In Solidarity with P-L Workers

By the Humboldt County Greens – Country Activist, November 1985

A Greens meeting held in Garberville, Monday, October 28, drew organizers from Fortuna to Bri­celand in Humboldt’s south County. The attending Greens were unanimous in rejecting the proposed incursion into local forests of the predatory Hou­ston based corporation, Maxxam. Maxxam has been at­tempting to gain control of Pacific Lumber Com­pany, with P-L’s Board of Direc­tors apparently ac­quiescing to the takeover after initial opposition. Pacific Lumber’s holdings make it the largest pri­vate possessor of Old Growth Redwood. The local com­pany is known as unique among large corpora­tions for its adherence to timber harvesting which does not dip into the forest’s “biological capital” but ra­ther follows “sustained yield” practices.

The Greens ally themselves with the efforts of some P-L stockholders to block the Maxxam takeo­ver with a lawsuit and with the opposition voiced by Scotia workers and townspeople, some of whom reportedly hung P-L’s Board Chairperson in ef­figy!

The Greens also ally themselves with local envi­ronmental activists whose defense of the earth in­cludes nonviolent resis­tance. The Greens commit themselves to building an effective coalition to thwart Maxxam’s self described policy of liquidation of its new forest acquisition. In line with this com­mitment, the local Greens are preparing a set of new forest practices applicable to our area—starting with no clearcutting; herbicides or out of scale, inappro­priate technology.