Yesterday, our tree sitter was nearly killed by an on-site worker. More than ever, we need your support.
STATEMENT FROM NUTHATCH: On Tuesday night at 615 pm, well after normal work hours, a worker drove the tree cutter into the pines towards me and cut down several trees right next to mine. One of the trees he cut fell and hit my platform, barely missing me. I cannot describe to you the fear and terror I felt as the tree came towards me. I screamed and yelled to please, please stop, but I could barely hear myself over the sound of the saw. I could not even see the person inside, only a cold unfeeling machine. He didn’t stop. He kept coming again, again, and again as I begged for my life.
I clung to the tree and my rope, trusting them as I dangled in the sky waiting for my friends to arrive. I called my mom to tell her I loved her. My mind was filled with the names of many other activists who died for their cause. I never thought I might make that list. I am just a goofball who loves birds, plays too many video games, and wants this planet and life to keep existing.
I hope someone with some kind of power to stop this steps in, but I have no faith in that; when my friends showed up after the incident to try to support and protect me, the police arrested all of them. David Chain was a forest defender who in 1998 was killed by a logger who did almost the exact same thing: cut down a nearby tree, which landed on David and killed him. The police threatened to charge his friends and supporters for murder. The logger was never charged.
I implore you to join our fight. The fact that people are willing to kill me and my friends for what we are doing just shows how threatened they feel. There are so many ways to fight beyond sitting in trees. I promise that even in the midst of the fear and chaos, the knowledge that you are defending the forest and fighting for good will give you all the strength you need. Message on Fbook for how to get involved.
