by Alicia Littletree
Earth First! put out the call to make March of 1998 "March Against MAXXAM!" Hundreds of forest defenders joined us at base camp and on the front lines to try to say no to despicable Habitat Conservation Plan and to demand Debt for Nature, permanent protection of all 60,000 acres of Headwaters Forest, and jail for Hurwitz.
We kicked off the spring blockading season with a huge rally in Arcata on March 15th, where hundreds of people came out to resist the sell-out deal. The next day we visited the offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, two agencies that signed off on the HCP. Earth First!ers packed into each building with music and laughter, a colorful mass of sound and energy that caught the bureaucrats off guard. When NMFS finally sent one biologist out to talk to the boisterous crowd, we showed them that not only could we sing we also knew what we were talking about. We urged them to oppose the plan and the deal.
Spring Equinox marked the one hundredth day of Julia Butterfly's courageous tree sit vigil atop the thousand year old redwood tree known as Luna. Three to four hundred people flooded in to Stafford to celebrate, and to show solidarity with the residences of the tiny town whose lives were devastated when a mudslide devoured their homes in 1996. The massive debris torrent was the result of a PL clear cut on the steep slope above Stafford. After the demonstration, one hundred and forty people marched to the base of Luna to visit Butterfly, including representatives from the Leonard Peltier Defence committee, who had come to present her with a "Protector of the Woods" award from Leonard himself.
On Monday March 23rd, Earth First! returned to Scotia to shut down MAXXAM. Four people blocked the entrance to PL's corporate head quarters while activists held banners on the roof and picketed the other office doors. One woman perched on top of the flag pole with a banner that read "Workers Yes MAXXAM NO' and a crowd rallied outside.
We wrapped up the festivities with a national day of action on April first. In San Francisco, a crowd of hundreds marched from the Department of Interior to the Department of Justice chanting "Don't be fooled" and calling for the protection of the ancient redwoods.
Even though base camp has closed down for now, there is still much to be done! Logging is ongoing in many areas within the 60,000 acres, including the place known as "Liberty" where an awesome circular platform was set to protect the trees next to All Species Grove. EF! is prepared to defend Liberty. So far it has been a wild season and this is just the beginning.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1998
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