PL's Contractor Eric Schatz serves Slapp Suit on Freshwater Sitters

March 5, 2003

Maxxam/Pacific Lumber Going After Tree-Sitters

This morning Pacific Lumber (PL) climbers arrived on the scene in Freshwater watershed in Humboldt county, where at least a dozen people have been sitting in trees, including Remedy who has been high in a redwood tree for over 11 months. Climber Eric, well known to forest defenders, climbed up trees and delivered papers notifying protesters they are the subject of a corporate lawsuit known as a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). The suit seeks injunctions against those served.

Another climber, who appeared to be a new PL climber, tried but failed to climb up to the sitters' platforms. PL has been bringing on new personnel to deal with protesters in their much-contested logging plans in sensitive watersheds, putting ads in the SF Chronicle in recent months advertising for climbers and hiring a new security firm, one of whom cut a tree-sitter with a switch blade three days ago. Forest defenders, human rights monitors, and others in the community are concerned about newly-hired, aggressive people from out of the area going after protesters. Clearly, the idea of a logging company employee extracting young protesters over 100 ft. up in a tree and lowering them to the ground is a dangerous proposition to begin with. Community residents have been urging Pacific Lumber to let the Sheriff's Dept. do their job of arresting people engaged in civil disobedience.

After being stopped from logging without proper permits for sediment discharge from their logging operations in Freshwater watershed, east of Eureka, PL just won their battle with the Regional Water Quality Control Board in that the agency gave them a waiver of waste discharge requirements on three logging plans in the Freshwater watershed, on Feb. 27, clearing the way for logging to resume there. These are logging plans that tree-sitters are in. Tree-sitters are also in the Mattole and Gypsy Mountain.

By 10:30 am this morning, there were at least 50 concerned community people from this rural area on site to monitor the situation. The tree-sits are on Greenwood Heights Rd. and Kneeland Rd. (Myrtle Ave.
exit off highway 101).