April 24, 2007
After focusing a bit more locally the past couple months, other plans that we've been laying foundation for at Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) are presently coming to fruition. We are embarking on an exciting collaboration with Global Exchange in San Francisco to launch "Reality Tours" of the North Coast, similar in political nature to Global Exchange's international
Reality Tours.
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Involving school groups and the Bay Area public, Forest Reality Tours will bring people face to face with both the devastation and the opportunities for change. Tour participants will be immersed in the panoply of events, people, and actions that have brought us to the present political and physical landscape, enabling a deeper connection with the forest and an empowerment rooted in involvement with the grassroots. Grassroots organizations will be brought onto the itinerary, and we would love to hear ideas from people and organizations during our planning process (right now!). It is hoped that these tours will bring broader support to the rural grassroots groups as well.
BACH continues with our media outreach on a variety of issues, sharing the resources we have built with those in the grassroots who need them. We've done some media work on Pacific Lumber's bankruptcy, referring reporters to interview subjects, for example; and we plan to seek out more opportunities for amplifying voices that should be heard in the ensuing discussion. We are working on a People's Guide to the complicated situation, to help inject an understanding of what it means for the forests and the human landscape.
We have also brought our media resources and organizing capabilities to the campaign to save a grove of heritage oaks in Berkeley that the University of California (UCB) plans to level to make way for a high-tech gym. There is tremendous support for the oak grove, which is a key biological link in the urban-wildlands interface in the East Bay--and substantial opposition to the cutting of the trees from the City of Berkeley, from neighbors, UCB faculty, students, and alumni. There has been a tree-sit in the grove since December 2, and four lawsuits filed. It is illegal to cut these oaks under the City of Berkeley's Coast Live Oak Ordinance. Once again, the activists enforce the law.
For more information:
510/548-3113 or
www.headwaterspreserve.org
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Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
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TOC for Forest & River News, Spring 2007