Friday May 23, 1997

End of day three of the blockade

The sun is just starting to set on day three of our blockade of Doman/Western Forest Products' (WFP) clearcutting operations here in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. It has been a time of emotional upheaval, having heard last night from the police that additional police boats and officers were arriving today to begin arresting our people.

Today began with the near certainty that WFP would be granted an injunction to remove us: over the last two days, company representatives and camerapeople have been a continuous presence, visiting and videotaping the blockade, our vessel the Moby Dick and our floating base camp. Helicopters and planes fly over two or three times a day gathering footage to be used as evidence in supportof WFP suing us, and the police have been doing the same in support of bringing us to trial.

We received word from the Greenpeace Vancouver office this morning that WFP had applied to the courts for an injunction hearing and hoped to get it enforced and our people removed before the end of the day. Everyone onsite immediately began looking for ways to prolong the blockade, moving onto the the huge crane of the grappleyarder, finding new and challenging ways to head off quick arrests. The spirit of everyone onsite has been incredible and the desire to keep this going remains high, despite minimal sleep and the rough outdoor conditions. We've been running supplies in a couple of times a day, trying to avoid heading straight into the logging crews.

The workers at first seemed sympathetic, or at least intrigued, by the new experience of being blockaded by Greenpeace and displayed a fairly remarkable sense of humour the first nught. Around 8:00 p.m., a pickup truck pulled up in front of the grappleyarder and four or five guys piled out, rummaging around in the truck. There was a bit of trepidation on our part as the logging crew emerged, which rapidly shifted as the guys began setting up a barbecue - just in front of us, and just out of reach of the Greenpeace gang. To a bunch of hungry and dishevelled activists, it was probably a bit cruel - but pretty funny all the same.

By day two, however, the initial amusement was wearing off pretty fast. This morning, when nine men showed up looking disgruntled and muttering that if the police weren't going to cut us off maybe they should do it themselves, it was clear that the thrill was gone. Still, everything's been very peaceful and the police have been extraordinarily professional, maintaining a peaceful and respectful relationship with us. One officer said, "Well, hey, you have a job to do and so do we. But you know, when you look at what's happened to this coast it's kind of a surprise that more people aren't standing in the roads."

The hardest part of this was hearing that the First Nations in the area, the Kitasoo people, have critisised our use of civil disobedience, stating publicly that it might hurt their involvement in the treaty process. We've had to remember that the only other two parties involved in treaty negotiations with them are the provincial and federal governments, and that only they can influence how treaty negotiations play out. In the recent past we have seen First Nations being pressured by the government to criticise environmentalists in order to maintain good relationships with their negotiations partners. Knowing the Kitasoo have been working to protect rainforest valleys on their land, having them not support civil disobedience has nonetheless been emotional for everyone, and in particular our people actively involved on the blockade. We have no doubt, however, that continuing the blockade was and is the right thing to do, that the world has to see how Doman/Western Forest Products is destroying this rainforest, in order to stop the continued clearcutting of these precious valleys.

Even now, as our people are locked on to equipment and stopping the clearcutting on one part of Roderick Island, WFP continues to clearcut in at least five other areas of this island. The scale of the logging is almost unbelievable.

By the end of the day today, when we finally heard that the courts had adjourned Western's application for an injunction until Monday, there was a huge sense of relief and rejoicing on the site, on the Moby, and on the base camp. Maybe it will be Monday that the injunction is granted and the police arrive, maybe it will be Tuesday. For now, we are still there and WFP is not logging on his site, that has to be good enough.

These places are so hard at times to campaign in, to campaign for - they are so remote, so difficult to communicate from, so complicated in their politics. Yet, this remoteness of the place, the abundance of all the wildlife, the rich salmon streams, the Spirit and Grizzly and black bears, the majestic pristine valleys, and the struggle of the First Nations - these are only some of the reasons that these places are so special, so in need of support. This is only the beginning, and there are going to be a lot of struggles ahead, but it is a joy to be here and all of us who are here think we can win the struggle.

From the Geat Bear Rainforest,

The team onboard and off the Moby Dick