#forestdefenders — Public Fediverse posts

My nature & ancient trees loving heart breaks, every time I see more clearcut deforestation. With the rapid acceleration of climate change, our foolish, greedy, short-sighted government continues to accept dirty deals with ecocidal corporations - going against public interests. They greenwash & whitewash while still allowing mass clearcuts to happen in disappearing ancient forests on the island.

Please - don't stop fighting to #ProtectOldGrowth #forests 🌲❤️🌲 #AncientTrees need #ForestDefenders in times of increased, rampant #CorporateGreed & sellout #ecocide enabling governments ✊️

#BCNewDeathParty #BCpoli #SaveOldGrowth #DefendNature #TreesOverGreed #TreesAreEarthsLungs #Nature #ProtectNature #WildFirst #BCForestryReform #deforestation #StopEcocide #StopClearcuts #photography #BanCorporateLobbyists #DavidEby #BCNDP #EbyTheEnabler #ProtectForests #BCTourism #VancouverIsland #Cowichan #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #BCgovernment #BCNDPLegacyoOfDeath #StopDeforestation #OneEarth #BritishColumbia #Canada #WorldInMyEyes #YYJphotographers #DisabledPhotographers #Activism #ActivistPhotography #Environmentalist #EcoJustice #FightForNature #NatureGuardians #StopTheSaws #CrimesAgainstHumanity #morose #SuperUnnaturalBC #TourismBC #TourismVanvouverIsland #EcoCrimes #monochrome #BWphotography #BWphoto #ThickTrunkTuesday

#MonochromeMonday

They keep killing the ancients.
Men who kill elder trees, are men who kill their children's futures.
Souls must be disconnected from nature & their spirits desperate for money, for them to be OK destroying #OldGrowth forests, for a temporary paycheque.
There are more ethical ways to earn a living.
Stop believing industrial & government #greenwashing lies.
#ClearcutLogging kills #ecosystems & throws #ecological balance out of whack.

Government tells us to not fret, that they're managing #forestry better - they're #greedy, #sellout #LIARS. You can go see for yourself, how many clearcuts are still happening on big scales, at several places across Vancouver Island & some parts of BC interior where greedy corporations are decimating the last inland #TemperateRainforest in the world. Our #neoliberal BC NDP government is OK with ongoing mass ecocide - they get money from industry lobbyists 🤑🤮😡

Don't stop, fighting to #ProtectOldGrowth #forests 🌲❤️🌲 #AncientTrees need #ForestDefenders in times of increased, rampant #CorporateGreed & sellout #ecocide enabling governments ✊️

#BCNewDeathParty #BCpoli #SaveOldGrowth #DefendNature #TreesOverGreed #TreesAreEarthsLungs #Nature #ProtectNature #WildFirst #BCForestryReform #deforestation #StopEcocide #StopClearcuts #photography #BanCorporateLobbyists #DavidEby #BCNDP #EbyTheEnabler #ProtectForests #BCTourism #VancouverIsland #Cowichan #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #BCgovernment #BCNDPLegacyoOfDeath #StopDeforestation #OneEarth #BritishColumbia #Canada #WorldInMyEyes #YYJphotographers #DisabledPhotographers #Activism #ActivistPhotography #Environmentalist #EcoJustice #FightForNature #NatureGuardians #StopTheSaws #CrimesAgainstHumanity #morose #SuperUnnaturalBC #TourismBC #TourismVanvouverIsland #EcoCrimes #monochrome #BWphotography #BWphoto

#StopDeforestation ✊️🌲🌳🙏

Two past #photographs together ->

#BigLonelyDoug layered over #deforestation #clearcuts 😢 in #CowichanValley
All the #OldGrowthTrees, in what used to be fully forested area, were razed down. This kind of reckless profits before planet #ClearcutLogging absolutely devastates #ecosystems & it annihilates #WildlifeHabitats.

Please join the ongoing fight to #SaveOldGrowth & for #BCForestryReform. We seriously need to transition & work on #NatureFirst #WildFirst solutions for a more ethical, responsible & sustainable future.
https://ancientforestalliance.org/

Read about Big Lonely Doug:
https://thewalrus.ca/big-lonely-doug/

#CutOutCorruptionNotForests #SaveOldGrowth #TreesAreEarthsLungs #VancouverIsland #ProtectForests #ProtectNature #VancouverIsland #StopEcocide #SaveTheForests #PauseTheSaws #EndClearcutting #StopKillingOldGrowth #TreesOverGreed #BCNDP #BCpoli #Environmental #ClimateEmergency #ClimateChange #EcoJustice #CorporateGreed #GreedKills #AbolishCorporateLobbyists #CrimesAgainstHumanity #BCNDPCriminals #Ecocide #BritishColumbia #Canada #BCNDPNatureKillers #SaveAncientTrees #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #Treehugger #TreeProtectors #ForestDefenders #ActivismArt #WorldInMyEyes #ActivistPhotography #DisabledPhotographers #YYJphotographers #photography

