Okay, so Green Diamond Resource Company is playing chess, not checkers like the now defunct Pacific Lumber Company. This company is actually thinking! Wow, amazing, eh. Or… maybe things aren’t what they appear to be…

Green Diamond has strategically (re: new markers) placed “Wildlife” markers on various old growth trees throughout the McKay Tract 60 acre THP (McKay-09) which is scheduled to begin “not before February 2009.”

Obviously the lines of communication are weak throughout the company, due to the fact that on Saturday August 23rd a Green Diamond forester placed a wildlife tag on a tree known as Millenia that sitters had been occupying; the forester looked up and acknowledged the tree sitters as they yelled “Hello!”

On August 28th the North Coast Journal published a story about the Green Diamond tree sit in which, Neal Ewald, Vice President of the Timberlands Division, had no idea about the tree sitters: “…was surprised to hear of the treesit. Ewald said he couldn’t remember the last time his company had had treesitters.”

Now why wouldn’t the Green Diamond forester notify anyone about the tree sitters? How peculiar…. And why is Green Diamond now going back and marking new wildlife trees after they already stated in their THP that “91 Wildlife trees have been marked in clear cut areas?”

Does anyone know the legalities of marking a wildlife tree, then removing it to cut the tree? Is this a possibility?

Is it because they, too, are trying to ride the wave of all the media hype that Humboldt Redwood Company is now receiving about “saving” old growth trees? Do they also want to save old growth and just not declare it so? Was marking the trees a subterfuge to use tree sitters as a tool to go running to the media screaming in joy: “YAY!!! Green Diamond is not cutting old growth!!”

Not sure. But it lends way to an interesting situation. As far as I’m concerned Green Diamond is the new Pacific Lumber if they are still cutting old growth. And ALL the companies are equally destroying nature if they continue to clear cut and use ridiculous loopholes of Habitat Conservation Plans (ha, what a joke!) to kill endangered and threatened species.

But you know what…. the CDF (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) is the ROOT of the problem because they are giving these companies the key — the green light — to commit these atrocities on Nature. CDF, no worries, we haven’t forgotten about you.

The battle continues…. It never stopped!

Tree-sitters sitting in “Millenia” documented this very animated Northern Spotted Own while in an old-growth tree that resides directly inside a grove marked for clear-cut in February 2009 — the McKay Tract in Eureka, CA. Though the tree the owl was located in was a “wildlife tree” (marked not to be cut), then entire grove is planned to be cleared, greatly diminishing the owl’s already limited habitat. Under the government authorization of an “Incidental Take Permit,” Green Diamond (nice oxymoron, eh?) has the power to kill Endangered Spotted Owls, so they can make more green, green, green, money, money, money!!

Less than 2 hours ago tree-sitters were discovered on Green Diamond Resource Company land by what appears to be a company Forester surveying the area. The Forester made communication with the multiple sitters by saying “hello” as he appeared to be placing ribbons and/or a marker on the occupied tree.

Activists have been active on this land for the past few months. Multiple old-growth trees have been located and documented; Endangered Spotted Owls have been seen in numbers living directly inside the groves marked to be cut by Green Diamond. Activists have encountered Spotted Owls in the actual trees they have been defending.

The old-growth Redwood, known as Millenia, towering well over 200 ft, is one the trees that sitters are currently defending and will continue to do so until Green Diamond declares this area off-limits for destruction.

The McKay Tract is comprised of 80 - 100 year-old Redwoods, perhaps the oldest second-growth in Humboldt County, last logged a few years into the 1900’s. Green Diamond is proposing to rezone the entire 2000 acres from Timber Production Zone (TPZ), to a residential area — potentially establishing 7000 new homes at the expense of Northern Spotted Owl habitat and old-growth trees. Insane. The McKay Tract also “includes 16 miles of fish bearing stream in the Ryan Creek watershed. Ryan Creek is the best coho producing stream in the Humboldt Bay area” says Jen Kalt of Humboldt Baykeeper and California Native Plant Society in a recent interview on KMUD Radio.