Still, our Tuesday demonstrations went on as planned, sending such a clear and powerful message that our Republican Congressman Frank Riggs responded by reversing his position on logging in Headwaters. Two days after our protest, Riggs unexpectedly announced that he is introducing a new bill in Congress to save Headwaters, saying it has become "a lightening rod for criticism of the woods products industry." And even though Riggs' bill, which involves a trade for federal timber rights in the Smith River Recreation Area, is totally unacceptable, the effect of it for now is to back Maxxam away from their brinksmanship, and cool the immediate threat of logging in the Headwaters ancient redwoods.
These incredible events began a few weeks ago when we found out, with only six days notice, that the California Department of Forestry (CDF) had granted Maxxam/Pacific Lumber an exemption to do "salvage logging" in the pristine Headwaters wilderness area. By the time the cutting was scheduled to begin, we had put together a community coalition and mobilized over 500 people to show up on a weekday in a remote rural area and let Maxxam know in no uncertain terms that we will not let Headwaters fall.
Our three-pronged strategy began with a rally at the log gate leading to Headwaters, attended by an impressive 400-500 people. The rally was called by Earth First!, with our legacy of successful direct action campaigns, and EPIC, the group that has been filing and winning lawsuits over Maxxam/Pacific Lumber's logging practices for the past eight years. It was a powerful, first-time coalition of our two groups, joined by the Mendocino Environmental Center (MEC), Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) and many others. The mostly local crowd was bolstered by Movement activists who poured in from Oregon, Colorado, Nevada and other parts of California in response to our call. One neighborhood teenager summed up the scene with a bewildered shake of his head. "Shitloads," was his only comment.
Company Thugs and Provocateurs
After several sun-drenched hours of songs and speeches, we began phase two of our plan. About 200 of us lined up in a huge caravan to Pacific Lumber headquarters in the company-owned town of Scotia, to deliver a petition containing 12,000 signatures of people opposed to logging in Headwaters. Pacific Lumber President John Campbell had recently stated, while announcing his logging plans, that only 50 or 60 people care about Headwaters Forest. So these 12,000 petition signatures, collected over the past year by the Bay Area Headwaters Coalition, were the perfect answer to his arrogance.
The last time Earth First! had been in Scotia, twelve of our cars had been smashed with baseball bats in broad daylight by pro-company goons, while Humboldt Sheriffs stood by and shrugged. We didn't know what we would encounter this time, but we stated before the caravan left that, whatever the company did, we would meet it with nonviolence.
As we pulled into Scotia, we could see that they were expecting us. The corporate executives had hung hastily made signs out their windows reading, "Earth First! Out of Humboldt," and "Jobs First!" They had also turned on their lawn sprinklers, locked their doors, and posted two guards on the sidewalk in front of their office. One of the guards was a uniformed Humboldt Sheriff in open service of the company, and the other was company security chief Carl Anderson.
Carl Anderson is your classic hammerhead thug. Big, burly and swaggering, he has had many encounters with us over the years. It was Carl Anderson who led the assault on EF! demonstrators in Headwaters in 1991, when EF! activists Lynda and Polly, among others, were swung by their hands and feet and tossed into a ditch. It was also Carl Anderson who, in a later banner hanging action not even on Pacific Lumber land, roughed up EF!er Todd Cinnamon and jerked him up from the ground by his hair.
The crowd assembled in front of the building, unfurling Earth First! banners directly under their "No Earth First!" banners, despite the sprinklers. Cecelia Lanman of EPIC, Kurt Newman and myself were in front, as the designated presenters of the petition. Kurt was one of the original three EF!ers who "discovered," mapped and named Headwaters Forest eight years ago. Kurt was also one of the first EF! tree sitters, but now, suffering from multiple sclerosis, he can barely walk, even with crutches.
