction, large format; illustrated, 602 City___ -'----- . State I Country...;______Zip_ . _ pages!, $28. Make checks payable to th~ Earth First! Journal, POB 1415, Euge;e, OR 97440. . ~ow34 w~ks for delivery. Questions? Call (541) 344-8004, Mondays 4-6. L~--~ - ~.;.... ; -~-~-~-~----~------, .1 May-June 2000 Emth First/ Page 33 "This book brings the magic of the ·The Storv of the warner ancient redwoods to children and PiCkAXe: Creek Blockade relates their real-world destructiof! in an honest way .•• the ancient redwoods One and one-halt hours ot incredible tootage documenting one otthe are the anecdote to our despair, and most successful campaigns in Earth Firstl historv. Music teatures through this book, children can come to Tchkungt;.Joules Graves, Casev Neill, Peter learn this magic." Wilde and others. To set up a Josh Brown screening in vour area: 1-888- North Coast Earth First! pickAxe; www.pickaxe.oru. "This is a pro-environment $12pertape book ••. suggesting that children wake up their parents to what's really RIPWTON30 important" The real storv ot November 30, The Beltane Papers 1999 in Seanle. $5 per tape

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is nearing the completion of a feature length film called "Tree-Sit'.' Help su . Fund for · Wanted: New this grass-roots, non-profit effort by ordering an organic "Tree-Sit" ·tee-shirt Wild N·afiire - Merchandise Designs $25-$100 (suggested donation) A non-profit, tax-exempt sizes S M L XL or order one of our videos below. foundation which funds Ever think the Earth First! Send donations to: research; education and merchandise needs to be HAVC- P.O.Box 2198 literature projects. Funding jazzed up? So do we·. Help Redway CA 95560 . proposals and donations can · us with new designs forT­ $3.50 Shipping (USA) $8.00 \Mnr·tn\Atll'lol be sent to: shirts, bumperstickers, Videos from HAVC www.havc.org books, music, etc. What Timber GAP $20 · *PAL avaliabte Fund for Showdown in Seattle $25 · about other stuff? What Wild Nature .· do you think of EF! *Luna - The Stafford Giant Tree-Sit $20 POB 86151, • Fire In The Eyes $15 Portland, OR frisbees or re-usable inugs? Headwaters '97 - Call to Action $15 97286-0151 Write to EF! Designs, POB Headwaters - No Compromise! $15 (503) 232-1286 i41S, Eugene, OR 97440. 415-820-1635 Ask for our activist rates

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Page~--~-----~~------~------~------~ 34 Earth First!. Beltane 2000 US Earth Fir~t! Directory ALASKA Red Gate EF! Steven Smith WEST VIRGINIA North Forests EF! Michael A. Lewis 3400 W 111th St#154,Chicago, IL 60655 Sarah Lawrence College Central Appalachian Biodiversity Project 748 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh, WI 54901 POB 80073, Fairbanks, AK 99708 [email protected] 1 Mead Way, Bronxville, NY 10708-9902 Rt 3, Box 390, Hedgesville, WV 25427 (920) 424-0265 Mike or Billie Shawnee EF! · [email protected] (304) 754-9161 Chippewa Valley EF! POB 6197, Sitka, AK 99835 913 s. Illinois, Carbondale, IL 62901 · Project Harmony WISCONSIN POB 1151, Eau Claire, WI 54702 Alaska Action Center (618) 351-0312; [email protected] 216 W. 122 St, NY, NY 10027 Midwest Headwaters EF! (608) 782-6997 1922 Kuskokwin, Anchorage, AK 99508 INDIANA (212) 662-2878; [email protected] 31 University Square Sand County EF! (907) 