Forest Defenders Disrupt Active Logging site for Third Consecutive Day at Rainbow Ridge

Action report from Humboldt Earth First! about continued resistance to logging on Rainbow Ridge in so-called Northern California.

Honeydew, CA – Yesterday, logging work on Rainbow Ridge was interrupted for the third consecutive day by forest defenders demanding Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) stop cutting in their contentious Rainbow Ranch Timber Harvest Plan. Forest defenders raised concerns about fire risk, the conservation value of the forest being cut, and HRC’s lack of accountability to local residents.

In the morning, a series of slash piles slowed access to the logging site. Then, in the early afternoon, forest defenders approached the area where workers with the contractor Lewis Logging were felling trees and moving logs. Forest defenders positioned their bodies in the path of a bulldozer, refused to move, and engaged the operator in conversation. Work was disrupted for a few hours before loggers left for the day.

On Tuesday, Tim Meyers, Forester 1 for the Mattole region, visited the worksite in response to dozens of requests from local residents. “An active inspection was conducted… regarding public concerns, relating to the red flag warning and its relationship to timber harvesting on Rainbow Ridge in the Mattole watershed.“ However, after a discussion with Ed Lewis, proprietor of Lewis Logging, Meyers gave him the go-ahead to continue operations.

Actions against logging in this timber harvest plan are expected to continue. “Forest defenders intend to continue to resist logging on Rainbow Ridge,”  said Meredith Dyer, a spokesperson for Earth First! Humboldt, group in support of frontline forest defenders on Rainbow Ridge. “The forest here is a diverse ecosystem, a habitat corridor connecting the Lost Coast wilderness to the redwoods. With every tree felled, road built, HRC is directly destroying endangered species habitat and contributing to climate change, removing hope that future generations have of surviving catastrophic climate collapse.”