#Lawsuits Have Become the Weapon of Choice Against #Activists

Legal intimidation suits known as “#SLAPPs” are becoming the norm for private #corporations and #governments trying to silence those who speak out on matters of public interest.

by Katie Redford
July 17, 2023

“On May 31, #Atlanta #SWAT teams with riot gear and battering rams broke down #MarlonKautz’s door. Police dragged Kautz and two colleagues to jail in their pajamas, charging them with #MoneyLaundering and charity fraud.

“Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson, are volunteer board members of the #NetworkForStrongCommunities Inc., which was incorporated in 2020. Through it, they are able to raise funds for the #AtlantaSolidarityFund (#ASF). Since 2016, the fund has bailed out people arrested in #Georgia while exercising their First Amendment right to protest and helped them find legal help.

“Recently, the ASF has supported Atlanta activists who have been protesting a new $90 million police training center known as '#CopCity,' arguing that it will rob Atlanta of a #VitalGreenLung and increase inequality in surrounding neighborhoods. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, has charged dozens with 'domestic terrorism' for participating in largely peaceful protests.

“Georgia authorities claim that the money laundering charge is based on evidence of a fund transfer to another organization, but they haven’t shared any other details about their allegations. Magistrate Judge Altman, who presided over the bail hearing, described the state’s evidence as 'unimpressive,' reinforcing the defendants’ claims that the arrests are politically, not legally, motivated.

“Shortly after the arrest, Governor Brian Kemp announced that the state would go after everyone involved, and Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted that the funders of the bail and legal defense fund were next. As an executive director at a climate philanthropy who made charitable donations to the ASF for legal defense, I had to wonder: Was my door going to be battered down next?

“Some of the accused may have trespassed or destroyed property, but to charge protesters with 'domestic terrorism' and a legal defense fund with money laundering is a cynical political act that bears no relation to the misdemeanors alleged. Any American committed to democracy should be interested in making sure these charges lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.

“These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: We will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is known as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.

“SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit—typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions—discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.

“As a lawyer on the front lines of climate justice activism, I witnessed firsthand how a SLAPP was used to weaponize the law against free speech and association. During the mass protests by Indigenous water protectors and environmentalists campaigning against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, SLAPPs were used widely.

“As #StandingRock became a global cause célèbre, the pipeline’s owners brought a $900 million #racketeering case against individuals and #NGOs like #BankTrack and #Greenpeace, alleging a vast global conspiracy to damage the company’s reputation and bottom line through fraud and #defamation.

“A federal court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. But despite its eventual failure in court, the SLAPP tactic served its intended purpose: intimidation. #KrystalTwoBulls, one of the Standing Rock organizers that my organization represented, said that being sued tangled her up, practically and emotionally, in a legal battle that diverted her attention, taking her away from her work on the climate crisis and #Indigenous #LandRights.

“She began to #censor herself; she withdrew from her community and the movement, fearing that conspiracy allegations might extend to anyone she touched. And that, of course, is the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up or suffer the consequences.

“The case against #Kautz in #Atlanta similarly seeks to spark fear in activists and donors against supporting #FirstAmendment rights and legal defense. There is reason to believe that prosecutors may also be preparing #RICO charges against anti–Cop City activists, another dangerous use of the legal system to quell #grassroots movements.

“Since Standing Rock, over 20 states have passed '#CriticalInfrastructure' laws, which dramatically increase civil and criminal penalties related to protests at or near #FossilFuel projects. #DomesticTerrorism laws like that in Georgia have a similar intention: to weaponize the legal system against critics and stifle #DissentingVoices.

“I have no doubt that the majority of the domestic terrorism charges around Cop City will fail. But in the process, a political point will have been made, at the expense of the constitutional right to free speech. People protesting to protect the #environment and #climate will have been publicly accused of being harmful to America’s security, and they will have been forced to defend themselves—likely at exorbitant cost—against a 30-year jail sentence. Other potential activists will surely remember these charges when they consider whether it’s worth it to attend a concert, sit-in, or protest.

