By Barbara Connelly – Anderson Valley Advertiser, August 29, 1990
Last week’s civil disobedience action in Elk was protesting the first of three timber harvest plans scheduled for Greenwood Creek by Louisiana Pacific. The Greenwood Watershed Association had lost all our legal grounds to take action on the logging of this first site which we believe endangers the town’s water quality.
To call off the civil disobedience the Greenwood Watershed was asking for an emergency meeting with L-P, the Water Quality Control Board, a county hydrologist, a representative from the Elk Water Board, our county supervisor, etc. This happened Tuesday, August 21, with L-P totally in control of who they would let in to look at the site.
L-P is saying that they gave us what we wanted and of course that is not the case. The meeting was scheduled a day sooner than requested by our county supervisor who was our spokesperson in asking for the meeting so he was unable to attend. Our Elk Water Board representative and the county hydrologist were refused admittance to the site. Anyone who has ever said anything about it being a bad place to cut was not allowed.
I heard another look at the site may happen this Wednesday. The name of the game is stall until all the trees are down. Even though the first meeting already happened they told us it would be a week before the results were released.
Last Friday the lawyer for the Greenwood Watershed Association argued our case at a hearing for L-P.’s other two timber harvest plans along Greenwood Creek which we believe will endanger the town’s water quality as well. However, we will not hear the ruling on these other plans for at least another week.
The civil disobedience actions on Aug. 18, 20, and 21 went very well. Thirteen people were arrested on Monday and four more on Tuesday, all Elk citizens. The loggers, police and protesters, for the most part, were very civil and cordial. Lee Susan and Mr. Sweeley, L-P.’s company men, naturally were the most antagonistic people there.
On Aug. 18, after a peaceful encounter with loggers in the early morning (drinking coffee and later champagne with breakfast), Susan drove his truck up to the gate, skidding to a stop, where four Elk women were standing. Frantically jumping out of his truck, snapping pictures and speaking rudely to the protesters—that’s his style!
On Tuesday, Sweeley, who sometimes appears to be a friendly old coot, gave the orders to tum on the heavy equipment that was facing the protesters at the site. It was a tense moment, without a single police officer present. (Quite a change from Monday when there appeared to be more officers than protesters). Supervisor de Vall did a fine job, using the voice of authority, in stopping the machinery. Earlier that morning, Sweeley was trying desperately to make citizens’ arrests. Attorney Polly Girvin out-smarted Sweeley by asking legal questions regarding our rights to have police officers present for making arrests. Considering the intensity of the confrontation created by Sweeley, it was necessary to file assault charges against him for giving the orders to send the heavy equipment on through the crowd of protesters. Both Susan and Sweeley love creating tension and hostility between the loggers and the protesters. That’s the name of the game: divide and conquer.[1]
The Greenwood Watershed Association wanted a town action and that’s what happened. I think what we did here is special because we are a little town standing up to a big corporation. Even the cops and the loggers seemed to admire us for exercising our rights in demanding L-P. take another look at how they are endangering local watersheds.
Actually I’m tired of environmentalists being portrayed as some overly zealous eco-terrorists, the loggers as some gorilla-like cretins, and the cops like some mindless blind army of ants defending corporate America’s right to run their businesses in whatever terminally ill way they choose. I know the stereotypes ring true at times but in this case we are all just plain folk getting screwed over by large timber corporations with irresponsible logging practices that screw the workers, the people who live here, and the health of the planet upon which we and all future generations depend. The show must go on but we can’t do it divided, especially in a small town.
So what’s next? Personally I hope we can create the best possible support in getting the Forests Forever Initiative passed arid whatever else would make the biggest possible difference in stopping the timber industry’s blatant exploitation of our most valuable natural resources—air water, trees and people.
Notes:
[1] Jack Sweeley and Lee Susan had a reputation for absolute contempt for anyone opposing LP for any reason whatseoever. Both of them have over the years been verbally abusive to protestors, and sometimes have stooped to acts of physical violence.