56-EARTH; [email protected] Indiana Forest Alliance More Gardens! Coalition Four Lakes-Madison, WI 53715 308 Nelson Hall, Stevens Point, WI 54481 ARIZONA . POB 174, Bloomington, IN 47402 50 Avenue B, NY, NY 10009 (608) 262-9036 [email protected] Arizona Wildlands Museum (812) 332"4878 NORTH CAROLINA P.OB 24988, Tempe, AZ 85285 Buffalo Trace EF! · Balaclava Clad Distro · •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• TucsonEF! POB 3503, Bloomington, IN 47402 721B N. 4 St., Wilmington, NC 28401 I POB 3412, Tucson, AZ 85722 IOWA [email protected] I [email protected] • Prairie Fire EF! Karuah EF! I International Ponderosa Wingnuts POB 1284, Dubuque, lA 52004-1284 POB1485, Asheville, NC 28802 I , 2155 E. Maple #17, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 [email protected] (828) 285-0631; [email protected] I (520) 774-6542; [email protected] KANSAS OHIO I CALIFORNIA Tornado Alley Resistance Cleveland EF! I Northcoast EF! (913) 568-9525 17305 Grovewood Ave Earth First! Directory POB 28, Arcata, CA 95518 LOUISIANA Cleveland, OH 44119; (216) 383-9985 • (707) 825-6598; [email protected] Louisiana EF! Ohio Valley EF! There is an International INDIA Circle of Life Foundation/Julia Butterfly POB 113262, Metairie, LA 70011-3262 POB 17, University of Cincinnati Earth First! web page at: . Anand Skaria POB 388, Garberville, CA 95542 Baratopia EF! · Cincinnati, OH 45221-1001 www.k2net.eo.uk/ef PB #14, Cochin 682001, Kerala (707) 923-9522; fax 923-9532 [email protected] (513) 281-6892 (009) 484-25435 [email protected] ~ Oberlin EF! Bander Bagicha Redwood Action Team/Darryl Cherney MaineEF! Wilder Box 76, Oberlin, OH 44074 AUSTRALIA · . Near Maurya Lok PATNA-800 001 POB 34, Garberville, Ecotopia 95542 RFD 1, POB 6000, Athens, ME 04912 [email protected] Rainforest Information Centre Bihar, Post Box 229 Sonoma County EF!/Biotech Last! Wassumkeag EF! . . Lake Erie EF! POB 368, Lismore, NSW 2480 ISRAEL POB 3321, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 POB 869, Searsport, ME 04974 2233 Parkwood, Toledo, OH 43620 (066) 21 85 OS Green Action Israel Sierra EF! [email protected] Hock-Hocking EF! Australian EF! Action Update . POB 4611, Tel-Aviv, 61046 228 Commerdal St, Dept. #174 MARYLAND 23 Elliott St Athens, OH 45701 [email protected] +.972 (0) 3 516 2349 Neyada City, CA 95959 DC Area EF! Collective (740) 592-2581 EF! Australia Community THE NETHERLANDS Davis EF!/FOW-Cascadia 3123 Montgomery Hall Piankasha EF! Lot 9 Halliford Rd Via Dalby, Qld 4405 Groene Front! (530) 753-1678 College Park, MD 20742; (301) 314-3712 7992 Hopper Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45255 tel/fax 61 (0) .7 3207 0033 Postbus 85069, 3508 AB, Utrecht Fairfax Action Team MASSACHUSETI"S OREGON [email protected] [email protected] · POB 393, Lagunitas, CA 94938 MassEF! Cascadia Forest Alliance CANADA PHILIPPINES· Sacramento EF! POB 35, Montague, MA 01351 POB 4946, Portlimd, OR 97208 North American ALF Press Office Ariel Betan, Green Forum (503) 241-4879; fax 235-9976 POB 376, Carmichael, CA 95609 Mass Direct Action POB 36731 Courtenay, BC V9N 7P1 3rd Floor, Liberty Building Bay Area EF! POB 484, Somerset, MA 02726 Blue Heron EF! (250) 897-0791; fax (419) 858-9065 Pasay Road, Makati, Metro Manila POB 83, Canyon, CA 94516 Jon Chance Reed Coli., SAO, Portland, OR 97202 [email protected] .