Timber thugs attack Remedy tree-sit

Maxxam/Pacific Lumber hired thugs are right now attempting to forcibly remove tree-sitter Remedy from a giant old-growth redwood tree near Eureka, CA. Earth First!er Darryl Cherney sounded the alarm on KMUD radio about 8:50 AM today, Monday, March 17, 2003. Cherney went on the air to sound the alarm, declare an emergency endangering the life of Remedy, and call for witnesses to come out to the site on Greenwood Heights Road near Freshwater, which is northeast of Eureka.

Remedy has said in radio interviews that she will nonviolently resist being removed from the tree. The attempt to remove her from her perch 150 feet up in the giant tree will likely put her life in danger. Maxxam has recently been using contracted tree climbing thugs to forcibly remove tree-sitters.

Other KMUD reports said there is a large law enforcement presence, including deputy sheriffs, CHP and other agencies. They have closed the public road which adjoins the treesits, and a line of officers reportedly pushed member of the public down the road to prevent their witnessing what happens. They have told residents of the area, the majority of whom support the tree-sits, that the road will be closed for the next three days while operations continue to remove the sitters.

According to other reports just in at 1:35 pm, longtime forest activist Naomi Wagner and two others were arrested today after they locked down to the base of Remedy's tree. They have been taken to Humboldt County jail, charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. Climbers are reportedly up in the tree with Remedy and that of another sitter named Wren. They are trying to figure out how to remove them.

Remedy has been receiving national publicity in recent weeks, including major newspapers and TV networks. A rally to mark the anniversary is scheduled for next weekend. Maxxam obviously intends to forcibly end her tree-sit before the additional publicity that her one-year anniversary celebration would bring. They're afraid of another Julia Butterfly, whose 2-year tree sit garnered worldwide media and public attention on the company's liquidation logging of the few remaining giant redwoods.

Maxxam Corporation last week obtained a temporary court order against all of the approximately 20 tree-sitters currently defending old-growth redwoods in Humboldt County. Their operatives nailed the court order to the base of some occupied trees last Thursday.

Some beleive Maxxam is acting now against Remedy and other sitters in an effort to shift public attention away from the $245 million fraud suit filed against the company in February by new Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Last Tuesday more than 50 log trucks surrounded a meeting of the county governing board as loggers and sawmill employees packed the meeting room to agitate against allowing the DA to contract for legal help from a prominent Bay Area law firm which specializes in corporate fraud cases. Timber interests are trying to organize a recall of Gallegos, who scored an upset electoral victory over longtime pro-timber DA Terry Farmer last November. Gallegos campaigned on a platform that included equal protection of the laws for both forest reform activists and timber companies.