Arcata People Project Protests for Human Rights

For the past nine days the People Project has been protesting the criminalization of homelessness as a human rights violation. On Saturday, April 21 they established a protest encampment that was raided by the police on April 25. Eighteen protesters were arrested. Many suffered injuries during the arrest. The encampment moved to City Hall for two days, and then moved to 14th And Union Streets. Tomarrow the protesters will rally there and march back to City Hall to be at the City Council meeting. For more information visit http://peopleproject.wordpress.com

Demonstration Tree Sit at Arcata 420 Fest

Yesterday, Humboldt County forest defenders put up a demonstration tree sit and banner hang at the Arcata 420 Festival in Redwwood Park. They were trying to make the public aware that ancient forest is still being cut and get people interested in supporting the tree sits in Nanning Creek and Fern Gully. Police estimated that about 3500 people attended the annual event.

Step It Up 2007 - Cut Carbon 80% by 2050

Last Saturday, I was part of the Step It Up campaign to tell Congress to cut carbon 80% by 2050. Over 1300 actions were planned nationwide. Locally, people planted 500 native willow trees. It is very disturbing to me to see that some people still deny that global warming is a real problem. They seem to think that Al Gore just made it all up to further his own importance, and then hypnotized or bribed all the world's scientists into going along. I suppose they think that only the tireless effort of Exxon-Mobil to debunk Gore's idea- will save us all. It's the worst kind of insanity. Another disturbing development is that the timber industry is using global warming as an excuse to cut all the remaining old growth. The extreme craziness and evil is becoming overwhelming to me.

April 13: Day of Action Against SPI

Activists have called for a "Day of Action" on Friday the 13th of April to expose the devastating clearcutting done by Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) in the forests of the Sierra Nevada. These forests are rich in biodiversity, providing a home to bald eagles, giant sequoias and pacific fishers. People are being offered a variety of activities big and small, including delivering letters to stores that sell wood, calling SPI headquarters and handing out information. Sierra Pacific is the largest landowner in California. Although the focus of this action is logging in Eastern California, SPI is also causing terrible destruction here on the North Coast. The photo above is of a log truck that I recently saw coming out of an SPI logging plan in Davis Creek, right next to the Mattole watershed. Sierra Pacific has also been logging in the Bear Creek watershed. The logs in the photo are probably headed to the SPI mill on Samoa Blvd. in Manila (right next to Arcata). For more information go to forestethics.org or call 415-863-4563 ext.328.