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Posted: **2002-10-11 10:43pm**

http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2002/10/1 ... print.html

Death shows danger of tree-sitting

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By Angela Watercutter

Oct. 11, 2002 | SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Tree sitting has become a popular way to protest logging operations, despite its danger.

A man with the environmental activist group Earth First! died this week after he fell more than 50 feet from a redwood tree, the latest fatality of tree-sitting protests.

The man, whose identity hasn't been released but who went by the forest name "Naya," had only been in the tree for about 12 hours on Tuesday evening when he fell, according to Dennis Davie of the Santa Cruz contingent of Earth First!

"Santa Cruz Earth First! is deeply saddened by this tragic event. We never like to lose an activist," said Davie. "This was a young man in his first tree-sit."

Earth First! has been staging tree-sit protests against logging company Redwood Empire's operation in the Ramsey Gulch area, about 20 miles south of San Jose, since August.

Another protester also died this year while tree-sitting. In April, 22-year-old Beth O'Brien of Portland, Ore., died after falling from a tree in Mount Hood National Forest.

"They think they're on a mission and they don't consider the risks involved," said Jim Branham, a spokesman for Pacific Lumber Co., which has about six protesters on its logging property in Humboldt County, 30 miles southeast of Eureka. "I do think they view their actions as being somehow heroic, instead of dangerous or illegal."

Davie said he acknowledges that tree sitting is dangerous, and that there is a heroic nature to putting one's body on the line to protect something. But he said all Earth First! protesters, including Naya, are given training on how to remain safe and healthy.

Davie said Naya came to the Earth First! camp saying he had rock climbing experience. After several hours of scrutiny, the group determined he was capable of climbing the tree, Davie said. He was also given some training on the ground before going up. Normally, tree sitters are given two days of training.

"They believed he climbed well, but it still was his first tree sit," Davie said.

A cause of the man's fatal fall has not been determined. He was taken by helicopter to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The county coroner's office had not determined the cause of death, or the man's identity Thursday.

Earth First! activists have protested logging operations in the Ramsey Gulch area for more than two years. The logging company issued a statement Wednesday saying its employees were saddened by the death.

Tree sitters can spend months camped on platforms in trees, hoping to call attention to the environmental effects of logging. In perhaps the most famous tree sit, Julia "Butterfly" Hill spent two years 180 feet up in a 1,000-year-old redwood in Northern California to save it from being cut down for lumber.

She came down in 1999 after Pacific Lumber Co. agreed to leave the tree standing in return for $50,000 to make up for lost logging revenue.

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Posted: **2002-10-11 10:46pm**

Tree Huggers = Dendrophiles ?

Posted: **2002-10-11 10:57pm**

Serves them right.

Hell, I say chop the tree down with them in it. More lumber and less tree huggers. A good situation all around.

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:07pm**

Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:09pm**

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?

Because your a stupid tree hugger?

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:10pm**

Well, even the human spirit must bow before the awesome power of the megacorporations...

And screw the tree-huggers - they knew what they were getting into, to nobody's going to give a fuck if they die.These are the people who piss and moan about killing trees while wiping their faces with tissue paper, sitting on wooden chairs, and using dollar bills.

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:13pm**

Um...yeah...he fell.

This? This isn't a rifle. Go away.

La-de-de-da...

-walks away-

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:49pm**

You know, tagging an inexperienced Tree Sitter with a shot from an air rifle might be enough to make them lose their ballance and fall.

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:51pm**

Better Idea, Come by once an Hour with an Ax and take a chop out of the Tree

See when they come down

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:51pm**

Do it when they're tired and can't grab the branch in time, but not when they're asleep, so they KNOW they're about to buy it.

Posted: **2002-10-11 11:52pm**

IG-88E wrote:Do it when they're tired and can't grab the branch in time, but not when they're asleep, so they KNOW they're about to buy it.

I like that idea. I like it a lot.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:12am**

That's ridiculous. And what is this crap about him being on his first tree-sit? Seriously, EVERYONE that is stupid enough to do that is on their first tree sit once, why is that a valid excuse for his fall? In any case, they should all be arrested. I think that it would be great to bring a BB gun to one of those wackos. Alternatively, you could cut a ring through the bark around the entire tree. That way, the person can either commit a worthless and meaningless suicide by staying in the tree until it dies and falls over, or they can come down having accomplished nothing, and be arrested for being an idiot.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:21am**

Stupid. They should have watched "The Simpsons." At least Lisa tied herself to the tree. Dumbasses.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:34am**

Stooopid tree huggers.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:39am**

neoolong wrote:Stupid. They should have watched "The Simpsons." At least Lisa tied herself to the tree. Dumbasses.

The world would be a better place if everyone watched the Simpsons.

Posted: **2002-10-12 01:26am**

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?

Because you just might post on a message board like this under the name Darkstar...

Posted: **2002-10-12 01:30am**

DG_Cal_Wright wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?
Because you just might post on a message board like this under the name Darkstar...

ROTFLMAO!!!! That's GOOD.

Posted: **2002-10-12 01:48am**

DG_Cal_Wright wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?
Because you just might post on a message board like this under the name Darkstar...

Speaking of DumbShit where he went? Seems too have disappared after Mike anihlated him.

Posted: **2002-10-12 02:01am**

Stormbringer wrote:Serves them right.

Hell, I say chop the tree down with them in it. More lumber and less tree huggers. A good situation all around. :twisted:

Hear hear!

Posted: **2002-10-12 02:23am**

Captain Lennox wrote:
DG_Cal_Wright wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Why the fuck would you be on a branch 50+ feet in the air?
Because you just might post on a message board like this under the name Darkstar...
Speaking of DumbShit where he went? Seems too have disappared after Mike anihlated him.

Maybe he fell out of the tree he was hugging . . . one could only hope, neh?

Posted: **2002-10-12 03:00am**

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:
Captain Lennox wrote:
DG_Cal_Wright wrote: Because you just might post on a message board like this under the name Darkstar...
Speaking of DumbShit where he went? Seems too have disappared after Mike anihlated him.
Maybe he fell out of the tree he was hugging . . . one could only hope, neh?

No, we aren't that lucky.

If we were he'd catch a heart attack watch Nemesis or something.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:01pm**

one less vegan treehuging whackjob... that's a very good thing...

i like the BB gun idea, i may have to try that some time...

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:06pm**

Hyperion wrote:one less vegan treehuging whackjob... that's a very good thing...

i like the BB gun idea, i may have to try that some time...

Use a pellet gun with pointed pellets. Better penertration.

Posted: **2002-10-12 12:38pm**

You don't need penetration, you just need to scare em.

Posted: **2002-10-12 05:08pm**

I like the ring-barking idea better. Imagine the thoughts of a treehugger upon hearing that the tree he is guarding is already dead. If he stays at his post until the tree rots out from under him, all that he accomplishes is making sure the lumber company has to kill another tree to make up the loss. His only option is to retreat in disgrace.