( e ( c ( o (
.... ) e ) c ) h ) O ) the forest activist community of eugene,
oregon
Webmaster's comment:
If you are unfamiliar with the very important work that the group known
as the Cascadia Forest Defenders
are doing to save the last of the old-growth forests should click on to
Art Bell's web site, and listen to Art's interview with treesitter "Frodo,"
on Broadcast.com, or go to Art's
Sound Clip's Page, and scroll down to the Frodo interview on 2/4/99.
Here's the contact information from Art's site:
The Lumber industry
constantly tells us that trees are a renewable resource, but that isn't
exactly true. I live within an hour's drive of beautiful Lake Tahoe,
and if you were to look at a picture of the lake from around 1900, you'd
see the Lake totally clear-cut and denuded. Today, as you drive to
the Lake and see lush greenery, you'll have the impression that the lumber
interests are correct...the trees came back, right? Wrong!
The trees you are
looking at are fast-growing fir trees. The trees are beautiful,
but Tahoe in it's natural state was populated by numerous pine, oak, redwood,
and all manner of slow-growing hardwoods. Once the Lake was clear-cut,
only the Fir came back, strangling out any attempts by the hardwoods to
come back. These trees, while fast-growing, also require a constant
heavy rainfall to maintain their viability. On the West Coast, we
go through periods of drought of 5 or 6 years at a time. When this
happens, the Fir dry out and die very quickly, whereas the hardwoods were
designed through evolution to survive much longer dry periods.
The Fir become infested with mites and fungus, and become a fire hazard...a
hazard that would be dampened by the old-growth trees that are able to
survive moderate fires.
What Khaos, Frodo,
and his crew are doing is risking their lives to prevent the destruction
of some of the last of Oregon's old-growth forests...forests that will
be lost forever if the trees are allowed to be harvested. NO
ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DESTROY THESE WISE OLD GIANTS! Be a Giantfriend,
support the cause of the Forest Defenders, as they support our cause!
The Following
Begins with an Introduction from Patrick Swiney's Wife, Sherry Swiney
Patrick sent me this
letter [below] that he received which was in response to his Too Late To
Debate article. We receive many wonderful letters and posts from
people who have read this article. This is the first one we have
received from a tree-sitter. His words echo my feelings and many
of your feelings exactly. With permission from Khaos, I have replicated
his letters [any typos are entirely mine and not the author's - for his
letter was hand-written]. Khaos has a website. I would like
to place a link on the Patrick Crusade websites to help boost our cause
and his cause, for they are one-in-the-same to me too. Perhaps Khaos
will link his page to ours [see website listing below].Blessings to all,Taoss============= February 8, 1999Dear Patrick,
My name is Khaos, and I am a tree-sitter at Fall Creek and a friend and
associate of Ford, (Rick's comment: I heard
the interview, and you can listen to it on Art Bell's site. Actually,
the individual used the moniker "Frodo," and he sits in a tree he has lovingly
named "Fenghorn.") who was interviewed
on the
Art Bell radio show.
We received your letter and your article, "Too Late To Debate." I
was deeply moved by what you wrote, and honored to receive your support
and prayers.I have never been to prison, only to jail for four days, so
I cannot begin to imagine how horrible a place you are in. I do have
an understanding of the Deep South and the people there. I grew up
in rural Mississippi until I was fourteen. While the blind masses
in Alabama may be openly hostile to Human Rights, the abuses you describe
are doubtless a problem everywhere. It sickens me and saddens me
to realize that this is a nation of greedy hypocrites, who talk about justice
and call our nation the "Land of the Free," yet turn a blind eye to the
blatant and cruel obstruction of justice and freedom that victimizes so
many of us - the farce of "law enforcement" and "criminal justice" in America.I
do not doubt that you are imprisoned on a wrongful charge, but even if
you were guilty, no one on earth should be forced to live in the conditions
you describe. Not even the "young punks and maladjusted people."
I do not believe in prisons at all. I think they do no good, certainly
nothing in the way of "correction." The correction that needs to
be made is in society, in our communities. We need to reconnect with
each other and with our planet, our source. Our society is sick,
and it does not surprise me that people lash out violently, although I
am non-violent. Nor does it surprise me that our society's answer
to crime is locking people up and forgetting. We discard everything
we don't want to deal with, to take responsibility for, including our own
human natural waste. Nature, and with it we reject ourselves, because
we are nature. We can't possibly "correct criminals," because "WE"
are want's wrong with them. Yes, we are creating our own nightmare.To
me, all the issues are related. An old growth tree is not more important
than a child, or a prisoner. Social justice and ecological sanity
are one and the same. A timber company executive or a forest service
agent may fail to see the splendor and beauty I see in a magnificent 500
year old tree. But they still need clean air, and clean water, as
do their children, or do we all. Forests are the lungs and liver
of the earth. They are essential to our survival. The mentality
that enslaves them to capitalist greed will ultimately destroy them.
