World Tree Climb Day
The North Coast Group
Massive Shift
The rate of development in the more heavily populated areas is astounding. What makes it worse is that 75% of the people are unaware of ancient forest issues, their own local environmental issues, tree sitters and others from Judy to Julia, salmon decline, and loss of species all under the name of habitat protection plans.
Few question
the urban sprawl around them or they call it progress. Many of them are complacent towards environmental issues and think being an environmentalist means you are all for it as long as you don't have to do anything about it. Being concerned for the environment is not a phase that rebellious youth go through before landing a corporate job but that's the way a lot of them see it. We need much more effort to involve suburban communities in the struggle to preserve and restore natural habitats.Why not Share
with people our struggle to protect ancient forests and show them some resistance tactics at the same time. Especially since so few were aware that resistance has been ongoing since Redwood Summer. We need tree sits in some of the protected redwood groves along Hwy 101 with banners that read, Trees like this one are falling a few miles from here!Many New Friends
from Southern California, recently inspired by John Quigley's Oak sit, have already expressed a desire to wake up urban areas to the threat of out-of-control sprawl. Groups from Oregon, Washington and beyond are excited at the outreach possibilities. So far the media finds it easy to ignore the courageous resisters that are sitting high up in trees risking their lives for unprotected ancient forests on corporate land. Lets bring the tree sitters to them. It is time for a once a year mass tree sit. Here's a list of preliminary needs and some ideas/advice from some old-school forest activists.We need
An organization in each region to volunteer to be the communication center for participating groups. In California those regions are: North Coast-Marin to Crescent City. Bay Area is the Bay area. Central Coast is Santa Barbara to San Jose. Every thing south is the Southern California region. You can break your regions down smaller of course. Other areas that want to participate should start by delineating regions and agreeing on a plan.Media People
Letters to the editor that stress the loss of old growth, out of control urban growth, loss of open spaces. We need to get as many people, groups, celebrities involved. Especially churches, schools, and community groups. The destruction of clean air, water and healthy forests is everyone's dilemma and everyone needs to be aware of that. Then we all need to be a part of the solution.Peace Keeping
Nothing can not be allowed to destroy the peace and unity of the forest defenders who have worked hard within this movement, whether it be those who work in the woods or right here in the media. All need to be heard and respected as a valued asset to the movement. We need everybody's help.Keep in mind
that this overall campaign is to be legal and appealing to the so-far-inactive moderates, and suburban folk. Any direct actions that test the legal issue in an area will be the responsibility of the local groups or the persons involved in such civil disobedience acts. Local environmental groups should organize the flavor of the sits in their region, but embrace or include a "protect ancient forest" theme. Urban groups could hold banners in a visible area to protest development if trees are not available.Educational Campaigns
community meetings, speakers, and field trips should accompany the tree sit. Rallies should be planned for some of the tree-sit sites. Tree sits can be any length of time. At least one tree per area should be kept going for 24 hrs. Encourage groups to tree share. For example 12 people=2 hours in the tree each.Tree Sitting Group
We now have our own group as well that you can join below to take us through to next year and beyond. If you, or your group is interested in being a communication center, please post your name, your region, and contact info. Please share your ideas, efforts, and advice too. This is just the beginning. More will follow but we need your help. Please forward this message to every group that's interested in saving old-growth forests and become part of the movement. Messages can be emailed to the email group right away as soon as you have joined and received your confirmation. - T
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Because it takes a Whole Village
To Save the Earth
