He thought it would be a quiet day in the woods. CDF was supposed to investigate an illegal cut, so on the assumption that authorities would be watching over the forest, Gypsy and his friends headed off for a hike.
But CDF wasn't there. Instead, loggers were falling trees, dangerously close to protected murrelet habitat. Gypsy and his co-Earth First!ers walked over to the loggers, told them CDF was coming, and asked them to stop cutting.
What followed was a series of encounters tragically typical of recent relations between activists and Pacific Lumber employees. The loggers became hostile; one of them, A. E. Ammons, chased Gypsy and his friends shouting obscenities and threats (see the video transcript on page 5).
Ammons never should have started his chainsaw. In a rage against the activists, against the forest, and perhaps against the futility of the battle, he began cutting trees, making good on his threat to "...cut them toward their fÐÐg draw."
One tree fell perilously close to the young men. They got away and gathered to regroup. They knew their lives were in danger. They were frightened. Angry men with chainsaws have little respect for the hearts of gentle people. But Gypsy and his friends believed that to retreat would be to lend power to the logger's violent tactics.
So, courageously, they returned to the site of the cut, hoping the logger would make the responsible choice: turn off his chainsaw and call security to have the activists removed. At least they'd buy time; perhaps CDF would show up.
Instead, Ammons resumed his threats and obscenities, chasing the activists; menacing. He cut another tree. And when it fell, it crushed the skull of a valiant young man.
It appeared Gypsy died instantly. The logger and the other 5 activists who'd almost been hit gathered around and prayed.
So who are the heroes? Are they the ones who look rage in the eye and stand unblinking? Whose lives are defined by their values, no matter the cost?
For the activists who have taken on the defense of the forest, commitment doesn't waver in the wake of Gypsy's death. It has brought them closer, tighter, with a determination to make sure his death was not in vain.
And so, to those who would take the forest for all they can, who would abuse it, desecrate it, destroy it: take note of those who defend it.
Their passion will outlast your greed.
Thanks to Garlic and Ayr for sharing their knowledge of Gypsy and the events surrounding his death.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1998
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited