The Jerry Treesit, 2004

The treesit in a 1,200 year-old redwood named Jerry began in March of 2002, as the timber-friendly California Department of Forestry prepared to approve Timber Harvest Plan 01-451, which called for clear-cutting 128 acres of old growth and second growth redwood forest. I climbed Jerry on March 21 of that year, and didn’t touch the ground again for 361 days, when mercenaries hired by Maxxam’s Pacific Lumber forcibly removed me. While I sat in jail, treesitters reoccupied Jerry and the struggle continued. Day after day, treesitters were forced down from surrounding treesits.

Treesitters in Jerry were assaulted and removed twice more, and Jerry was limbed and topped by the shameful Eric Schatz – prompted by the $70,000 his company made during the first week of extractions.

The Jerry treesit continues today as the threat to this ancient redwood remains. A kind young man named Willow has taken up residence in Jerry, having last touched the ground on November 11, 2003. Willow has witnessed the second stage of a Timber Harvest Plan, where stump-speckled hillsides are burned to dispose of the “waste,” or limbs of trees already carted off to the mills. The so-called “controlled burn” jumped Greenwood Heights Drive, requiring the assistance of both CDF and prison crews to put it out. The fire came very close to Jerry, burning the bases of smaller trees 30-feet away.

Willow can be reached at his pager – (707) 476-6381 or PO Box 1003 Arcata, CA 95518