But I am afraid of heights?

Morning:  Well that doesn't matter that much because I used to be deeply afraid of heights until I decided to go out and live in a tree.  Even to this day, I am afraid of heights but being in a tree is different because you are surrounded that hundreds of branchs that could hold the weight of a car and, besides, you trust the tree you are in.  The most important thing to realize is that just because you think you can't do something doesn't mean you actually can't.  Anything that you put your heart and soul into can be accomplished no matter how hard it is.  So, if you are feeling called to come out and help the Redwoods, don't even pay attention to that fear nagging at you.  My motto is; "If you think you can't do something, go out and do it anyways".

How can I treesit?

Sunflower: There is ground support contacts that will give you a non-violence training and a climb training, preparing the way for the adventure and experience of treesitting. A good website to check out for more information is www.wesavetrees.org/treesitting.htm. Email ferngullytreesit@riseup.net to contact us regarding opportunities.

How/what do you eat?

Sunflower: The community supports us, through care packages and donations. People will hike out to the village and be a ground support, tying food to haul lines we pull up into the tree. Water comes in the same way, either through ground support or a rotation of going to town to fill jugs. We also get food boxes from the local food bank and dumpster dive. Freecycle!

Morning:  I consumed a bunch of grains, Tofu, Chocolate Chip Pancakes (with fresh picked wild berrys in the summer... yum!) and peanut butter sandwichs.  A vegitarian diet is the most logical way to eat in the woods since most veggie food, such as grains, keep for a long time and don't need to be refrigerated.

What do you live on?

Sunflower: We have a dynamic setup. We have dreamcatchers to sleep in, a hammock-style bed woven between two branches. A wooden platform, made from recycled wood, is used to create a kitchen, complete with cooking and cleaning abilities.

Morning:  Dreamcathers are extreamly comfy if they are woven correctly.  I wove my master catcher almost three years ago and people are still sleeping on it and remarking how comfortable it is.  Dreamcatchers are good for sleeping but platforms are good for kitchen areas.

Who makes the decisions?

Sunflower: We are an egalitarian society. In our affinity group, we use the consensus process. I believe this is an effective way to hear everyone's opinion, questions and concerns and make a decision based on group oneness. This process is not a 'majority rules', but an 'everyone agrees'.

Isn't it dangerous?

Shag: Climbing hundreds of feet off the ground is inherently dangerous, much less living up there for extended periods of time. However we take as many precautions as possible to ensure the safety of all persons involved, including loggers/climbers.  Any person that goes out to Gully to climb has undergone extensive training on gear as well as procedures. Aside from that though, many climbers experience a connection with the tree so powerful, it is believed a branch would move to catch them if they fell.

Morning:  I never once felt like I was in any real danger in the trees.  Saftey is all about staying focused, knowing the right knots and simple common sense.  I feel that tree-sitting is pretty safe if done correctly.

Song: As it says on our home page, we are highly trained climbers. Our equipment and abilities mean our lives up here, and we are serious about our safety. Statistically, driving a car is a dangerous activity, yet most drivers proceed with a minimal understanding of the mechanics that propel them. We are familiar with our gear, ropes, knots, and equipment in a way that very few drivers can boast of. Living up in a tree makes you aware of your movements and actions in a way that nothing else can. I feel totally safe in my everyday life in the canopy.

            As far as possible encounters with climbers, the same holds true. We plan and rehearse our defenses to keep all involved persons – and the tree – safe. To defend the land from deforestation we necessarily place ourselves between the trees and harm's way – we do so in ways as to ensure our safety, and then the ball is really in the court of the climbers sent up after us. We understand that we face the risk of extraction (being forcibly removed from a tree) and/or arrest. Treesitting is an act of civil disobedience, and as treesitters we are prepared to deal with these risks. Civil disobedience has always been a tool of the people against larger powers that fail to represent them. Personally, I can't imagine a nation whose people would not want to stand up against the destruction of their land.   I wouldn't want to live there.

Who names the trees?

