North Coast Earth First!

Welcome to the North Coast Earth First! Website

North Coast Earth First! is a non-violent movement, based in Humboldt County, CA, focused on saving old growth Redwood and Douglas Fir forests in the Pacific Northwestern area of the U.S.

We also seek to shift logging practices away from corporate industrial liquidation logging and towards selective and responsible forestry.

Our movement has had a long history of fighting for civil rights and exposing corruption, both in the courts and in the media, and these missions continue to this day, in 2008. Your help is needed to keep it all going! Read on to find out how....

A Bit of History

In 1985, Maxxam Corporation, based in Houston, Texas, took over the Pacific Lumber Company, in Humboldt County, California. This takeover was accomplished with consolidated shares and junk bonds, and then Maxxam dumped a huge sum of its debt onto Pacific Lumber, forcing the company to log it's forests at an unprecedented rate, and targeting the Old Growth Redwood and Douglas Fir forests.

In response, the North Coast Earth First! movement was formed, in the non-violent civil disobedience and direct action traditions of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks. Well over one thousand people have been arrested in defense of these forests, and people are risking their lives, at this very moment, to save these ancient wonders.

The resistance to Maxxam lasted over 20 years, and then, as activists predicted, Maxxam Corp. filed bankruptcy on Pacific Lumber Co. The bankruptcy proceedings ended very recently, and now the Mendocino Redwood Company is the owner of the old Pacific Lumber Co., and has renamed it the "Humboldt Redwood Company," or HRC. The HRC has promised to permanently protect Old Growth trees on their land, and has pledged to end the destructive practice of clearcutting. This is wonderful news, and we hope that these promises will be fulfilled. Activists will be keeping a close eye on the timber harvest plans and practices, because, well, that's what we do. We also hope for the best, and believe that revolutionary change is possible, and that our efforts will eventually result in the preservation of Old Growth and the implementation of responsible timber harvesting practices.

For over two decades, people have been flying banners that read "Maxxam Out of Humboldt." It finally happened, marking the end of a tragic and contentious era. If North Coast Earth First! had never existed, Maxxam would have been able to come in and just mow the old growth down; thousands of acres of redwood forest were saved as a direct result of North Coast Earth First!, non-violent civil disobedience, and direct action.

If conditions do change, it's an awesome example of the power of the people to effect change; even if things didn't change, the fact still remains that the people stopped Maxxam from easily doing what they came here to do, which was to log every last old growth tree on Pacific Lumber property. Power to the people! Earth First!

Click here to read the full timeline

National Geographic Features Redwoods in October Issue

National Geographic magazine has featured the Redwood forest in their October issue, and has done a great job in their factual coverage of this very unique ecosystem.

North Coast Earth First! Media had the opportunity to participate in this article, when a correspondent from National Geographic called to do some fact-checking about the events surrounding the death of David "Gypsy" Chain.

You can read the article and watch the accompanying videos at the following link: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/redwoods/redwoods

Our work continues, as the campaign to preserve forests worldwide moves forward.

We were also recently contacted by Marie Claire magazine, so keep an eye out for an Earth First!-related article in their magazine, too! The interview was centered around a woman who is currently wanted by the FBI for alleged involvement with the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front (ALF & ELF), and the discussion was about the philosophical debate as to whether property destruction is inherently violent or not. Since North Coast Earth First! has a long-established history of no property destruction, as part of our non-violence code, it's safe for us to talk about this issue on a philosophical level. Many of us have felt that property destruction is not inherently violent, if no living beings are hurt or killed; property destruction is much riskier than locking down, as far as the charges you could face, and can cause more hostility between workers and activists. That being said, property destruction does hit greedy corporations at their bottom line, digging into their profits, which is the only language some of these folks seem to understand. It could be argued that the ALF & ELF simply don't have a "no property destruction" clause as part of their non-violence code, yet they DO have a non-violence code, and are motivated by the same ills that drive people up into tree-sits.

The discussion also focused on the new laws under the Patriot Act and similar legislation which followed, such as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and the loss of liberties under the banner of the "War on Terror." Overall, it was a very interesting interview, and should prove to be a very controversial article, especially for a magazine like Marie Claire.

Suspicious Death of Medicine Chief Durwin Whitelightning

On December 9th, 2009, Lakota/Dakota medicine man Durwin WhiteLightning was on his way to the Cannonball Reservation, having just celebrated his 52nd birthday in Northern California. Police officers were waiting for him at the Amtrak station in North Dakota, and arrested him for carrying medical marijuana, for which he had a prescription. Durwin was taken to the Ward County jail, and booked at 2:30 a.m. At 6:30 a.m., Durwin was supposedly found hanging by a bed sheet in his cell, and Ward County sherriff Vern Erck claims it was a suicide.

Those who knew Durwin cannot believe that he would commit suicide over a simple weed ticket, nor was he the ever known to be the least bit suicidal over anything. When Durwin's brother received his eyeglasses, they were broken and bloodied, indicating some sort of struggle, not a suicide.

Durwin WhiteLightning was very supportive of the Earth First! movement and the forest defenders themselves. In 2005 & 2006, he held a Sun Dance ceremony dedicated to the preservation of the old growth redwoods and to honor and protect the forest defenders. He said that Sun Dance prayers are sometimes answered within for years, and Maxxam left Humboldt in 2008. Durwin also hosted many sweat lodge and Native American Church ceremonies for hundreds, if not thousands, of people over the years, and

An independent investigation has been launched, and you can help out by donating to the legal fund at any Well's Fargo bank. Just tell them that you want to make a deposit to Durwin WhiteLightning, and they should be able to process the donation. Please contact us if you do, so that we can let the family know and thank you personally. Losing Durwin was a loss to our entire society, and the circumstances around his death call for justice!

We'll keep you posted on any new developments, and please feel free to contact us for more information and ways you can help. You can contact the Ward County Jail, at (701) 857-6530, to demand a fair investigation. Remember to be civil, Durwin always taught us to treat people with respect, even under the worst circumstances.

Fundraisers

Men's Light Green EF! T-shirts

Women's Purple EF! T-shirts
(they run a bit small, please take that into consideration)

(we're all out of medium-sized shirts in this style, at the moment)

All $20, with free shipping and handling!

100% organic cotton, made in the USA

North Coast Earth First! Media

North Coast Earth First! Media is a project dedicated to getting the word out about the historic struggle to save the Redwood and Douglas Fir forests of Humboldt County, California.

This is done by creating independent media, and occasionally working with large broadcast networks, from the U.S. and around the world. We have worked with French and German media in the past, and there are indications that we will continue to work with them in the near future.

Check out the YouTube channel, iTunes podcast, streaming video, Google Video, Blip.tv, and TVHumboldt.

There's a wealth of history and information there, so that people can educate themselves about the issues and history, and engage in active discussions on the moderated comment boards. Keeping the boards all-ages means no profanity, which is the primary reason for moderation.

By responding to comments on our video pages, valuable bridges have been built with workers, both active and laid-off, accomplished by explaining that we are not advocating a zero-cut philosophy. NCEF! has always been in favor of selective harvest, for the long-term health of the local economy.

Earth First!

Go to our donations page:)

Go to NCEF! Videos Page

Action is the Antidote for Despair! Earth First!

More Related Links

Revolution!

Welcome to the North Coast Earth First! Website

A Bit of History

Fundraisers

North Coast Earth First! Media