Whose shoulder should carry the burden?

Times-Standard ^ | April 03, 2003 | Editorial Staff

[farmfriend]

Whose shoulder should carry the burden?

The $37,000 that the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department spent the week of March 17 policing logging demonstrations in Freshwater was a snapshot of the significantly higher costs these activities have brought to bear here over the years. The tree-sitters protesting Pacific Lumber Co. logging are doing so in defiance of a court order, and are trespassing as well.

This is not protected freedom of speech. It is illegal. The folks who were encouraging them on Greenwood Heights Road below the tree-sitters' perches, may have in large part been acting legally, but quite a few allegedly trespassed and resisted arrest, both illegal.

The number of protesters at the scene prompted a large contingent of sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement to be on hand. Despite activists' claims that they are nonviolent, we think the response was justified. Emotions run high at such gatherings, and a large group can take on a life different than the attitudes of the individuals that make it up.

For Pacific Lumber Co., its efforts to remove the tree-sitters were fruitless. Is it really an effective tactic to have climbers remove protesters from trees one by one? Certainly the company has the right to spend thousands of dollars trying ineffectively to root out the activists in its trees. But what if the activities -- however legal -- are known to draw hordes of activists and hence require significant law enforcement? We strongly suggest that PL find another tactic, because the one it has been using isn't doing anything.

Should the protesters, or Pacific Lumber, be responsible for covering the costs of the law enforcement presence? We agree with 3rd District Supervisor John Woolley when he told the Times-Standard that such a policy would be a slippery slope. Having to pay law enforcement for a job it is supposed to do would lead to numerous complications. It's not up to the county to attempt such collections, even if it could legally do so.

We do, however, have a slate of judges in the county who have wide latitude when it comes to assessing penalties, and who have a means to recoup the county's costs where they see fit. We encourage them to take a look at this option during the criminal proceedings of the arrested activists, should they be convicted.

The highest authority should be the law, not any other notion espoused by one group or another. If Pacific Lumber has done wrong by the law, let the courts assess the damage done. If PL's critics have broken the law, let the courts assess the costs.

But let the law be the end-all: It's all we have in common.

[farmfriend]

ping

[Rasputin_TheMadMonk]

If they are breaking the law, the deputies should be required to enforce the law. Whether they like it or not. Round up the ground protesters and put them off the property, climb the trees and remove the tree sitters. Do the stinking job you are paid to do.

As for charging Pacific Lumber for the deputies pay, that's a foolish as arresting a woman for getting raped. They are the victim. Make the monkeys pay for their own stupidity.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[q_an_a]

File a civil claim against the trespassers and any orgaization to which they are members leaders. The cost of good citizenship is not high if what you do is legal. If you break the law the cost is very high. Make the trespassers chose what they are willing to pay.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[tubebender]

They really sad news is there are more tree sitters today than when they started removing them..

Here is what happens when this scum is hauled into court. no justice

[Carry_Okie]

I guess I'll repeat myself. Here is a (minorly edited) excerpt from a letter I sent to Pacific Lumber:

Too often, the fight over trees devolves to a polar struggle that puts the timber industry in a no win position.

To forcibly remove tree sitters is just such a strategy. I think it's a loser for you, your community, and your industry.

It is my belief that PL is missing an opportunity in dealing with these misbegotten children.

It's time we helped them grow up.

Tree sitters are the perfect captive audience; they're not going anywhere.

Allow them very limited supplies: water, bread, fruit, and maybe some cheese. DO NOT permit them batteries (no radios, no flashlights, no music, no cell phones).

Go get some beers, a sleeping bag, and some sandwiches in a cooler.

Offer them a good meal if they come down.

Set up a team of foresters and landowners and read to them, 20 hours per day.

Explain to them how they are being used by the very multinational corporations, banks, and investors that they think they are fighting. Read them Holly Swanson's book. Read them Ron Arnold's books.

Arrest anyone who interferes.

Teach them that free markets offer the only alternative capable of assuring healthy forests into perpetuity: Read them my book. Have the landowners add anecdotal stories of how they have loved their land for over a hundred years, how taxes (that paid for these kids' schools and provided lumber that built their parents' houses) forced them to log the old growth harder than anyone really wanted to, and how these kids are ruining their lives and their communities. If timber is gone, who takes over? The bigger timber concerns, developers, or the government (which routinely makes a mess of things).

These kids have never had real parents. If it's done with firmness, kindness, and relentless commitment, they'll come down, and maybe even join the human race.