***For Immediate Release***
Contact: Emily Posner, Native Forest Network, Organizer–207-930-5232
All Charges Dropped Against Activists Harassed by Plum Creek
On Monday, February 4th, Emily Posner, Alex Lundberg and John Waters
all received notice from the Piscataquis County Prosecutors Office
that their pending criminal trespassing charges were dropped.
The three are volunteers from Native Forest Network–Gulf of Maine
(NFN), a grass-roots statewide coalition of concerned citizens working
to conserve and restore Maine’s forest spaces-and 1 of them, an atmospheric scientist, is also with Rising Tide North America. NFN is registered with
LURC as an intervenor in the Plum Creek rezoning proposal, and has
been participating in official hearings regarding the Seattle-based
company’s Concept Plan for the Moosehead Region. NFN supports a
stance of “No Compromise” in regards to Plum Creek’s proposed
development, claiming, “this type of project contributes to global
climate change, threatens the ecological integrity of the largest
undeveloped region east of the Mississippi River, and undermines the
rural heritage of the region.”
In November the three NFN volunteers were stopped, harassed and issued
citations for criminal trespassing after taking video and still
photographs for a documentary project at Plum Creek’s Greenville
Office.
Native Forest Network notes that this recent event is part of a
pattern of repression and intimidation against those who question Plum
Creek’s ethics and intentions in Maine. “From State Police harassing
environmental activists back in 2006 to an unnecessary police presence
at public hearings, the history of this proposed development has been
riddled with police intimidation, preventing many voices from being
adequately heard in the public process, whatever the outcome
is, it will always be in question.”
According to the prosecutor, the State dismissed the complaints
against the defendants for the following reasons: “The Defendants
left almost immediately after being ordered to do so, plus, any
posting was insufficient for Criminal Trespass at that time of day
under the circumstances.”
“The D.A. beat us to the punch – his reasons for dismissing the
charges against these activists exactly mirrored our defense,” said
the three’s defense attorney Lynne Williams.
Says John Waters, “The whole event was ridiculous: there we were
hiking on Moose Mountain, trying to film the sunset over Moosehead
Lake when all these hyped-up wannabe cowboys swooped down upon us,
sputtering about “eco-terrorists”-claiming: “we KNEW you guys would
try something this weekend!”
—
Podrán cortar todas las flores, pero no podrán detener la
primavera–Pablo Neruda
They can cut all the flowers, but they cannot stop the coming of Spring.
–its a take over not a makeover–
dead prez
Defending Water for Life
207-930-5232
info@defendingwaterinmaine.org
www.defendingwaterinmaine.org
Meg Perry Healthy Soil Project
a program of the Common Ground Collective
www.commongroundrelief.org
504-913-5635
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