Logging Work Continues to be Disrupted on Rainbow Ridge with Aerial Road Blockade

Action report from Humboldt Earth First! on continued eco-defense actions in Northern California.

Log trucks headed into Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) timberlands were stalled Monday morning when workers discovered a thirty foot tripod blocking the road with a forest defender perched at the apex. The forest defender called for HRC to stop cutting trees on Rainbow Ridge, saying that the forest contains some of the largest unprotected Douglas fir and hardwood stands in Northern California and logging creates a heightened risk of forest fire.

This marks the second week of work stoppages in the Rainbow Ranch timber harvest plan, located west of Humboldt Redwood State Park.

The tripod blocked vehicle access to the worksite for two hours before logger Ed Lewis bulldozed a section of road through the steep hillside below the tripod. He let multiple trucks through before Humboldt County Sheriffs arrived and told him not to use this road due to safety concerns.

A forest defender stated, “These logging operations have local and global implications. HRC’s timber harvesting violates a unique watershed that has seen decades of restoration work. Meanwhile, in the face of climate change and mass extinction, we cannot afford to sacrifice carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots, of which Rainbow Ridge is both.”

Meanwhile, local residents rallied at the logging road access gate, expressing concerns over the conservation value of the area being logged and HRC’s lack of community accountability.

By mid-morning, the sheriffs were cutting the legs of the tripod, seriously endangering the life of the sitter, who is going by ‘Weaver’. Weaver explained to the sheriffs the danger of dismantling the tripod with them at the top, but the deputies proceeded, badly bruising Weaver, arresting them, and opening up road access to the machinery and log trucks.

Weaver, a nonviolent protester, is being held in the Humboldt County Jail. There will be a rally outside of the jail, located in Eureka, tomorrow (Wednesday), starting at 9am.