Protest Dangerous Violence at Headwaters

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Eight, Number One
November/December 1998

Call to Action:

Protest Dangerous Use of Violence at Headwaters

On October 15, nine religious leaders met with Terry Farmer, District Attorney of Humboldt County, California, regarding their concerns about the increasing climate of violence in the Headwaters Forest area. They urged the DA to request an outside investigation into the death of David Chain, a protester who was killed by a falling redwood tree during a logging operation.

Pacific Lumber, a subsidiary of Maxxam Corp., has already logged thousands of acres of old growth redwood and Douglas fir and has been convicted of over 250 violations of the California Forest Practices Rules.

When questioned about the use of pepper spray and other harsh means of enforcing the law against non-violent protesters — compared with the meager fines against Pacific Lumber, and lack of use of harsh enforcement against loggers engaged in illegal logging — the District Attorney made the point that the laws which are emphasized, and where law enforcement resources are allocated in a community, depend upon the focus of the community at any one time (as in the periodic enforcement of prostitution laws when community outrage wells up).

The group included seven members of the Christian clergy, a Jewish rabbi, and a representative of the Society of Friends. This meeting was scheduled by The Reverend Sharon Delgado, Chair of the California-Nevada Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church and a director of the interfaith Earth Justice Ministries.

Action
Rev. Delgado requests people across the country to write the Humboldt County Sheriff and District Attorney, saying that such violence against non-violent protesters, and such inequity in the enforcement of laws, is not acceptable. The officials need to know that people outside of the community are paying attention and are very concerned.

Addresses
District Attorney Terry Farmer, 825 5th Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Sheriff Dennis Lewis, 826 4th Street, Eureka, CA 95501

Other Approaches

As in the "Urban Plunge" of the sixties, people will come in and be hosted, meet citizens' groups, visit Base Camp, talk to the Human Rights Commission, go on a tour led by the Watershed Council, go on the Pacific Lumber Company factory tour, look at clearcut land and old growth forests, talk to people with various views, etc. People from various faith communities in Humboldt County can serve as hosts to people from their own faith community outside of the county.

In an effort to end harmful logging practices of Maxxam subsidiary, the Pacific Lumber Company, two members of the Jewish community, Alan H. Rosenberg, in California, and Annette Lamoreaux, in Houston TX, have invoked a process, dating back to the time of Moses, to bring Maxxam Corporation president Charles Hurwitz before a Jewish court of law called a Beit Din.

"Enough is enough," said Rosenberg, "Appealing to our religious community in an effort to change the business practices of one of our members could have far reaching implications for ALL business and religious groups in this country. That is why we seek to convene a Beit Din and make our appeal to a HIGHER AUTHORITY."