From July 9-16, the eleventh annual international Earth First! Round River Rendezvous (RRR) took place in the woods of the Beaverhead National Forest near Ennis, Montana, despite efforts by William Pendley and the Mountain States Legal Foundation to appeal Earth First!’s application for a use permit. The MSLF appeal described Earth First! as “a band of violent men and women which advocates and uses sabotage, violence, and terrorism in an attempt to deny others their lawful use of the public lands of the West.”[1] Such rhetoric from the powers that be was typical; defenders of the use of African-American slaves in the 18th and 19th Centuries described abolitionists in a similar fashion. However William Pendley’s extreme right wing ideological bias was evident in the comments opposing Earth First!’s right to peacefully assemble. His accusations included claims that Earth First! had been responsible for the spiked tree that had ultimately led to Cloverdale L-P millworker George Alexander’s injury in 1987 (it wasn’t); and the toppling of power lines in Arizona (which had actually been the result of FBI entrapment). It was ironic that a group that opined so strongly about “individual liberty” was quick to deny it to those it opposed politically. Seventy seven groups joined the MSLF appeal, but the judge denied it, which essentially established that Earth First! was definitely not a terrorist organization.[2] Nevertheless, the FBI and various other law enforcement agencies watched the gathering very closely, and while the government’s surveillance was mentioned in the press[3], the FBI’s past COINTELPRO infiltration of Earth First! was summarily ignored.[4]
Naturally, this RRR was one of the most hyped such gatherings yet, largely in part due to the international attention generated by Redwood Summer and the Bari and Cherney bombing. Despite all of the attention and scrutiny, this particular RRR was very well and very enthusiastically attended by a very diverse group of Earth First!ers, including Redwood Summer organizers Daniel Barron, Darryl Cherney, Karen Pickett as well as Hardwood Summer organizer Orin Langelle, and many sympathetic curious others.[5] Despite the constant rhetoric being whipped up by the corporate press, no doubt taking their cues from the resource extraction capitalists, the gathering was described as “serene”.[6] At one point, Earth First!ers chastised a man named Richard M Bowers, who identified himself as an attorney from New York, who had announced a workshop on “political assassinations”. Bowers argued that in within ten years, such tactics would be necessary, an idea soundly rejected by just about everyone else at the gathering, thus further putting the lie to Pendley’s hysterical accusations of Earth First!ers being terrorists. One attendee denounced Bower’s thoughts as “looney; a throwback to the 1960s”.[7] The gathering was not devoid of controversy, particularly internal strife, as the complaints against the Earth First! Journal staff made public by Mike Roselle only a few weeks later were hotly debated, with most of the Redwood Summer organizers echoing Roselle’s perspective.[8] It was also noted, by the corporate press, that Earth First! cofounder Dave Foreman did not attend.[9]
The RRR ended without any violence[10] (as it always did), and with a bang (ditto), in this case a demonstration 110 strong against the Plum Creek Lumber Mill in Bozeman, Montana on July 16, 1990. Plum Creek, described by the Wall Street Journal as the “Darth Vader” of the timber industry, had been targeted by Earth First! for its rapacious logging practices throughout the Pacific Northwest. As Darryl Cherney sang his signature song, Where Are We Gonna Work When the Trees are Gone?, Earth First!ers encouraged on duty workers to join in. Several workers later revealed that they agreed with Earth First!, but could not risk being seen publically doing so for fear of losing their jobs.[11] Several attendees announced that they would be journeying to California to join in the rest of Redwood Summer, in particular the upcoming rally scheduled for July 21 in Fort Bragg.[12] Despite all of the attention and scrutiny being focused on Earth First!, they managed to retain a sense of humor. For example, the outgoing message on the San Francisco Bay Area Earth First! answering machine instructed callers to “push one for Judi Bari’s condition; push two for demo info; and push three to leave death threats.”[13]
Notes:
[1] “Earth First! Permit Appealed, AP Wire, Ukiah Daily Journal, June 21, 1990; and “Federal Court Asked to bar Earth First!”, AP Wire, Ukiah Daily Journal, July 3, 1990.
[2] “Mountain States Legal Foundation Tries to Stop RRR”, by Phil Knight, Yellow Stone Earth First!, Earth First! Journal, Lughnasadh / August 1, 1990.
[3] “Earth First! Meeting in Montana Being Watched”, AP Wire, Ukiah Daily Journal, July 10, 1990; and “Earth First! on Stage but Spotlight Gets Hot: Group Concerned Over Intense Focus”, by Mike Geniella, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 15, 1990.
[4] “Meeting Attracts Montage of Followers from All Over, AP Wire, Ukiah Daily Journal, July 10, 1990.
[5] “RRR Rocks and Rolls in Montana”, by Phil Knight, Earth First! Journal, Lughnasadh / August 1, 1990.
[6] “Montana Earth First! Meeting Serene”, by Mike Dennison, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 10, 1990.
[7] “Earth First! Leader Skips Big Rendezvous”, by Mike Geniella, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 13, 1990.
[8] “The RRR EF! Journal Meeting: A Watershed”, by Dennis Fritzinger, Earth First! Journal, Lughnasadh / August 1, 1990.
[9] “Earth First! Leader Skips Big Rendezvous”, by Mike Geniella, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 13, 1990.
[10] “Earth First! gathering Dissolves”, AP Wire, Ukiah Daily Journal, July 16, 1990.
[11] “EF! Condemns Plum Creek Timber: Demands End to Corporate Rape”, by Phil Knight, Yellow Stone Earth First!, Earth First! Journal, Lughnasadh / August 1, 1990.
[12] “Redwood Protest to Proceed on GP Turf: More Arrests Predicted Here Than at Samoa”, by Judy Nichols, North Coast News, July 19, 1990.
[13] “Here and There in Mendocino County”, by Bruce Anderson, Anderson Valley Advertiser, July 11, 1990.