UPDATE ON NORTHCOAST FOREST DEFENSE

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UPDATE ON NORTHCOAST FOREST DEFENSE
from the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
July 20, 2002
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1 -- Mattole
2 -- Freshwater
3 -- Gypsy Mountain
**Watch for news of upcoming Sept. rally!**

THE DOUG FIR OLD GROWTH OF THE MATTOLE

The site of many forest protests over the past few years to preserve the biological diversity of
this unique old growth forest, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) continues to clearcut the
geologically unstable terrain in the Mattole River watershed. Maxxam intends to liquidate the
3,000 acres of irreplaceable ancient forest they own in the Mattole River watershed. Recent
logging has already caused landslides, sediment degeneration and degradation of salmonid
habitat, also impacting human residents and the Mattole River downstream to the ocean.

Recent actions in defense of the forest have included litigation and an early morning road
blockade on July 8 on the Long Ridge/Taylor Peak area, where two logging plans are located.
One person was arrested. The Taylor peak logging plan, under court challenge but with no
injunction, contains old growth trees, like a number of other approved plans in the Mattole. PL
also has stacked up a number of plans on the Dept. of Forestry desk. Our next update will
include more details about specific logging plans on the chopping block.

The Lower North Fork area owned by PL contains the largest, low-elevation, coastal
old-growth douglas-fir forest in California. It is located on some of the steepest and most
unstable terrain in the country, hence the very high likelihood of more landslides. The Mattole
River is an EPA-listed "impaired water body" for high sediment loads and higher-than-optimal
water temperatures, which means the fish are already in trouble.

Many threatened and endangered species take refuge here, including the extremely rare Pacific
fisher, the northern spotted owl, and the California red tree vole. The Mattole River also
provides crucial spawning habitat for imperiled populations of coho salmon, chinook salmon,
and steelhead.

Mattole activists are trying to get a large piece of the watershed set aside as a wilderness
corridor, connecting the King Range and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. A major forest
rally is being planned for Sept. 15. More details will follow in future alerts.
For information on the Mattole campaign, contact (707) 443-3663.

**FRESHWATER WATERSHED**

There are two tree-sits in the Freshwater Creek area. Maxxam/PL has revealed plans to
clearcut 500 acres per year in Freshwater over the next 6 years, as part of their "sustained
yield plan (SYP)." Remedy, a tree-sitter in one of the old growth redwoods has been up for
over one hundred days, and is holding strong. Wren, who sits in Everstine, has been up for
over thirty days. PL owns over 3/4 of this watershed that has already been subject to flooding
and loss of fish habitat.

**GYPSY MOUNTAIN**

The "Aradia" tree-sit has been going on since January, just up the ridge from where David
"Gypsy" Chain was killed on September 17, 1998. After that tragic incident, the "Gypsy
Mountain Free State" lasted seven months in an effort to protect the scene of Gypsy's death as
"evidence." Within weeks of the out-of-court settlement of the lawsuit filed by Gypsy's family
last year, a new timber harvest plan was marked on Gypsy Mountain. "Aradia" is one of the
last legally cuttable old growth redwoods left on Gypsy Mountain, and could be preserved as a
living memorial to Gypsy.
For information on Gypsy Mt., call (707) 825-6598.

To contact Northcoast Earth First!, call the new office in Eureka (707-443-3663) or the
voicemail (707-825-6598). There are forest defense updates posted regularly on the SF Indy
media site: http://www.sfindymedia.org/features/forest/
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Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, California 94702
(510) 548-3113
bach [at] igc.org
http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org