Police Torture of Headwaters Activists - EPIC Press Release
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 17:32:24 +0100 From: Environmental Protection Information Center <epic@igc.org> Reply-To: epic@igc.org Sender: owner-epic-saves-forests@igc.apc.org Subject: Police Torture of Headwaters Activists - Press Release To: epic-saves-forests@igc.org X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Mime-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by igc7.igc.org id RAA02056
EPIC * Environmental Protection Information Center, Inc. POB 397, Garberville, CA 95542 * 707-923-2931 * FAX 707-923-4210 http://www.igc.org/epic/
MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release
Contacts: EPIC, Cecelia Lanman (707) 923-2931 Communication Works, Michael Shellenberger (415) 255-1946
Pepper Spray Victims Were Protesting the Headwaters Deal Environmentalists Urge President Clinton to Veto Interior Appropriations Bill
All over the country citizens are bearing witness to the police brutality and intimidation tactics used by the Humboldt County Sheriff Department against young activists who engage in non-violent civil disobedience to protest President Clinton's Headwaters Deal. "We are horrified that Sheriff Lewis has resorted to such Draconian tactics to silence peaceful protesters" said Paul Mason, President of EPIC. This trend of civil rights abuses has escalated since the crackdown on the large peaceful September 14 rally which drew thousands to Humboldt County. Nationwide, people are appalled about the direct application of pepper spray to the eyes of protesters who have participated in sit-ins at the offices of Pacific Lumber in Scotia and the office of Republican Representative Frank Riggs.
Protesters targeted these sites because of Maxxam's destructive logging practices in Headwaters Forest and Frank Riggs support of the Headwaters deal. The deal would only protect a fraction of the 60,000-acre Headwaters Forest and would reward corporate raider Charles Hurwitz with an exorbitant $300 million for only two of the six ancient groves. Environmentalists oppose the Headwaters Deal because it does not guarantee protection of critical habitat for endangered species like the marbled murrelet and the coho salmon. The deal is also contingent on a Habitat Conservation Plan which would allow PL to incidentally kill endangered species on their property. A Headwaters HCP would be subject to a "No Surprises" policy which could lock in the plan for decades despite any new information about the viability of fish and wildlife populations.
For weeks environmentalists around the country have been calling for a Presidential veto on the Interior Appropriations Bill which includes language which would prevent further acquisition of land in the Headwaters Forest without Congressional authorization. The Headwaters appropriation language and other anti-environmental riders that plague the bill were negotiated behind closed doors. Cecelia Lanman of EPIC states, " If Clinton signs this language into law, he could leave the door open for Maxxam's friends in Congress to attempt to weaken the HCP, allow the other four ancient groves of Headwaters to fall, and forever prevent recovery of this ecosystem and its threatened wildlife."
Dana Stolzman of EPIC said, "Let's not forget the message that the brutalized activists were attempting to bring to the public and the President - that the Headwaters deal loses sight of the forest for the trees." Environmentalists are still urgently calling on the President to veto the legislation. -end-
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