Wildlands Defense Skillshare Gathering March 11th to 18th

You are invite you to join us and at the Mattole Wildlands Skillshare next week. Dates are from March 11th to 18th. This is a free gathering but donations of money and supplies are much appreciated.
contact # (707) 834-3100

Workshops will include- Direct Action Training, Backwoods Skills, Tree Climbing, Plant Identification, Fire Building, Shelter Building, Blockading, Fire Dancing, Pocket Pouch Survival Kit and more.

Update: Carpooling
Needed- Drivers For Fri. and Sat. Please call ahead if you can offer rides.

Carpools will be leaving Arcata at 10:00am Monday thru Saturday from the parking lot next to Sacred Grounds at 7th and Fst.

The gathering will be in the Mattole River region of Humboldt County. The trip from Arcata takes about 1 1/2 hours.
Please call for directions.

Camp Supply Requests
- Rope, Cord
- Hatchet or Axe
- Tarps
- Food Donations
- 2 Propane Tanks
- White Gas For Stoves




Mattole Defenders are organizing to defend the Oldgrowth forest and waters of the North Fork Mattole River from Maxxam/Pacific Lumber. There are around 2,000 acres of Oldgrowth Douglas Fir forests here. The company is expected to try and get the watercourse protections weakened this summer to allow logging closer to streams where most of the remaining Oldgrowth is found.

Mattole Slideshow

For a bigger view click on "view all images".

PL Files Bankruptcy, North Fork Mattole Faces Uncertain Future.

Regardless of what happens in the wake of Pacific Lumber's bankruptcy, Mattole Wildlands Defenders will continue to stay vigilant until the land, forest, streams and threatened species of the North Forks are guaranteed long-term protection.

Some possible scenarios of what may come are;

1. A bankruptcy Judge directs company operations.
2. The land is sold to developers or another logging company and faces further environmental damage.
3. The land is sold to conservationists and protected.

Even if the land is sold, the HCP rules will continue to apply. This includes mandated seasonal surveys for rare, threatened and endangered species. This also includes the results of the Watershed Analysis and the new rules for streamside logging that PL is expected to request this summer. The proposed new rules will likely allow logging closer to creeks in PL's holdings in Bear River and the Mattole. This would unlock large areas of Oldgrowth Douglas Fir in and around watercourse zones. Approximately 2,000 acres of rare Upland Oldgrowth Douglas Fir exist in this remote and rugged region.

Mattole Defense Winter Update '06

Monitoring of Pacific Lumbers (PL) activities on the North Forks of the Mattole River continues. Some areas of previously protected forest could possibly be open for logging in the second half of this year. PL has not filed any new Timber Harvest Plans (THP's) for over a year, however, it is widely reported that the company is attempting to get watercourse protections reduced. This would allow them access to previously off-limits areas of rare ancient Douglas Fir forest. Some of these areas are within older THP boundaries and are in the "limited entry" or no cut zones. Clauses in these plans allow for logging to occur within the buffer zones if the rules are changed. There would be a relatively short public comment period (a few weeks) and then logging in these plans could begin again. An article in the Mattole Restoration Newsletter says that a draft copy of the new rules for streamside buffers should be available for public viewing and comment by early summer.