GJEP Board Member Karen Pickett was involved in this action.
On Aug. 30, a log truck rammed through protesters holding a banner outside the Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) mill in Scotia, CA.
Police responded to the scene not long after the incident. HRC officials called law enforcement, the company’s director of forest policy confirmed, due to what he called a dangerous situation set up by protesters “standing in the middle of the road.”
Neither the Humboldt Sheriff’s Office nor the local California Highway Patrol office is investigating the incident, both offices confirmed. It is not known whether the truck driver who plowed through the banner is an HRC employee.
Earlier in the protest, things were not so controversial, one protester said.
“We blocked about 13 logging trucks,” said Georgia Doremus, a Forest Defenders organizer. “We had some productive conversations with logging drivers, some of which agreed with our point.”
“We’re not against the workers there,” she continued. “We’re against their bosses and the management making these decisions.”
The protest was calling for an end to Humboldt Redwood Company’s plans to create fire hazards, log legacy forests and build new roads in the North Fork of the Mattole River watershed. It was a terrifying moment, the truck came close to mowing people down. The truck cab was branded HOOPER on its doors—license plate CA 1VV2490.
Please contact ef***@ri****.net help save the last remaining untouched forests and help stop the creation of fire prone dead zones with herbicides. For more info check out Save the Mattoles Ancient Forest on Facebook.