It is the same mentality that enslaves you. Refusal to take responsibility
for our actions, for our communities, for our children, for the future.
We must all work hard to recognize this mentality in all its manifestations,
and to educate each other about its dangers.Your article is very informative;
the information from inside prison walls is crucial.I would like to ask
your permission to copy and distribute "Too Late To Debate" so that many
others will read it. I have enclosed the "Zine Expletive Deleted"
with more information about the tree sit. My prayers are with you.
I hope when you get out you will visit the magnificent forests of Oregon.In
Solidarity, KhaosNote from
Taoss: In the enclosure articles Khaos sent with his letter which
describe his group's efforts, he writes another note to Patrick -- as follows:
Patrick, it's an amazing feeling to sleep
way up in a tree! I recently spent some time in "Happy", the tree
(and tree house)... Happy is 450-500 years old! She sways in the
wind, gently. Within the tree house there is a hammock stretched
between two branches. I slept some nights on the hammock. I
felt a very maternal feeling from Happy, like her two strong branches were
arms and she was holding me to her trunk, and gently rocking me.
I felt like a child next to her immensity! At night, the nocturnal
flying squirrels come to play! They are unafraid of people, as they
have never seen any people but us! They let us pet them, their fur
is softer than rabbit's fur. They have huge eyes so they can see
in the dark. They tiptoe around and play hide-and-seek with us!
Tree sitting has opened my eyes to a whole world, a world in which humans
are merely visitors. Amazing! Khaos-----Original
Message----- From: Red Cloud Thunder <redcloud@efn.org> To: Taoss <taoss@worldnet.att.net> Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999
4:54 PM Subject: Re: Your letter to Patrick
Swiney
Dear Taoss, You may
publish and distribute my letter to Patrick as you see fit. I'm glad that
my words are meaningful to him and to you. It is very frustrating for all of us who are
up against the tyranny that makes a mockery of justice and liberty in this
nation, but especially hard for the imprisoned, and I commend Patrick
for continuing his activism from behind prison walls despite the sacrifices
it entails. I commend you for your activism, and I am in solidarity
with you, Patrick, and all political prisoners. Thank you for corresponding
with me.
As you
may know, I am working with Red Cloud Thunder, the treesit campaign to
save Fall Creek from logging in Oregon. We are working to prevent the logging of a 96 acre
stand of rare low-elevation old-growth forest in the Willamette National
Forest. We have five occupied treesits as high as 202 feet in the forest
canopy. The land we are protecting belongs to the people of the United
States. It was once protected as crucial habitat for the endangered
Spotted Owl, but President Clinton removed that protection in his infamous,
compromising Northwest Forest Plan. The area is still home to spotted
owls, red tree voles, pileated woodpeckers, and many unlisted species which
may not be considered endangered, yet depend on old-growth forest, which
as an ecosystem is completely endangered. Logging season starts May
1, 1999, and we need all the support we can get to save our forest.
People can support us by writing
to public officials to demand that they cancel the Clark Timber Sale, including
the Chief of the Forest Service, Mike Dombeck; Secretary of Agriculture
Dan Glickman; Region 9 Regional Forester Darryl Kenops; Oregon U.S. Rep.
Peter de Fazio; Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden; President Clinton; and Vice
President Gore. They may also write to the President of Zip-O Log
Co. I do not have the addresses with me, but if a person writes one
letter and sends it to us, we can copy and mail to all of the above.
Our address is Cascadia
Forest Defenders, P.O. Box 11122, Eugene, OR 97440. Supporters can also send donations
to this address, with checks made out to C.F.D. but earmarked for Red Cloud
Thunder. Donations go directly to the activists
involved for the cost of maintaining treesits and the support
network. Our web site is Ewok Area at www.ecoecho.org
Perhaps you can include this information
with my letter.
Thank you for your work to save
humanity from itself. Khaos
"I
pledge allegiance to the Earth, this unique blue-water planet, graced by
life, our only home. I promise to respect all living things, and to protect
to the best of my abilities all parts of our planet's environment, and
to promote peace among the human family, with liberty and justice for all."
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