Treetop Blogging Protests Logging <\/b>
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By Amit Asaravala, Wired, 02:00 AM Dec. 12, 2002<\/p>\n
EUREKA, California-Unlike most people her age, 27-year-old “Remedy” hasn’t checked her e-mail in over eight months. That’s because she’s been living in a 200-foot-tall redwood since March 21, when she climbed the tree to protest timber harvesting by Pacific Lumber Company.
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Now, thanks to an anonymous group of tech activists, Remedy’s Spartan lifestyle-she perches 130 feet up on a 4-by-8-foot platform with just
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a
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few blankets, cooking utensils and personal items-is about to change.
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For the past four weeks, the group of self-described geeks has been work ing on a plan to provide tree-sitters in the Headwaters Forest region of Nort hern California with access to an 802.11b wireless network.
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“It’s awesome,” said Remedy, who, like the other activists trespassing on Pacific Lumber property, declined to give her full name. “I miss being on the Internet. But, of course, e-mail is just a fringe benefit. I want to use the Internet to spread the word about what’s going on out here.”
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Headwaters has been the scene of numerous clashes between Earth First environmentalists and Pacific Lumber ever since the company was acquired by Maxxam Corporation in a 1986 hostile takeover. Over the past year, more t han 15 protestors at a time have occupied various trees on Pacific Lumber property, preventing loggers from completing their work.
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While some tree-sitters, like the now-famous Julia Butterfly Hill , have attracted the attention of major media outlets, the tech activists hope t heir wireless network will encourage sitters to post independent weblogs.
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“This is partially to make a personal stand in protection of the earth,” said “Rabble,” one of the project’s organizers who also declined to give his f ull name. “And it’s partially about having the story personalized in a way th e media can spin a story around.”
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The group of five young activists, from the San Francisco Bay Area’s Independent Media Center and regional wireless user groups, has already provided Remedy with a Linux-based laptop and a panel antenna. A car batt ery recharger powers the equipment, which will connect to an 802.11b access p oint 5.5 miles away in Eureka.<\/p>\n
The activists have also set up a weblog for Remedy. Her first two message s were posted to the site with the help of supporters on the ground who car ried disks from the tree to a computer in the city. She looks forward to being online soon so she can publish on her own.<\/b><\/p>\n
“It’s going to be overwhelming to be online again,” said Remedy. “People tell me my inbox is full. I’m not even sure if I remember all my account information anymore.”
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Setting up the network hasn’t been easy. Because the Headwaters tree-sits take place on private property, many supporters are wary of being pressed with felony conspiracy charges or named in strategic lawsuits.
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Mary Bullwinkle, a Pacific Lumber representative, acknowledged that the company had filed such a suit in 2001. “These protestors are on private property,” she said. “We believe they are breaking the law.”
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The activists also face a problem in Eureka: A tree behind the house wher e they have mounted their 802.11b access point threatens to block the neces sary line of sight to Remedy’s antenna if it shifts in the wind or grows more leaves.
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“We should just cut the tree down,” joked one member before getting serio us about the tree’s water content and how much of the signal it might block.
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The group may decide it needs to move the access point to a different loc ation on the property, or find another house.
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“We’ll go door-to-door if we have to,” said Rabble. “Getting the tree-sit s online will not only be cool, it will be a way to use recycled technology and free software to empower people fighting to save the planet.”
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Treetop Blogging Protests Logging By Amit Asaravala, Wired, 02:00 AM Dec. 12, 2002 EUREKA, California-Unlike most people her age, 27-year-old “Remedy” hasn’t checked her e-mail in over eight months. That’s because she’s been living in a 200-foot-tall redwood since March … Continue reading