"The best strategy for stopping SLAPP suits in their tracks, whether they emanate from the private sector or are used by the state, is to keep speaking out, to support defamed activists, and to make the litigants pay a price. About 30 states have introduced legislation that protects against SLAPPs. And last year, #Jami Raskin introduced the #SLAPPProtectionAct of 2022 to #Congress. It must be reintroduced.

“My organization, #EquationCampaign, created a fund to provide lawyers and legal support for people who face this kind of legal retaliation for their environmental and climate work. I’m astonished at the wide range of people who need our help: from #farmers and ranchers to #journalists and #IndigenousActivists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.

“Absent federal protections, we all must be vigilant in the face of the egregious proliferation of #antiprotest laws and lawsuits.

“#Democracy and the future of this #planet require people to speak up. The law should serve—not silence—those of us who do."

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/slapp-legal-intimidation-activists/

#ForestDefenders #DefendTheForest #StopCopCity #DirectAction #Fascism #RICO #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #NoDAPL #DakotaAccess #StandingWithStandingRock

The #Tonawanda #Seneca Nation’s Fight to Protect the #BigWoods and stop STAMP

By Margaret Wooster (WNY Environmental Alliance) with Sarah Howard (Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation + Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation) June 16, 2023

"One of Western #NewYork’s greatest treasures is a 20,000-acre #wetland-#grassland complex located mainly in the Town of Alabama, and locally known as 'Alabama Swamp.' It is also known as the Sixth Great Lake, a glacial lake now largely underground but surfacing in the plentiful streams and pools that make this watery landscape essential to the many reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds who live or pass through, especially during spring migration.

"This area is also home to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, a federally recognized Nation and part of the #HaudenosauneeConfederacy. The extraordinary #biodiversity of this area is in large part a testament to their ongoing #stewardship and reciprocal relationship with the more-than-human beings who also call this place home.

"But now, this place, and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation itself, faces an existential threat to their well-being. The #GeneseeCounty Economic Development Center (#GCEDC) has purchased 1,260 acres of habitat and farmland to build a Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (#STAMP) adjacent to the Nation’s territory. The site is also located within a few miles of multiple state and federally protected areas, including the #Iroquois National #Wildlife Refuge and the John White Wildlife Management Area.

"The STAMP plan capitalizes on federal and state subsidies for #microchip fabrication. To date, however, its only tenant is Plug Power, a #HydrogenFuelCell manufacturer whose product will have to be trucked many miles to market, undermining its justification as 'green power.'

"Two other possible developers – semiconductor producer #EdwardsVacuum and the warehouse developer #ScannellProject – would pave or build over the site’s northern 600-plus acres and bring an extra 140 #cars and #diesel trucks per hour up the narrow country road that leads to the refuge and through the Nation.

"However, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and their allies, including other local residents and numerous environmental organizations, are fighting back against this industrial development. In February [2023], the GCEDC applied for a 'Full Campus Incidental Take Permit' that would allow them to remove habitat for #endangered and threatened #wildlife species known to occupy the site, including the #ShortEaredOwl and the #NorthernHarrierHawk. In response to the hundreds of letters it received from the public about this permit, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) required the GCEDC to hold a public hearing, which took place on May 11 in the town of Basom.

"More than 185 people attended the hearing. All 49 who spoke were opposed to the permit and the majority expressed opposition to the entire STAMP project. Speaking in opposition were numerous members of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, including titleholders, as well as allies from groups including the Buffalo Niagara #Waterkeeper, #SierraClub, #SaveOntarioShores, SUNY ESF, University of Rochester, Western New York Environmental Alliance and the #CleanAirCoalition of Western New York. In the words of Tonawanda Seneca Nation Sub-Chief Scott Logan (Bear Clan), 'If this permit were to be granted, it would be an immense injustice to #MotherEarth. And as a #Haudenosaunee person, and all the Haudenosaunee People in here, that is our birthright. It is our, what we are here for, is to protect the earth. And the STAMP Project goes a hundred percent against what we are — what we’re all about.'

"The STAMP site is located immediately adjacent to the Nation’s present-day reservation boundaries. Indeed, the most intensive manufacturing will be located along the project’s border with the Nation. However, as their Council of Chiefs has repeatedly stated in public comment letters and letters to agencies responsible for granting permits sought by the developers, the project’s approval process has continuously and egregiously undermined the Nation’s #sovereignty. In violation of their status as a federally recognized #TribalNation, the Tonawanda Band of Seneca’s Council of Chiefs – their traditional governance structure – has not been afforded a robust consultation process in decision-making about the project. Instead, opportunities for consultation have been perfunctory at best, and have focused almost exclusively on mitigation.

"In their official letter to the NYDEC regarding the proposed Part 182 Take Permit (mentioned above), the Nation’s Council of Chiefs wrote that, 'The Tonawanda Seneca Nation opposes this habitat destruction and would directly be impacted by it. The permit would allow for unmitigated incidental take on Nation lands when, inevitably, increased human presence, noise, excavation, light and traffic would disturb these species and turn them away… We do not want our Territory, people or future generations to be burdened by the negative impacts of these projects. This is a human rights issue for the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Haudenosaunee, who would bear a disproportionate burden from the industrialization of the land at STAMP.'

"The Council of Chiefs has demanded that a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be carried out to assess the possible impacts on the Nation, its culture and its environment; to date there has been no such study and the 2012 STAMP EIS (which did not analyze impacts on the nation) is badly outdated."

https://globaljusticeecology.org/tonawanda-seneca-nation/

#ForestDefenders #SenecaNation #FirstNations #NativeAmericanRights #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #Greenwashing #HydrogenPower

#ForestProtectors Arrested at #FairyCreek

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 16, 2023

"Three forest protectors were arrested on Tuesday protecting the old-growth forests west of Victoria, as Canada continues to target #NativePeople with police operatives protecting the interest of destructive industries. The police ops are #BritishColumbia's C-IRG, the Community #Industry Response Group.

"Mourning the invasion of the #MilitarizedPolice squad who arrested the #ForestDefenders, who were his guests, #Pacheedaht #FirstNation Elder Bill Jones said, 'We are at the end times of our great forests.'

"Abolish C-IRG said, 'Due to the increasing amount of #indigenous-led anti-resource extraction movements in British Columbia, the Community-Industry Response Group was born. C-IRG is unique to British Columbia. They are militarized, have no budget limit, and the officers get paid handsomely to force #pipelines, #mines, #dams, and #logging through unceded #IndigenousTerritories, without consent. This is just another extension of the #RCMP’s original task- to remove and separate people from the land and enforce #ColonialRule. They do not keep us safe, they protect #capital."

Background: Back to Fairy Creek

"The last time the world was watching Fairy Creek, we witnessed the largest act of #CivilDisobedience in #CanadianHistory. Well over 1,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous forest defenders were arrested by the RCMP over months of tense standoffs in 2021 as #activists sought to halt the logging of rare #AncientTrees.

"The courts hammered that movement, with charges and bail conditions keeping many away, and the tussle in the trees went dormant for most of the last two years.

"Until now.

"A new blockade, led by #IndigenousYouth and supported by non-Indigenous allies, has just been erected on a key bridge crossing an arterial logging road. The RCMP's specialized tactical team that responds to land defence actions is present and surveilling the camp. A raid could come any day, and having #media on the ground is of crucial importance to keep tabs on police and document the latest developments as land defenders seek to protect their unceded territories from old-growth logging."

Full article and more information:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/08/forest-protectors-raided-at-fairy-creek.html

#VancouverIsland #ACAB #ProtectTheForests #CIRG #Colonialism #Capitalism #Corporatism #Oligarchy

Tapes + CDs ONLY available today from STERILE RECORDS bandcamp.

These recordings are part of the POLLUTANT series, informed by the ongoing destruction of earth in the name of civilization in the name of greed and the fantasy of supremacy that must be ended.

Compared to the previous parts of this series, this one is rather quiet and melancholic - a sombre mixture of drum'n'drone with a few environmental recordings including those of acoustic instruments played in oppressive urban spaces for donations and a processed guitar recording of my friend P., that has been written during the eviction and destruction of the Hambacher Wald in favor of the ever expanding motorway network, a clear invitation to the fossil-fuel/rare-earth guzzling automobile culture to persist and by that continue to destroy this earth. I myself have tried for many years to defend some of the last remaining patches of forests and it’s inhabitants against these motorway expansions, that not only slice the habitats of wildlife into tiny pieces, but that are also the veins that pump the toxic sludge of capitalist trade, extraction and exploitation into the most remote places.

Power + Solidarity to all Forest / Land defenders + Water protectors.


RESIST TO EXIST

Limited edition Tapes / CDrs + Pin available ONLY today from Sterile Records: https://sterilerecords.bandcamp.com/album/gone-dark-pollutant-7

#coldsoresound #sterilerecords #nearfuture #pollutant #drumNdrone #hambacherwald #hambacherforst #forestdefenders #waterprotectors #forestdefender #resistance #sombre #melancholic #noise #darkambient #anarxnoise #gonedark #pylon #grid #collapse