1985-87: MAXXAM's on the Horizon

The venerable Pacific Lumber Company had existed for nearly a century, therefore Maxxam’s raid of Pacific Lumber was a bombshell to Humboldt County. Workers and environmentalists alike revered Pacific Lumber for their reputation for sustain­able forestry and better-than-average working condi­tions. Cecil’s article, however, shows that even pre-Maxxam Pacific Lumber’s reputation was little more than veneer, though by comparison to Maxxam, it seemed utopian. The paternalistic company had fooled the workers into thinking manage­ment was their ally—an illusion that was brutally shat­tered when man­agement sold them out to Maxxam. Likewise, Pacific Lumber’s selective cutting, while certainly less damaging than clear-cut logging, was hardly sustainable. Already, PALCO had been mortgaging their future thus making themselves ripe for Maxxam’s takeover. Without a union to protect them, this left the workers—as well as the old growth redwood stands—high and dry.

Almost simultaneously, Darryl Cherney (who had just recently relocated to Humboldt County from the east coast), Larry Evans, Greg King, and others formed an Earth First! chapter in Southern Humboldt County and immediately began organizing various actions in protest of this takeover, particularly direct actions in the woods (including over a half-dozen tree-sits) and media actions. Meanwhile, the non-profit Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) in Garberville played David to Maxxam’s Goliath on the legal battlefield and mounted a legal campaign against Maxxam’s frequent violation of existing timber regulations. Less than two years after Maxxam’s takeover, Larry Evans, Greg King and others identified and mapped the Headwaters grove which became one of the central parts of the campaign against Maxxam.

• Company Town Threatened - By Ruthanne Cecil, Country Activist, November 1985.
• In Solidarity with P-L Workers - By the Humboldt County Greens, Country Activist, November 1985.
• Heritage in the Balance: 500+ Pacific Lumbers Against the MAXXAM Takeover - Advertisement featured in the Eureka Times-Standard, Sunday, November 17, 1985.
• Maxxam: Ultimate Land Rapers - By staff, Country Activist, June 1986.
• Rainforest Day - By Darryl Cherney, Country Activist, October 1986.
• Trespass into Paradise - By Greg King, Country Activist, December 1986.
• Earth First! to Protest Maxxam Timber Policies - Earth First! Press Release, Mendocino Commentary, December 4, 1986.
• Save The Loggers League (PDF file) - compiled by Darryl Cherney, et. al., Winter 1986/87.
• Earth First! Emerging - By Darryl Cherney, Mendocino Commentary, January 22, 1987 & Country Activist, February 1987.
• Earth First! Protests to Maxxam Shareholders - Earth First! Press Release, Mendocino Commentary, April 2, 1987.
• Timber Barons Challenged by Mass Mailing - Mendocino Commentary, April 2, 1987.
• National Protest Targeting Maxxam Cutting of Redwoods - Mendocino Commentary, May 21, 1987.
• Dave Ziegler: One of 40-100 Protesters at the Maxxam Log Deck in Fortuna - Interviewed by Beth Bosk, New Settler Interview, Issue #21, June 1987.
• (Untitled Earth First! Press Release - June 1987) - By Greg King, Mendocino Commentary, June 4, 1987.
• Earth First! Protests Maxxam Redwood Logging from California to New York City - By Mokai, et. al., Earth First! Journal, Litha (June 21), 1987.
• Tactical Thoughts on the Maxxam Protests - By Socratrees (Darryl Cherney), Earth First! Journal, Litha (June 21), 1987.
• Tame the Savage Timber Beast - By Bob Martel, Country Activist, September 1987.
• Maxxam Sues Protestors; Sally Bell - By Darryl Cherney, Country Activist, August 1987 and Earth First! Journal, Mabon (September 23), 1987.
• Liquidating the Last Redwood Wilderness - By Greg King, Earth First! Journal, August 1, 1987.
• Earth First! Plans Direct Action at CDF Office - Mendocino Commentary, August 27, 1987.
• Live From 150 Feet High - Greg King Interviewed by Socratrees (Darryl Cherney), Country Ac­tivist, September 1987.
• Redwood Tree Climbers - By Greg King, Earth First! Journal, Mabon (Sept. 23), 1987.
• Tree Perching, Part 1: Greg King - Interviewed by Crawdad Nelson, New Settler, Issue #24 September 1987.
• Tree Perching, Part 2: Jane Cope; Her Story - Interviewed by Beth Bosk, New Settler, Issue #26, November 1987.
• Tree Perching, Part 3: Tree Climber Dan Collings; His Story - Interviewed by Crawdad Nelson, New Settler, Issue #26 November 1987.
• Tarzan and Jane Swing Through Redwoods Again - By Mokai, Earth First! Journal, Samhain (November 1), 1987.
• Rubber Stamp War - By Darryl Cherney, Country Activist, December 1987.
• Guerilla Tree Planters Invade Maxxam Clearcut - Mendocino Commentary, March 17, 1988.
• New Battles in the Maxxam Campaign - By Greg King and Berberis Nervose – Earth First! Journal, Eostar (March 21), 1988.
• Guerrillas Plant Redwoods - By Berberis Nervose, Earth First! Journal, Beltane (May 1) 1988.

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Last Updated - July 1, 2026.