In the rain at Fairy Creek
Fairy Creek and the Rainforest Flying Squad
We arrived at the Fairy Creek Watershed on the weekend amongst hundreds of cars and people everywhere and were directed to a new blockade site away up the mountain where a friend locked herself by the neck to a gate that had been erected by the logging industry to block access to the public on public roads.
Police
Signs and tarps were strung around to keep people dry, blast rock and old logging debris was laid out in lines to slow down logging truck access. Anything non-violent to stop or delay the chainsaws and the trees coming down.
It is impressive to see the dedication and determination these people from all walks of life are displaying in efforts to stop the logging.
These valleys on southern Vancouver Island are mostly a wasteland of clear-cut logging. Once teeming with wildlife, fish and giant trees bigger than logging trucks, it is obvious how the industry is destroying itself in a mad rush to capitalize on the last remaining forests before it is all gone. They are putting themselves out of a job and harming much more in the long term.
The Rainforest Flying Squad, a gathering of volunteers from all across the land and in all kinds of weather, are installed at almost every key access point into these last stands of forest. Hundreds of people are manning the main camps while hundreds of others are camped out distributed throughout the maze of logging roads in the area. We run into hired guards working for the logging company positioned at several gates and communicating with radiophones. It is like a pop-up game of the monkey and the weasel or "whack a mole", with RFS and volunteers appearing in new places at any time. Police come by to see what they may be dealing with next. The creativity and sacrifice people are doing is remarkable. It is such a relief not to hear chainsaws and logging trucks although they may appear at any moment. There is a huge clear-cut area next to us, the fresh cut wood and dying trees giving off such a strong pungent scent.
I have my tent set up to rest in on the road in front of the gate. My friend has a chain lock around her neck fastened to the locked gate and a chair to sit in covered with a tarp. People are up before dawn to get to key points before industry does. A collective of knowledge, abilities, gear, ideas, food and help is contributing to the success of what is taking place here and everyone is in, helping out and supporting each other, choosing different times to get arrested, looking after those committed to being arrested and looking after themselves and the forests and wildlife in the process. A lot of interesting people, conversations and friendships are evolving out of everyone forming liaisons in pods of support groups at blockade sites. Everyone is self-distancing and aware of the challenges of covid after almost a year and a half of that. RFS has received over half a million dollars in donations and food and gifts are pouring in.
Nature, especially on Vancouver Island, is very generous. Trees and plants continue to try to keep the land green, except for the massive clear-cuts. The ancient dark forest holds in the moisture and forms the clouds. It is incredibly rich but that is diminishing. Clear-cuts are larger and everywhere. Soil is washed away, second and third growth gets thinner and weaker, not good for building and very short lived. Wildlife habitat is gone. Climate change is inevitable in this scenario. Hopefully this may be a turning point as it has gone on far too long. Treating the land, forests, habitat, waters and wildlife with such neglect and for-profit motive only must end. Everything is connected and it is affecting us all.
We must act now to change industrial havoc and apply truly sustainable stewardship values to forestry, fisheries and more. Learn from nature, it keeps showing us how, give it a chance and stop the destruction.
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The world needs more people like you! Thank you for doing this 💖
Good for you Susanne - as always - an inspiration! Hugs...Kathy D.