We informed Carl Anderson that we wanted to present our petitions to Pacific Lumber President John Campbell, and Carl replied that he would not accept our petitions. Anticipating this response, I just happened to have the bullhorn handy, and I addressed the crowd. "John Campbell won't accept our petitions. He's too busy hiding under his desk!" Cecelia and I looked at each other, instantly ready to risk arrest to deliver the petitions, and asked Carl what he would do if we just walked past him. "You'll have to try it and find out," he answered.
As we stepped forward, both Carl and his sheriff lackey blocked and pushed us, knocking Kurt Newman off his crutches and onto the ground, and shoving KMUD reporter Estelle Fennell down on the grass where the sprinklers were still going. Then the strangest thing happened. Carl Anderson raised his fist in the air and rotated it in a circle. And suddenly, out of nowhere, several young men in tractor caps began hurling themselves at Carl and the sheriff, who tossed them off like incoming fly balls, only to see them hurl themselves again.
The scene was surreal, as no one in the crowd took the bait of these obvious provocateurs. Instead, the crowd stood firm and steady, chanting, "No violence! No violence!" And each time the company thugs got preoccupied with the provocateurs, Cecelia and I took another step forward, closing the gap between us and the door. It was one of the most powerful moments I have witnessed, as the nonviolent crowd created a situation in which the company's violence had no context.
Finally, I addressed John Campbell through the bullhorn, directing it at the second story windows where the executive secretaries were peering out. "If you want to get rid of us," I said, "all you have to do is let our three representatives respectfully deliver our petitions. Otherwise, we're not leaving." And, amazingly, John Campbell, the most powerful man in Humboldt County, backed down.
They had to open two locked doors to let us in, and they locked them again behind us. Cecelia, Kurt and I triumphantly entered the executive offices with our 8-inch tall stack of petitions, Kurt still dazed and shaken by the rough treatment he had received. As we turned to go, Carl Anderson looked me straight in the eye, extended his hand, and gave me a manly handshake, as if to say, "Okay, you won this round."
Meanwhile, Back in the Woods
After our political victory in Scotia, we went back to the base camp at Swimmers Delight, an idyllic campground where the Van Duzen River rolls through the redwoods, to await news from the woods crews. This was the third prong of our 3-pronged action. In addition to the people at the log gate rally and the Scotia offices, there were also 50 activists in the woods, hoping to intercept Pacific Lumber and CDF officials as they made their inspection of the wilderness logging plan.
Unfortunately, the woods crews had not done quite as well as the other two actions. Headwaters is logistically difficult to defend on the ground, because just getting there involves a long trespass hike over steep and rough terrain. Some of the routes are as long as 10 miles, and go through clearcuts that do not provide any cover to hide demonstrators from company security or Stomper vigilantes. There are also five separate locked-gate entrances, making it hard to know where to blockade.
Two people ended up turning back because they could not withstand the physical rigors of the hike. It was also hard for crews to find their way on this moonless night, and many ended up reaching the grove far later than expected. Attempts to blockade the gates failed, because the Pacific Lumber and CDF officials left so early that they beat the demonstrators to the gate.
Nonetheless, when the company and agency officials went into the woods to mark the trees for cutting, they were delayed by slash and boulder barricades in the log roads. And when they reached the grove, they found a large banner hanging that read, "Headwaters Will Stand!"
After the Tuesday demonstrations, about 80 out-of-towners stayed in the base camp for the rest of the week. They spent the time, along with local guides, making repeated forays into Headwaters, mapping, monitoring and familiarizing themselves with the forest, and standing in awe of this primeval wilderness, with ferns that tower over your head and redwood trees 18-feet across, so blithely threatened by businessmen who cannot comprehend their sacredness. All in all, about 100 people virtually occupied Headwaters Forest for the week, training and preparing for future actions. Because this time, the defense of Headwaters was accomplished in the political arena. Next time, we must be ready to defend it on the ground.
If you would like to be notified of future action alerts for Headwaters Forest or other precious remnants of our redwood ecosystem, please call (707) 468-1660 and ask to be added to the EF! action alert list.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1995