Humboldt, CA: Blockade in the Mattole Forest

A little birdie delivered word that a group of forest defenders are currently occupying a road blockade in the Mattole Forest of the Lost Coast of California. At least one climber is being held aloft in a platform attached to the road blockade. The purpose of such dramatic action is to protect the ancient, unentered forest of the Mattole, a forest ecosystem of global significance due to it being some of the last remaining old growth doug fir wilderness under threat of logging. For decades, forest defenders of Humboldt County have protected this special place, and now events are coming to “loggerheads” (lol) with Humboldt Redwood Company this summer.

The time for action is now, as activists have been run around in circles by the company for too long. The company has admitted on several occasions the need to scale back their ambitious logging plans, as it has been pointed out old growth areas that would violate their own policies to harvest. But the company continues to renege on any previous agreements they make, prompting forest defenders to take immediate action to defend this essential piece of wilderness. The company has already done “hack and squirt” in the project area (i.e. killing the hardwood tanoak and madrone trees en masse with herbicides) which creates significant fire danger by leaving dead standing wood.

Forest defenders participating in the blockade have said that they are “…resolved to stay here as long as it takes, regardless of how long this particular blockade lasts.” and that “The sickening sight of a ancient forest being gutted with poisons has spurred us into action. We’ve drawn a line with our lives, because our lives depend on the health of our forests. Our forests that provide clean cold water for fish, hold up these steep and unstable slopes and absorb and store carbon from our atmosphere.”