LA Times: In the redwoods, logging and tree sitting continue, even as the pandemic shuts mills

cross-posted from Redwood Forest Defense

Outside Trinidad, Calif., in an area known as Strawberry Rock, Walter, a 22-year-old UCLA student, is taking part in a tree sit-in to prevent a logging company from cutting redwoods and other trees.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

In the redwoods, logging and tree sitting continue, even as the pandemic shuts mills

By Susanne Rust

April 16, 2020

Another tree-sit up in fight against Mountain Valley Pipeline

cross-posted from Appalachians Against Pipelines

photo via Appalachians Against Pipelines

An update from the Yellow Finch tree sits on DAY 553 blockading the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline:

“After several weeks, MVP security has FINALLY noticed our newest addition to the Yellow Finch blockade … so we are proud to publicly announce our third tree sit! Come on down and check it out!

“MVP was here, using this fine spring weather to work on their sad excuse for erosion control, but so far, no progress on getting us out of here. ?

 

Ongoing Police Harassment of Pipeline Fighters in Appalachia

cross-posted from Appalachians Against Pipelines

via Appalachians Against Pipelines

UPDATE: “Cops DRESSED AS PIPELINE WORKERS violently arrested our friend at the Yellow Finch tree sits yesterday.

Disguised as an erosion control crew, undercover cops tackled this pipeline resister to the ground and hauled them off to jail on behalf of MVP. They were brutally dragged by their shoulders away from the sits. AND the state thugs never showed our friend a warrant before taking them into custody. Collusion between police and the multi billion dollar Mountain Valley Pipeline project is clearer than ever!

The pipeline fighter is still in jail and is being help without bail! This is an unusually harsh penalty that has been applied to pipeline resistance in Virginia again and again.

We know that the police and the courts are out to protect corporate interests, but we won’t let that scare us! FTP!!

Our friend has sustained some injuries, but they are in high spirits and will continue to fight!”

Original Post:“Despite MVP having their permit process delayed until at least early April, the collusion between the state and extractive industry goons is ramping up. For the past few days we have seen both uniformed and undercover cops riding with workers doing “erosion control” in an attempt to intimidate those taking a stand against corporate eco-terrorism in Appalachia.

Also, Global Security workers, headed in this area by Stephen Len McGary, potentially with undercover police have walked into camp off of their Limit Of Destruction, where land defenders have been holding space for 533 days, supporting the trees in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

The state will use any excuse to escalate the situation and use force against us. We will not be deterred! We are here and encourage peoples to rise up, wherever they are at, against the violent colonial death machine. It is everywhere. It is bigger than this 42 inch, 300 mile, fracked gas pipeline. We exist now amid climate chaos thanks to the continued fierce resistance to colonization among indigenous peoples and resistance fighters worldwide. If you are reading this we are not far from you. There is struggle and action everywhere. Find them. Act.”

via Appalachians Against Pipelines

From Yellow Finch to Wet’suwet’en, NO PIPELINES, NO BORDERS, NO RCMP, NO SURRENDER!”

To donate to the ongoing resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, go here.

To join the Appalachian Climate Action Camp on March 6th-15th, go here.

Pipeline Fighter Blocks Mountain Valley Pipeline Construction

Cross-posted from Appalachians Against Pipelines

Report from Appalachians Against Pipelines on recent action that shut down construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

Montgomery County, VA — Yesterday, pipeline fighter Phillip Flagg locked himself in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, VA. MVP has been clearing and grading this section of the pipeline’s path in preparation to lay pipe. Phillip laid his body in the easement and locked his body to an underground concrete blockade directly in the path of the pipeline. His action stopped MVP work at the site for 7 hours, preventing the company’s progression towards the nearby Yellow Finch tree sits. Around 5:30 pm, Phillip was extracted from his blockade and arrested. He was charged with misdemeanor obstruction and released on $1,000 bail.

Phillip, who previously spent months living in a tree sit blocking the MVP, stated: “I cherished the time I spent in the tree sit, and I think back on it fondly. But I’m not too proud to admit that the time I spent in the oak simply isn’t enough to stop this pipeline. The forces we are facing will not be dissuaded by any individual effort. Each of us has our piece to contribute — when one person steps up, others will follow.”

A banner near the site of Phillip’s blockade read “STOP THE MVP — BLOCK THE PATH — NO PIPELINES ON STOLEN LAND.” The latter part of this message refers to the fact that Indigenous people inhabited the hills and hollers of this region for thousands of years — including Monocan, Moneton, Cherokee, and other Native peoples — before white settlers arrived (bringing with them genocide and forced relocation). Extraction and fossil fuel infrastructure are a continuation of the legacy of colonization; Appalachians Against Pipelines stands in solidarity with Indigenous-led fights against pipelines, from Unist’ot’en to the fight against Line 3 and beyond.

In the holler adjacent to Phillip’s action, the Yellow Finch tree sits have been blocking the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for 313 days and counting. In support of Phillip’s action, one of the anonymous tree sitters stated: “Every day, MVP’s construction work gets close and closer to the Yellow Finch sits, decimating acres of Appalachian forests, mountains, and waterways in its wake. Today and every day, we are putting our bodies on the line to stop it. Now is the time to stand up and fight back against the destruction of the earth. Join us! We’re still here. We won’t back down.”

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 42-inch diameter, 303-mile fracked gas pipeline that runs from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. Earlier this month, a 70-mile extension into North Carolina (which was proposed in 2018) was denied its Section 401 Water Quality Certification by the NC Department of Environmental Quality. The Mountain Valley Pipeline endangers water, ecosystems, and communities along its route, contributes to climate change, increases demand for natural gas (and as a result, fracking), and is entrenched in corrupt political processes.

Resistance to the pipeline has only grown since the pipeline’s proposal in 2014. Grassroots-led pipeline monitoring and a nonviolent direct action campaign are ongoing. On June 17, 2019, builders admitted that the project’s budget has ballooned to $5 billion and that completion date has been delayed by 1.5 years at least.

The pipeline is in a state of uncertainty. MVP currently lacks permission to cross many water bodies and has been forced to explore alternate approaches in crossing through the Jefferson National Forest. The coming months will show whether construction is able to move forward in those areas, and whether investors will continue to believe in the pipeline’s ever-distant goal of completion.