Forest Defenders

Today local residents of the Cutten area spotted Green Diamond employees and sheriffs congregating at a local supermarket in town. Within hours they were seen in the forest at the location of the tree-sits.

It’s time to take a stand to protect these trees. Green Diamond has made their move, now make yours! This forest is too precious to be lost. (as of yet, no logging has been observed).

Send gear, your presence in the forest, and funds to the McKay Tract Coalition and/or EF! Humboldt immediately.

This image was recently taken in the McKay Tract in the vicinity of occupied trees, under the protection of brave and passionate tree-sitters. The owls don’t want to see this forest clear-cut and we don’t as well. Please support the tree-sitters and continue to organize within your community to preserve this ancient forest.

Last week the Mckay Tract Coalition held a meeting at HSU to discuss community involvement in saving the McKay Tract. With over 20 people attending, two of which were Green Diamond employees, the meeting was successful in laying the foundation of moving forward with plans to stop this mistake from happening.

Here’s a recap of the meeting:

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Earth First! Humboldt is hosting a McKay Tract slideshow on February 1st at HSU – Siemens Hall, Room 117 Go, show your support, and learn about their ongoing campaign to save the forest. Visit efhumboldt.org for more information.

In a week from today on Friday, Jan 30, 2009, there will be a community meeting of the McKay Tract Coalition to discuss ways of organizing, uniting, and educating ourselves in order to effectively protect this rare and ancient forest spanning 7000 acres and home to so many animals.

We need your help and support to stop this destruction and protect this land once and for all.

Location and Time:

Humboldt State University | Nelson Hall | Room 106
at 6pm

Visit savemckay.org for more details on the issue | Call 707 832 4336 with any questions or comments

Mckay Tract Coalition [MTC] and supporters hosted another community hike in the McKay Tract on Saturday. With over 15 people attending, the movement to protect the McKay from the destructive hand of Green Diamond grows stronger and stronger by the day.

The community doesn’t want clear-cutting, nor to see more development; this isn’t some petty, inconsequential infill development, it’s serious urban sprawl at its worst! As the rezoning of the McKay Tract’s 7000 acres continues, Green Diamond, due to the increased taxes imposed by the county’s rezoning from timber to residential zone, it becomes more and more apparent that the county is equally to blame for the destruction of ancient trees, wildlife habitat, and rare land like no other.

You see, the county is acting as the mob boss, effectively squeezing Green Diamond off the land by rezoning it: this causes Green Diamond to liquidate the land (re: destroy as fast as possible), then sell it off for development. So they get the trees and the payday from the sale of the land — they win. And the county gets their malls, shopping center, 7000 homes, and more of your hard earned money in the form of taxes — they win too.

And guess who loses? The animals. The trees. The birds. The bears. The Coho Salmon. The Northern Spotted Owls. The Mountain Lions. The salamanders. The air quality. The streams. The views. And you! No longer is there an ad hoc community forest (let’s make it official!) to hike or a place to camp. No longer do you get to relax with the ferns and watch the bears scurry by, or go mushroom hunting. No longer do you ride your bike or go for a nice jog in pristine and rare forest (what’s left of it, that is…).

Will there be a forest left for our children to enjoy? How will we be affected by the increased global warming as companies continue to plunder forests? What are we doing, now, to help protect our most valuable resource, the forest? These are the questions that each one of us must deal with now, not later.

This company, “Green” Diamond, what a farce of a name! They already have taken most of the McKay Tract and now they’re coming for the last remaining stands. What’s “Green” about that? Shame.

Please stand in solidarity against this evilness. That’s the only word that now comes to mind: evil. This is an evil act to destroy such a place. It’s just not right.

PS. Thank you — those of you who are giving your hearts, time, and energy — for your support. You know who you are. True heroes!

KMUD discusses the McKay Tract with EF! Humboldt and Mind Petals on December 9, 2008

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Just got word from sitters perched up in a redwood on North Ridge Rd on Green Diamond land. An arborist just climbed the opposing tree of the sitters and dangerously axed two branches close to a connected traverse line attached to a sitters platform. We need your support - please come to North Ridge Rd off of Walnut Drive. Detailed directions on efhumboldt.org.