Hey friends, family, acquaintances..
As many of you know, i have been out and about across the country on the Earth First! Roadshow for 4.5 months (more than 75 stops on the tour!). I am getting ready to make my way home and feel compelled to relay some of the important and timely news to y'all:
#1 Barley Barber Trial for swamp defender Stevie Lowe begins on July 20 in Martin County, FL. We are looking to pack the courtroom for the week. Can you help: http://www.EvergladesEarthFirst.org/home.htm
#2 Cascadia Summer is in full swing with treesits, road blockades, forest free states and a bunch of recent arrests. They are looking for support and solidarity:
www.forestdefensenow.org
#3 Roadblockers to I-69's NAFTA superhighway are experiencing some strange legal obstacles of their own. The State is accusing them of having mafia-esque criminal tendencies (even linking them to us 'mobsters' in the Everglades!)
www.mostlyeverything.net
Those are the brief summaries. There are further elaborations of each # below, with plenty of links and more specific requests. Please mark your calendars, make some calls and squeeze a little out of the billfold if you can afford it.
Big thanks to all who kept things kicking on the home-front and who offered support for the Earth First! Roadshow project. I look forward to seeing you all again.
for the wild,
panagioti
p.s.. for stories/pictures from the Roadshow, check out: www.earthfirstroadshow.wordpress.com
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#1
The starting court date has changed from the 13th to the 20th of July. Please contact us for ways to help out.
LET'S PACK THE MARTIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN SUPPORT OF BARLEY BARBER SWAMP!
Trial for Barley Barber swamp defender Stevie Lowe is set to begin on July 20th. Back in January of this year, Stevie stood up for the Barley Barber Swamp, an ancient cypress forest with the oldest cypress trees in the entire South East, by crossing into the swamp and locking herself into a tree to demand that FPL re-open and restore the ecosystem. She stood up to the Martin County Sheriff's and FPL security and she dealt well with the gators and snakes of the swamp she was protecting. But now she faces the legal system.
People who put their bodies on the line to protect wildlands deserve support.
The trial will exhibit the necessity defense which will allow us to put FPL and its crimes against nature on trial!!! It should be very exciting stuff!
On July 20th please join us at the trial's kick-off. There is no way to know how long trial will go on, but we expect it to last a few day. Once defense begins, it will feature Hydro-Ecology expert, Dr. Sydney Bacchus.
We will rally in front of the courthouse before the trial begins (around 8:30 am), then join Stevie in the courtroom to witness the public jury trial and show our support for these actions to expose FPL, re-open Barley Barber, protect the Everglades and promote a truly sustainable future.
Location: 100 East Ocean Boulevard, Stuart, FL
If you can drive or lend a vehicle please contact us. We will coordinate car-pooling! Please help us pull our resources together.
For those who can't make it, we are asking for financial support to assist in covering the legal expenses for this trial (donate online and find out more about Stevie's case at: http://www.EvergladesEarthFirst.org/home.htm )
Thanks for your support!
Call FPL and tell them to drop the charges and re-open Barley Barber
immediately:
561-691-7046
Love,
Everglades Earth First! crew
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#2
Dear Friends of the Forest,
On July 6th, at the culmination of the Earth First! Round River Rendezvous, forest defenders from Cascadia and across the country set up road blockades at the Umpcoos Ridge timber sale to defend some of the last native forests in Oregon from clearcutting. The Elliot State Forest is one of the few remaining intact coastal forest ecosystems, and provides critical habit for Spotted Owls, Coho Salmon, and Marbled Murrelets.
The blockades turned into a temporary ‘free state’—a living community of resistance—and brought national media attention to the plight of native forests and their vital role in storing carbon to stabilize climate change.
Logging was halted in the forest for several days but the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), the State Police, and the Douglass County Sheriffs eventually extracted people from the blockades using police state tactics. 27 people were arrested in police raids on the blockade, which included intricate aerial structures such as bi-pods, tri-pods and ‘sky’ pods, to keep the logging company, Roseburg Forest Products, out of our country’s only native forests untouched by industrial logging (of which only 3% are still standing).
We are reaching out to our friends far and wide to gather support for those arrested, those facing potential charges for defending the forests and those who are continuing Cascadia Summer’s forest defense efforts. You can donate using paypal by going to the website http://www.forestdefensenow.org
You can also call ODF to demand they withdraw, drop all charges and buy back the Umpcoos Ridge and Fishing Cougar timber sales from Roseburg Forest Products:
ODF # 503-945-7200
Roseberg Forest Products # 541-679-3311
Read and view photos about the Elliot Free State, Cascadia Summer and Oregon forests:
Updates from the blockade-
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/392582.shtml and
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/392548.shtml
Photos from logging on Umpcoos Ridge-
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/392605.shtml
Check out the report on Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/10/27_arrested_for_erecting_anti_logging
Thanks!
From the Forests,
Cascadia Summer (and friends)
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#3
I-69 Updates from Roadblock Earth First! New warrants and upcoming court dates
Below is a synopsis from: www.mostlyeverything.net
As many have heard, two young organizers, Hugh and Tiga, who have been fighting the I-69 NAFTA Superhighway were arrested on bogus warrants several months ago, alleging that Earth First! was a mafia-esque criminal organization. Their first court dates are being shuffled around, but are currently set for August 25 at 9am in Pike County, Indiana. They are organizing to have a strong show of public support.
Another I-69 opponent was also recently taken by Indiana State Police, forced to give fingerprints and DNA. Philip Shelton was issued a search warrant authorizing his forceful detainment for the purpose of obtaining photos, fingerprints, and DNA samples. Four officers (2 ISP detectives, a uniformed ISP officer and another from the Department of Natural Resources) surprised Philip at his Bloomington home early in the morning of July 9th and escorted him to the State Police post. There, they executed the search warrant while repeatedly offering to buy him soda, then invited him out to lunch. Despite their buoyant charm, Philip declined and was driven back home.
Shortly thereafter, the probable cause affidavit requesting the search warrant was obtained from the Pike County Circuit Court, and the nature of the state’s interest in Philip further revealed. This document states that there are three reasons to believe that Philip “participated in the planning and/or execution of the July 9, 2007 office invasions” (during which supplies in various I-69 planning offices throughout the state were moved outside, in protest of evictions along the proposed I-69 route).
See the affidavit for yourself (it even includes a reference to Palm Beach County, Florida from our famed opposition to FPL’s new powerplant)
http://www.mostlyeverything.net/philipaffidavit.pdf
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