Shag: Traditionally, the person who gets into/climbs the tree first, comes back down with its name.

Are those your real names?

Song: "Real" is subjective. They are given names… and found names.

Sunflower: The first time I sat in a tree without yet a name, I asked the tree to help me with a name before I fell asleep. Over breakfast the next morning, a brother told me he had a dream and the tree told him a sister in the sit was to be named Sunflower. That tree was Pressidia.

Morning:  I am who I am.

Aren't the trees protected?

Song: NO! Somehow this is a widespread belief – that just because these trees are old and rare, they must already be protected. It would be marvelous if that were the case, but it's not. It is totally legal to cut up a 2,000 year old tree and turn it into a hot tub. It's done all the time, every day. They won't be protected until it's illegal to cut them (and even then it's no guarantee, but it will be far better than now.)  Passing legislation such as the Heritage Tree Act would make it illegal to cut any tree in California older than the state itself, and would be a great start. These giants are the true elders on our planet – some of the oldest living beings in existence as we know it. The ecosystems that they are a part of go back in an unbroken chain to the time that pterodactyls flew. There's less than 3% of the original old-growth forest left in our country, and it's time to stop cutting it down.

Morning:  The trees will never be protected unless we demand new laws to do this.

So you're against logging?

Sunflower: No, I am against unsustainable logging practices, such as clear-cutting. Towns like Stafford, CA know all too well the effects of clear-cutting in Humboldt County, with mud and landslides burying a homeowners property and even home. Once many trees are cut in one area, the root system begins to die and the land is not able to hold itself together anymore, especially in conjunction with rain and wind erosion.

What about jobs?

Song: For generations, the Pacific Lumber Company operated under a sustained-yield plan, which meant that they never cut more in a year than the forest renewed itself. It also had a policy of no clear cuts. This ensured that there was always quality timber to be cut. For years jobs with Pacific Lumber were the most reliable in Humboldt County. When the Texas-based Maxxam corporation bought out Pacific Lumber in 1985, clear cutting became commonplace and logging was doubled or more. This has proved unsustainable, and now smaller and younger trees are being cut as the old growth disappears. Documents from early in the days of the takeover document how Maxxam foresaw and planned the increasing layoff of workers over the following decades as production decreased.

            We feel that the wise use of our local resources benefits everybody concerned, whether their prime focus be jobs, ecology, quality of life, tourism, etc. Good work is being done by the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment. Check out their website at www.asje.org.

What is redwood lumber used for?

Song: Redwood is used for luxury items such as hot tubs and decks, since it is mildew-resistant and less vulnerable to weather and moisture. Some goes to furniture and siding. And what's left goes to pulp mills for disposable products, like catalogues.

Why don't you just go through the court system?

Song: Groups such as EPIC (Environmental Protection Information Center) do just that. Treesitting is a stalling tactic to ensure that the forest remains intact while lengthy court proceedings go on. For more on EPIC go to www.wildcalifornia.org.

Why don't you just plant more trees?

Song: You can't replant a 500, 1,000 or 2,000 year old tree… or replace the ecosystem that is lost when there's logging activity – the animals, plants, mosses, lichen, fungi, etc all living in an intricate relationship. Even if you replanted the same mix of trees, you'd never get back the forest.  There is also a huge loss of topsoil when these areas are logged – soil that takes decades or more to build up.

Sunflower: Also, the replanting that is done by the lumber companies are usually monoculture, the same tree variety planted for acres in straight rows to ensure future logging and profits.

What's a THP?

Shag: THP stands for Timber Harvest Plan. It quite literally means: a plan, submitted for approval to the California Department of Forestry (CDF) by the logging company in order to harvest a particular area of its land for timber.

What's a clear-cut?

