Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters

September 20, 2005


About 40 people from a dozen organizations came together March 26-27 for the North Coast Forest Summit for focused and productive discussion at Mattole Camp, a beautiful retreat center on the Mattole River. Participating were representatives from EPIC, Humboldt Watershed Council, Earth First!, the Mattole Restoration Council, Sierra Club, Ancient Forest International, Trees Foundation, the Campaign for Old Growth, the Campaign to Save Jackson State Forest, and the Northcoast Environmental Center. Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) organized and participated in the Summit.

Over two days at the Mattole Camp, we discussed litigation strategies, agency issues, 2005 legislative prospects, increased mechanization and over-harvesting in industrial forestry, and critical areas of species refugia and old-growth habitat. We focused on how information-sharing can help all of our strategies mesh for greater effectiveness.

The summit also spawned a discussion group on the current juncture in the forest preservation campaign, precipitated by the predictions of bankruptcy and ensuing chaos by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber, which appears to be entering its "end game" in Humboldt County. We have a different vision, even as major changes seem inevitable: that the forest freed from a destructive corporate grip can recover, ultimately providing sustainable jobs and healthy habitat.

In April, a media outreach campaign for the Pepper Spray by Q-tip trial put BACH resources to work defending forest protesters' rights, while making connections between civil rights and
the biological crisis in the forest campaigns. We continue to help many other activists formulate and carry out effective media strategies.

For more information:
510/548-3113
www.HeadwatersPreserve.org



This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-206

Forest & River News is produced by Trees Foundation.