(2) 816-0986, 851-110, 818-3207 , hotline/message (510) 848-8724 72 Peterborough St, Apt. 31 (503) 771-1112x7875 EFI Prince George Volunteers for Earth Defense Santa Cruz EF!/EF! Radio Boston, MA02215; (617) 859-8155 Southern Willamette EF! Box 1762, Prince George, BC V2L 4V7 189 San Antonio Ext. SFDM MICIDGAN . POB 344, Santa Cruz, CA 95061 POB 10384, Eugene, OR 97440 Boreal Owl 1105 Quezon City (831) 425-3205; [email protected] Wodd Tree Peace Center [email protected] Box 1053, Kamloops, BC VZC 6HZ EF! Campaign East M. Mia. Santa Barbara EF! POB 50814, Kalamazoo, MI 49005 Cascadia Forest Defenders EF! Manitoba , POB 176, Tagig Central PO (616) 383-9317. POB 11122, E11gene, OR 97440 POB 12799, Santa Barbara, CA 93107 599 Talbot Ave, Winnipeg 1632 Tagig, M. Mia. (805) 961-2516; sbef®tain.org Huron River Valley EF! (541) 684-8977; [email protected] Manitoba R2L OR7; (204) 453-9052 POLAND Action Resource Center POB 1735, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Blue Mtns~ Biodiversity Project POB 2104, Venice, CA 90294 Forests Forever HCR 82, Fossil, OR 97830 EF! Toronto Workshop for All Beings (310) 396-3254, fax 392-9965 POB 493, Traverse City, MI 49685 Kalmiopsis EF! POB 195 Stn. B, 119 Spadina Ave POB 40, 43-304 Bielsko, Biala 4 \ , [email protected] MINNESOTA POB 2093, Cave Junction, OR 97523 Toronto, Ontario MST 2W1 tel/fax +48 33 (8)183153 Alluvial EF! Forest Ecosystems Action Group (541) 592-3386; [email protected] [email protected] In Defense of the Earth POB 77027, #102, Pasadena, CA91107 2441 Lyndale AveS, Mpls, MN 55405 PENNSYLVANIA EF! Ottawa Towarzy~two Ekologiczne (909) 422-1637 (612) 450-9178; [email protected] Allegheny EF! Box 4612, Station E "W Obronieziemi" Domonika Baryla \ · Tribes EF! c/o DR Chance Big Woods EF! POB 81011, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Ottawa, Ontario K1S SH8 ul. Limanowskiego 138/42 , POB 10487, San Bernadino, CA 92423 POB 580936, Mpls, MN 55458-0936 Antoinette Dwinga Autonomous Green Action 91-038, Lodz; +48 42 653-38-16 • [email protected] (612) 362-33137 102 Third St, Apt 2, 'Carnegie, PA 15106 POB 4721, Station E, Ottawa [email protected]. pi ' MojaveEF! [email protected] Allegheny Defense Project Ontario K1S 5H9; [email protected] RUSSIA · · POB 492, Lancaster, CA 93584 Wilderness First! POB 245, Clarion, PA 16214 EF! Montrea~ & Diffusion Noire ECODEFENSE! (805) 948-6291 POB 1607S, St. Paul, MN 55116 (814) 223-4996; fax 223-4997 c/o Librairie Alternative Moskovsky prospekt 120-34236006 Peninsular Ranges EF! [email protected] [email protected] 2035 St. Laurent, 2 e etage Kaliningrad/Koenigsburg POB 4738, Irvine, CA 92616-4738 MISSOURI EF! Philadelphia Montreal, Quebec H2X 2T3 tel/f

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Madre Loca Raided...... 12 Innards Birthday for Fall Creek...... 13 Encryption 101...... 3 And the Winner is ...... 13 Mad Scientists Confronted...... 4 U'wa Granted lnjunction.... 14 Earth Last! Smashed...... 5 DA Down Under...... 16 Return of Headwaters EF! ...... S Son of Ned Ludd...... 21 GE Fish and Y ou ...... 6 April Fools on USFS ...... 21 Gray Whales 1-Mitsubishi 0 ...... 7. Round River Rendevous ..... 26 Biodiversity Wins Big...... 9· The ''Deal" ...... 28-29 ORVs::::: Death...... 9 Anarchist Propaganda...... 32 0 .ill