Song:  A clear-cut is exactly what it sounds like. All the trees in an area are removed, and underbrush burned. The area is sprayed with defoliant mixed with diesel fuel, in order to stop regrowth. The land, now open to the elements and with no vegetation to hold down the soil, and absorb seasonal rains, loses rich topsoil and that washes down to choke waterways, in turn creating problems with native fish populations such as Coho salmon. Most times the clear-cut area is ultimately replanted with a single commercial species, such as Douglas fir, in easily harvested rows. This creates a tree plantation where there was once an ecologically diverse forest.

What's wrong with clear cutting Fern Gully?

Song: Timber Harvest Plan 01-446, otherwise known as Fern Gully, is comprised of three acres located on a slope directly above Freshwater Creek and Garfield Elementary School, and private homes. At a 30-80% slope, clear cutting would remove the vegetative matter that holds the ground in place and absorbs the heavy seasonal rains. Below, Freshwater Creek is an already impaired waterway under the Clean Water Act. Clear cutting this area would likely result in the washing down of formerly rich forest soil into the creek, further impairing its ability to host the native salmon population. Destabilizing the slope above homes and an elementary school is also risky in an area already known for landslides.

Fern Gully represents some of the last of the ancient rainforest that stretched up the western coast of North America not even 500 years ago. There is currently about 3% of our land's old growth forest remaining. The area is home to coastal redwoods, Douglas fir, and Sitka spruce aged 500-1500 years old. It is traditional habitat for endangered Northwest species such as the spotted owl and marbled murrelet, both of whose populations are declining. Up in the canopy of the trees, a delicate ecology of insects, arachnids, mosses, lichens, and animals thrives. This forest is a layering of millennia, where each new generation emerges from ancestors long fallen, creating a rich environment unlike anything found elsewhere on the planet. All this would be gone in a matter of a season if Fern Gully were to be clear-cut.

When will Fern Gully be saved?

Sunflower: Gully's THP can expire this October 2007, or it can be extended for another year....

Do you get paid?

Shag: It depends on what you value. What is a beautiful sunset over the bay from the treetops worth to you?

Song: Or the mist rolling down from the hills in the morning?

Morning:  Or a group of squirrels wrestling in your dreamcather and scampering around.  Or a bird coming into your dreamcatcher and singing a song.  Money is meaningless when compared to experiences like those!

            As far as finances, however, we rely on donations. We have a cell phone bill, and always need to replace and update equipment. We feed ourselves by a combination of methods, including food pantries and dumpster-diving.

Why isn't the government doing anything about this?

Song: Government is an extension of the will of the people. We unfortunately cannot expect it to act in our best interest unless we let them know in no uncertain terms what that interest is. If our representatives aren't accurately representing us, we need to contact them and let them know that. Legislation such as the Heritage Tree Act can ultimately protect these trees and ancient ecosystems - and legislation doesn't get passed until representatives hear from us, en masse.  So, an answer to this question would be that our government hasn't heard enough from concerned citizens – and too much from wealthy corporations such as Palco. One of the most effective ways that everyone can get involved is to contact his or her representative. (refer to website) Politicians respond best to handwritten, hard copy letters. Emails are less effective. Letters let them know that someone was upset enough about something to take the time to put a pen to paper, and can instigate real change. The government isn't going to do anything unless we the people make them. Write often! Keep tabs on what your representative is doing on the issue, and hold him or her accountable! Tell everyone you know to do so as well!

You're like Julia Butterfly!

Song:  I first heard of forest defense through the work that Julia Butterfly Hill did a decade ago. There have been countless other citizens over the years taking action to protect many different areas of forest, and each action is unique. The Fern Gully tree sit has involved dozens of sitters and ground support people over the years. We all share a commitment to nonviolence as we place ourselves between the forest and environmental destruction, and call for reasonable alternatives to cutting down the last of our old growth.

Are there fairies there, like in the movie?

Song: Of course there are.

Sunflower: Everywhere.

The pictures look like the Ewok scenes from Star Wars!

Song: That's because Humboldt County is where the Endor scenes were shot. This is also Bigfoot country – so we've got Wookies, too. And here's the deal, kids – they're eradicating Endor! Rise up, ye Ewoks, and take to the trees!

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