Forest Defenders Continue to Block Destruction of Rare Forest Habitat in Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Action report on ongoing forest defense actions in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

photos via Blockadia

This week, forest defenders are succeeding in slowing tree clearing using their bodies to protect sensitive and rare forest habitats from aggressive tree clearing from PG&E contractors in constant cold rain and wind.

On Wednesday, October 19, supervisors from PG&E and arborists from Wright Tree Service Company put concerned park visitors at risk of serious injury by continuing cutting and dropping of tree sections in close proximity to where the visitors stood in civil disobedience to impede the cutting.

According to one forest defender:

I was told by a PG&E supervisor that the climbers would make their own judgments in regards to safety and we were responsible for ourselves. This violates OSHA safety regulations (3427.b..9.2) to shut off chainsaws when people are nearby. Continuation of these practices could lead to serious injury or even death.

The forest being cut lies within Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This area is under the jurisdiction of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria according to a 2020 MOU with the State of California.

“PG&E isn’t accountable to the Indigenous people whose land they are destroying, or the fire safety of surrounding communities. PG&E should bury the lines. That’s the fire-safe option. In five years the powerline cuts will be a tinderbox of brushy regrowth. The Indigenous inhabitants of this area are the only people who can manage their own ancestral land using their own Traditional Ecological Knowledge in any kind of sustainable way. When will white settlers finally admit we have consistently failed to manage these forests in ways that ensure long-term survival for our communities?”