Banners Dropped Against Humboldt State University’s Ties with Green Diamond Resource Company

Report from Humboldt Earth First! on recent banner drop.

Arcata, CA – At 6:30 this morning, numerous banners were hung over the US 101 in Arcata. The banners called attention to Humboldt State University’s (HSU) relationship to Green Diamond Resource Company and concerns over unsustainable logging in Humboldt County. The banners remained aloft for hours.

One banner, reads, “HSU CUT TIES WITH GREEN DIAMOND.” A Humboldt State student commented, “HSU’s relationship with Green Diamond supports the company’s destructive logging business. Despite HSU’s claims of sustainability, it has a financial relationship with a company that is directly contributing to the climate crisis and habitat loss.” The student continued, “Cutting ties with Green Diamond is more important now than ever because of the ecological catastrophe we are facing.”

“Green Diamond employees who are also HSU professors, teachers and students use toxic herbicides and clear cutting techniques in disguise, which are both widely known to be unsustainable and detrimental to habitat for plant and animal species. Green Diamond should not be allowed to train the next generation of foresters and conservation experts.”

Another banner,  “Terra-Gen Wind is NOT Sustainable”, which denounced the contentious proposed wind farm on Monument and Bear River Ridges, was taken down immediately by Humboldt State University Police Department. The project was denied by the Humboldt County Planning Commission in response to a series of meetings packed with residents in opposition. The project threatens Wiyot sacred sites on Tsakiyuwit (Bear River Ridge) and will kill hundreds of birds and bats. The County Board of Supervisors will make the final decision at a public meeting on Monday, December 16th at 9am at Adorni center in Eureka.

The Wiyot tribe states on their petition against the Terra-Gen project, “This is one of the most diverse landscapes in North America, in part because it was shaped and tended by Indigenous peoples. The project will forever impact not just the spiritual connection of the Wiyot and other individuals, but the biology of this ecological transect and the species which depend on it.”

Along with the Wiyot Tribe, the Bear River Rancheria, Yurok Tribe, the Rio Dell City Council and Town of Scotia oppose the wind project.