Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap
ACTION ALERT
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Monday, February 22, 1999
Forest Defenders Across the Land!
As you know, it is a critical hour for our Redwood legacy: With the Headwaters Deal deadline looming (March 1), and the Fishers' spring logging blitz almost upon us, we must take action to save the ancient and mature forests of Humboldt County and the last vestiges of viable forest in Mendocino County! Here's what you can do now:
***RALLY MARCH 6: JOIN THE UNITED CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAP, INC!
***WRITE GOVERNOR DAVIS!
***ATTEND THE FINAL HEADWATERS DEAL HEARING!
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RALLY SAT, MARCH 6, 12 NOON - UNITED CAMPAIGN WITH GLOBAL EXCHANGE!
--San Francisco Gap flagship at Market and Powell
--Berkeley Gap at Telegraph and Bancroft Way
--Cities Across the U.S.
Global Exchange is one of four courageous Bay Area organizations that filed a class-action suit against Gap, Inc. in mid-January for their exploitative labor practices in Saipan!
(See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ffile%3D/chronicle/archive/1999/01/20/MN49132.DTL for an overview and http://www.globalexchange.org for details)
"What we're seeing here is a pattern of exploitation--of the redwoods, of workers--that indicates a big ethical failure in the Fisher family and their creation, Gap Inc." --Mary Pjerrou, President, Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance
Environmentalists are uniting with social justice and labor activists to protest Fisher Family/Gap, Inc. exploitation of needleworkers in Saipan and the redwood ecosystem in Mendocino Global Exchange is calling for demonstrations in front of Gap stores the first Saturday of every month at 12 noon, starting with the MARCH 6 rallies (note that at the SF rally, there will be speakers and media covering all issues).
PLEASE JOIN US IN SOLIDARITY
AND HELP ORGANIZE A RALLY AND DEMOS IN YOUR TOWN!!!
Guidelines for the Joint Action: Placards that unite the two issues, such as "Stop Sweatshop Lumber!" and "Saipan and Mendocino Are NOT Your Banana Republics!" A joint-action leaflet will be available from our web site soon (http://www.elksoft.com/gwa). IMPORTANT NOTE: Out of deference for labor, please do not use the word "boycott" on any placard or leaflet that you use at these joint actions! Thanks!
(I will be briefing Bay Area Forest Defenders about the upcoming SF and Berkeley rallies in a separate email.)
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FAX OR MAIL A LETTER TO GRAY DAVIS AND CC DIANNE FEINSTEIN TODAY!
State Sen. Byron Sher, Senate President Pro Tem, John Burton, and the Sierra Club have been pushing for a contract that would require that Pacific Lumber pay dearly for violations of the Headwaters Deal; meanwhile US Senator Dianne Feinstein has been fighting against such a contract, undoubtedly to placate P-L. (Note that the State Wildlife Conservation Board, who will vote this week on whether to release the State's share of the money for the Deal, recommended that there be a contract with damages in the event of a breach.)
The Governor must decide! If we have to live with the Deal--even if only for a short while before we overturn it in the courts--then it should have some teeth! It's time to tell the new Governor what we think--about corporate destruction of our redwood ecosystems, about the Headwaters Deal, and about the contract!
At the end of this email is a sample letter to the Governor. It is also attached in plain text format. Please sign and send it or a similar letter today!
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FINAL HEADWATERS DEAL HEARING
EPIC is calling for everyone who can to attend this final hearing at which the State Wildlife Conservation Board will vote on whether to release the state's share of the money for the Deal (there will be a public comment period at which we can decry the HCP):
Feb 24, 1999 -10 AM
Resources Agency Auditorium
1416 Ninth Street, First Floor, Sacramento
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Thank you for taking action for a better world!!!
(sample letter to Davis follows)
Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign, SF
Sample letter:
Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Voice: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
February 22, 1999
Dear Governor Davis,
I am writing you to let you know of my deep concern over the welfare of California's redwood forests and their dependent fish and wildlife. I am particularly concerned about Pacific Lumber's logging of old growth forests in Humboldt County, and the liquidation of the last of viable redwood forest in Mendocino County, by the Mendocino Redwood Company (controlled by the Fishers of Gap, Inc.), Georgia Pacific, and others.
With regard to the Headwaters Deal and contract:
I strongly oppose State participation in the Headwaters Deal using the current Habitat Conservation Plan, which lacks proper protections for wildlife, fish, and other resources. However, if the State participates in this deal despite overwhelming public opposition, the State should at least require a strict binding contract and maximum penalties for violations, as recommended by state Senator Byron Sher, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, and the Sierra Club.
Pacific Lumber has proven itself to be particularly defiant of the law, and cannot be trusted to log in a responsible and lawful manner nor to protect endangered species.
With regard to Mendocino County logging:
CDF has already approved dozens of high-impact logging plans for Louisiana Pacific and its successor, the Fisher family (Mendocino Redwood Company), on severely depleted forest lands that were raked over by L-P during two decades of liquidation logging. There is almost no old growth left in these forests, and forest-dependent species such as the coho salmon are facing extinction. Georgia Pacific lands are similarly depleted and under assault. The Governor has an obligation to do the following:
--Apprise the public truthfully of the severe depletion of the timber resource that has occurred on Louisiana Pacific and other forest lands in Mendocino County, and of the failure of the California Forest Practice Rules to prevent liquidation logging and to protect endangered species.
--Ensure the survival and recovery of the many endangered species that are at extreme risk on these forest lands, especially coho salmon and steelhead.
--Disapprove any additional logging plans submitted by MRC or any other timber company that cannot demonstrate long-term sustainability of the timber resource and forest-dependent species.
--Block approval of the high-impact THPs that are as yet unapproved, such as THP 1-97-445 MEN (a Fisher/MRC plan) and 1-98-266 MEN (a Redwood Empire plan)--in Elk Creek on the south Mendocino coast--which together constitute over 1,000 acres of high-impact logging (including more than 400 acres of clearcutting) surrounding the only Coho salmon ("10 or fewer" fish) found in a 150-square mile region!
--Support your agencies, such as the Regional Water Quality Control Board, when they non-concur on THPs, as they recently did on two Georgia Pacific logging plans in Bear Haven Creek (tributary to Ten Mile River, near Fort Bragg), THPs 1-98-418 MEN and 1-98-257 MEN.
I strongly urge you and the new administration to take these actions for the environment and a sustainable future!
Sincerely,
Mary Bull
252 Frederick Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
cc: Senator Dianne Feinstein, fax: 202-228-3954
For questions and comments please e-mail us!
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