Violence in the woods
by Michael Evenson, Mattole resident
The following is an account of violence in the woods in the Mattole. We tried to get this word out to the media, but the media considered us "outrageous" in claiming "attempted murder" and "assault with a deadly weapon". Had they picked it up, had the media done their job, Gypsy would not have made the ultimate sacrifice.
August 9
Sulphur Creek THP 97-413, Unit A
Unit A of 413 has been logged by a family, including two older fallers, some younger ones and a squad of young, violent chasers whose sole job was to chase, harass, and do harm to any forest defenders. On Sunday, August 9, the chasers and fallers began a spree of violence intending to hurt and disable protesters. It was an escalating violent game for them, based on rising adrenaline and frustrations. Below are individual accounts from forest defenders.
Aldo was talking to an older logger in the unit when he was lunged at and chased by the logger's sons. They chased him with axes, boasting what they would do to him. While being chased, he was called 'Nigger', 'Whore', and threatened numerous times.
Trying to stop a large Doug fir from being felled, Aldo climbed up a tree in the fall zone and demanded the faller to cease. The logger responded by asking another group of loggers if they had a stretcher. "We'll probably need one," he said, before making the final cut. The fir fell directly towards Aldo and smashed into the tree he was in, smashing its branches. Aldo leapt and fell to the ground on the other side. The chasers ganged up on him barking like dogs and swinging axes as threats.
"These areas are going down illegally," Aldo said, "but I don't feel like getting anywhere near them. [The loggers] are so violent. They want to hurt us and keep trying. I told them if they cut any trees, that it would endanger my life. A giant branch smashed exactly where I was before I fell out of the tree. They don't care. I'm frightened for my life."
Orange was climbing a tree near a cut-through grove. An angry logger informed her that he was going to fall the tree she was in. He made the wedge, cut all the way through the middle of the tree, and then made a back cut nearly to the wedge cut. The tree did not fall. He informed her that she'd better get down, it was going to go down soon and she would get hurt. The chase gang waited for her at the base of the tree. She was trapped. Waiting them out, she could feel the tree bend and crack in the wind.
She had also climbed up a tree near the fall zone of 3 remaining trees and informed a faller of the dangers. He then proceeded to cut two of the three towards, but not at her tree.
She said: "He told me, 'this one's going to come real close. You might get hurt. Wanna come down?' I told him "No." He made the wedge cut directly towards me and I watched it fall and smash into the top of my tree. It smashed branches on top of me but missed hitting me. The tree shook and I held on so as not to fall."
Sippy was chased up a tree by a logger with spikes. She climbed to the top and could not be reached. The logger then cut off all the branches and other trunks so she could not get down. She said, "I don't feel like there is anything we can do. We are trying to stop something illegal by putting our lives on the line."
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1998
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited