Explanatory commentary by Judi Bari, copied from 1990: A Year in the Life of Earth First! published in the Anderson Valley Advertiser, January 2, 1991, reprinted in Reprinted in Timber Wars, © 1994 Common Courage Press (recopied according to "Fair Use" guidelines)
L-P sent shock waves through Mendo County by announcing 195 layoffs in Ukiah and Covelo and the closing of the Covelo Mill, while reaping record profits for the quarter. “I know the political timing is lousy,” said L-P’s silver-tongued spokesman Shep Tucker,” but business and politics at this juncture for L-P don’t mix.”
We reacted by staging the first public display of our worker alliance. EF!, IWW, and L-P employees appeared together at the Board of Supes meeting to demand that Mendo County use the power of Eminent Domain to seize all of L-P’s holdings and operate them in the public interest. Darryl brought the house down and made everyone but Marilyn Butcher smile with his legendary song “El Pio.”
- A Logger Speaks Out: An Interview with Walter Smith - By Bruce Anderson, Anderson Valley Advertiser, July 4, 1990
After that they turned up the heat on us. False press releases claiming to be from EF! began appearing in the mills and logging towns, calling for violence. Death threats against me, Darryl and Greg came thick and heavy, and law enforcement refused to investigate. L-P spent $100,000 to put up a barbed-wire fence in Ukiah to “protect” its employees from us EF! “terrorists.” Sheriff Shea introduced the Stupid Sign Ordinance to limit our picket sign sticks to 1/4 inch thick. (In a rare display of sanity, the Board of Supes did not pass it.)
Meanwhile, Earth Day arrived with its message of corporate compromise. But Earth Night saw the dropping of power lines in Santa Cruz, which, although we knew nothing about it, was immediately blamed on us. The next day EF! successfully climbed the Golden Gate Bridge and attempted to unfurl a banner denouncing Earth Day. The ground support crew was arrested along with the climbers, and two EF! cars were illegally seized and towed. Oakland cops mysteriously appeared in Marin to search and confiscate the EF!ers’ belongings.
- Mississippi Summer in the Redwoods: Freedom Riders Needed to Save the Forest - Press Release, Anderson Valley Advertiser, April 25, 1990 and Earth First! Journal, Beltane (May 1), 1990
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