new tree-sit in Santa Cruz
Press Release - For Immediate Release - 18 August, 2002

Santa Cruz Earth First! Action Update - Ramsey 2 Treesit Starts Against
Redwood Empire

A tree-village has been established in the Ramsey 2 Timber Harvest Plan
(THP) in southeastern Santa Cruz county in California. Located at the
southern end of the contiguous Coastal redwood belt that stretches south
from Oregon, the treesits, called Critter and Free, were setup on
Friday, the 16th of August by activists with Santa Cruz Earth First!
(SCEF!) This area has been the scene of some of the worst logging in
recent Santa Cruz county history and two years ago was the site of the
first treesit in the county. That treesit ended 18 months later with a
court victory that closed Summit Road to Redwood Empire, a San Jose
based timber liquidator and land speculator. In 2001, SCEF! managed to
save a couple of acres of Coast Redwood and Douglas Fir in the steep,
easily eroded soils of Ramsey Gulch by occupying several trees and
fending off helicopters. A local judge prevented Redwood Empire from
forcibly removing the treesitters for fear that someone would be
injured. Redwood Empire had filed a lawsuit aimed at removing the
activists and collecting damages, but stopped it after the judge made
his ruling.
A 1995 THP in nearby Gamecock Canyon was the scene of 37 Forestry Act
violations by a Redwood Empire logging contractor. The now bankrupt
Licensed Timber Operator, Hayward Logging, amassed the violations by
overcutting, felling unmarked timber, causing excessive erosion, and
violating other forestry regulations repeatedly. Loggers working for the
Hayward brothers were noted for randomly shooting off firearms into the
woods and firing at activists. Their father once called SCEF! and begged
us to leave the woods so that people wouldn't get shot. They also
terrorized local residents with verbal and physical assaults, sending
one neighbor to the hospital. The neighbors sued, finally forcing
Redwood Empire off the local road. Redwood Empire's Registered
Professional Forester, Peter Twight was forced in the past to relinquish
his license due to undisclosed violations, though sources cite his
repeated overcutting of Northern California THP's.
Here is the story of the first days of the new treesit by Penelope, one
of the treesitters. "On August 14th, I became aware of the possibility
of a compromising Timber Harvest Plan (THP) being approved for Ramsey
Gulch. On August 15 I decided to take action against illegal cutting of
trees along Ramsey Creek, a Class I fish-bearing stream that Redwood
Empire contends should be reclassified as Class II [Note: Class I
streams get 75-foot 85%-canopy-retention "Watercourse and Lake
Protection Zones," whereas the WLPZ for Class IIs is only 50-feet. Not
to mention the fact that County Ordinance 4571, passed by the S.C. Board
of Supervisors in Nov. 1999 but overturned when local timber behemoth
Big Creek Lumber successfully sued the county in California Superior
Court in 2000, would have established 50-foot no-cut buffer zones for
Class I streams. And no-cut means 100% canopy retention...]
We arrived on scene the night of August 15th and worked all night
to
set up a 2-person platform to protect a cluster of five 2nd-growth
redwood trees among many other massive redwoods and oaks. I witnessed
the blue marks for cutting on trees surrounding a large oak tree marked
"W" for wildlife [a tree Redwood Empire is "saving" as "mitigation" for
the impact on raptor habitat in the THP]. Logic tells me that if all
the trees surrounding a tree marked "W" are cut, the wildlife tree's
habitat also will be destroyed. On the morning of August 16 around 8
a.m. I heard the start-up of chainsaws and the catcalls of loggers.
Having been informed of the 5-day waiting period after a THP is approved
[to allow for appeals], I was disappointed once again to find that the
greedy corporation, Redwood Empire, had jumped the gun and had started
to destroy the diverse ecological system that my heart calls home before
it was actually "legal" to do so.
So I will be here until the public is aware of these atrocious things
and a way to put an end to the destruction of our forest comes to light
in the minds of more than just a few. If the average human had the
blessing of spending the night with these trees and the creatures that
dwell therein, I would not have to write this to express the love I feel
for the home all earth's beings have been given. Please take the time
to notice and appreciate your surroundings and stop the perversion of
human life." Penelope - Ramsey II Tree-Sit -- August 17, 2000.
For more information call Santa Cruz Earth First! Voicemail -
831-425-3205 or send email to:  cruzef@cruzio.com Volunteers and
donations are needed immediately. Send donations to SCEF! POB 344, Santa
Cruz, CA 95061

www.tree-sit.org