Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap: Boycott-the-Gap Newsletter and June Calendar!

Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap

Boycott-the-Gap Newsletter and June Calendar!
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Thursday, June 3, 1999

Forest Defenders, Far and Wide!

June promises to be a very busy and potentially momentous month!

In this newsletter...

--Protests Get a Rise Out of John Fisher
--CA Senators Vote on SB 621 Tomorrow (AB 717 now on 2-Yr Track)
--MRC Admits They Haven't Applied For Certification
--The FSC-NRDC-Fisher Connection
--Biodiversity Council to Meet in Mendocino--Nichols Will Be There!
--Mendocino Environmentalists to Meet With New CDF Director
--Upcoming June Demos, Protests, and Events

Last Week's Protests Got a Rise Out of Fisher!
****************************************************
Since May 10, people have been sitting in trees and protesting on the
ground to stop the Fisher family logging company, Mendocino Redwood--MRC,
from felling trees near slide areas in the Albion. Last week's protests
included a joint-demo with human rights activists at Don Fisher's home in
Presidio Heights, SF, a rally at a slide area/MRC logging site in the
Albion that attracted over 125 people, and a sister protest outside John
Fisher's office building in SF admonishing him that SLIDES KILL FISH. Nine
have been arrested for trespass since the start of this series of protests.

Apparently, John Fisher at last gave the order to cleanup the slide.
Amazing what it took to get this one little mitigation--a precautionary
measure that should have been done long ago!

Slide worries are far from over, however. Cleaning up the existing slide is
one thing; logging a known slide area is another. There are many such slide
areas in the Albion, and elsewhere on the rugged Mendocino coast, and MRC
routinely files plans that target trees on steep slopes above waterways.

For example, they just filed THP 1-99-188, a Greenwood Creek plan that
proposes "alternative prescription" (MRC's euphemism for clearcut) in a
designated Extreme Erosion Hazard Area.

Still Time To Tell Your Senator: Vote AYE on SB 621!
***********************************************************
The movers and shakers behind AB 717--the most far-reaching of the forestry
reform bills--decided to put the bill on a two-year track, rather than risk
defeat on the assembly floor this Friday or compromise it to appease timber
and labor interests. Though disappointing news, the bill is not dead, and
now we have more time to convince our assembly members of the importance of
this legislation. I'll keep you posted of developments.

SB 621 will go to the senate floor today, June 3. This bill directs the
California Board of Forestry to adopt much-needed coho salmon protection regulations and gives the California Department of Forestry authority to seek civil penalties against lawbreaking loggers.

So, CA FDs, BITE THE BULLET, if you haven't already, and email your senator
NOW to vote YES on this bill! Check http://www.sen.ca.gov/ to find out who
your senator is and his/her contact info.

MRCs "PURSUIT" of Certification
*************************************
Part of the Fishers' greenwashing campaign has been a good deal of talk
about MRC "pursuing certification." They've gotten a lot of mileage out of
that one. Sandy Dean, President of MRC, has been saying it for months--to
the media, to environmentalists, to anyone who will listen. He included it
in the greenwash letter that he sent to thousands of signatories of our
petition. But when asked point blank yesterday if MRC has actually APPLIED
to anyone for certification, the answer was no.

Of course, we feel that this talk of certification is a ploy and a stall.
Anyone who would certify Fisher holdings and logging practices would become
a laughing stock and certification itself would risk all credibility.

But given the extent of Fisher influence, and the disturbing fact that Bob
Fisher sits on the Board of the Natural Resources Defense Council (a
travesty in itself), and NRDC sits on the Board of the Forest Stewardship
Council, the organization that produces certification guidelines, gives one
pause. This potential conflict of interest arouses concern.

There are, btw, other critical issues surrounding certification. For
example, the certification guidelines do not prohibit the logging of old
growth or logging in stream zones, which are restrictions that many
environmentalists would like to see applied in our redwood forests.

Biodiversity Council to Meet in Fort Bragg, Mendocino County
******************************************************************
On June 9 and 10th, the Biodiversity Council will be meeting in Ft. Bragg,
Mendocino County. CA Secretary for Resources Mary Nichols will be
attending. The point of the council is to determine where federal coho
restoration funds should be applied, but we will be lobbying for improved
LOGGING REGULATION, as well: strengthening and enforcement of the Forest
Practice Rules and other environmental laws!

This could be a moment of truth. Will Mary Nichols and the new
administration begin enforcing laws already on the books regarding
truthfulness in logging plans, sustainable logging, protection of threatened
and endangered species, and a cleanup of the sediment that chokes our rivers
and streams? Will they understand and support the new legislation that
provides some bottom-line tightening of the rules, and justice in the
rules - such as charging industry for their logging plan permits (something
they get at taxpayers' expense right now)?

Mendocino Environmentalists to Meet With CDF Director
**************************************************************
On June 14, Mendocino environmentalists will meet with the new Director of
the California Department of Forestry, Andrea Tuttle. After years of
battling two pro-timber administrations who have overseen the liquidation
of the coast redwood forest, Mendocino environmentalists will be seeking
adequate timber regulation with a new administration and the new head of an
old bureaucracy - still staffed and strongly influenced by the old guard.

As with Mary Nichols, again, the point of this meeting is to bring to
Director Tuttle's attention the fact that Mendocino's redwood ecosystem is
near collapse from overlogging and to get her to strengthen and enforce the
Forest Practice Rules in this hammered county!

Also in June
**************
Sat. Jun 5. BLACK & WHITE BALL ACTION. 9 PM, Civic Center, San Francisco.
Call for ideas! Please contact me if you want to participate in this
action. It will probably be on the steps of City Hall, but please stand by.

Mon. June 7. RALLY AGAINST FISHERS-GAP-MRC. 12 noon, MRC lumber yard,
Ukiah, Mendocino County. Promises to be a spirited affair. I'll be speaking
for Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign. To get to the rally from SF:
Take 101 north to Ukiah; take the Lake Mendocino exit; turn right to North
State Street; turn right and park. Call Mendocino Environmental Center
(707-468-1660) for more info.

Weds. June 23. BATLUC EVENT. 11--12 noon. Downtown Oakland. Bay Area
Transportation and Land Use Coalition (BATLUC) will be unveiling their
Smart Growth Platform and Action Agenda. Refreshments, street theater.
BATLUC represents more than 45 environmental, social justice, transit,
bicycle, pedestrian, and housing organizations throughout the Bay Area.
Contact Marcello Lanfranchi marcello@sirius.com 510-834-2630 for exact
location.

Stay Strong and Committed!!!

Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign, SF
_________________________________________
Other Contacts/Information Sources:
http://www.elksoft.com/gwa
----------------------------
Mary Pjerrou, Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance
707-877-3405 pirohuck@mcn.org
----------------------------
Norman de Vall, Greenwood Watershed Association
707-877-3551 ndevall@mcn.org http://www.gapsucks.org
----------------------------
Redwood Mary (Mary Rose Kaczorowski),
Plight of the Redwoods Tour redwoodm@mcn.org
----------------------------
Mary Bull,
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
415-731-7924 chalicenew@earthlink.net
Also of interest:
----------------------------
Gap Labor Exploitation URLs:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/14/MN19190.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/2/MN49132.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/22/MN49806.DTL
http://www.house.gov/resources/105cong/democrat/cnmifin.html#contractlabor
http://www.globalexchange.org

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