Richardson Grove Action Now Press Release, April 20, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 20, 2011

Opponents of Federally-Funded CalTrans Plan To Widen Hwy 101 Through Richardson Grove State Park Warn Contractors Seeking To Work On The Plan:

“BIDDER'S BEWARE -WE WILL STOP YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!”

Contact: Richardson Grove Action Now 707.602.7551, rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

Humboldt County, CA: In an April 18, 2011 protest, the latest in a series of direct actions and mass rallies, including a day-long lockdown occupation of the CalTrans District 1 Headquarters, a treesit on private property bordering Hwy 101 that CalTrans plans to steal and de-forest, two large banner hangs, and a crafty public meeting disruption, Richardson Grove Action Now (RGAN) declared, “Bidders Beware! We will stop you every step of the way.” Northcoast communities are not only threatened with the Naval war games testing and bomb detonation currently taking place off the Northern Pacific Coast, but now must stave off a federally-motivated CalTrans plan to mutilate an ancient redwood grove so that trans-national corporations, nuclear materials, development, and military have greater access to Humboldt Bay and to towns that have been relatively protected by a bottleneck of forests and winding roads from the South and East.

Sue Ricker of RGAN said at Monday's demonstration, “It's preposterous in 2011 to be destroying the last remaining 2% of old growth. If CalTrans can widen the highway through Richardson Grove State Park, a world-renowned redwood forest, they'll go to any length to convert the 101 into an interstate NAFTA artery.”

RGAN vows to stop this plan in the trees, roads, and offices, and has been relentlessly vocal about CalTrans' lies regarding the motivations, logistics, and consequences of the road widening project. “Despite CalTrans' biased claims that no old-growth trees will be cut or harmed if the project moves ahead, we know that excavating, cutting, compacting, and paving over the roots of ancient redwood trees spells certain death.” says members of RGAN. Furthermore, anyone traveling through the Grove, as do thousands of awestruck people every year, knows that in the narrowest sections of the road, there is little space (only 23 feet) between the humungous old growth trees. CalTrans' plan calls for 28 feet and would require CalTrans to cut the ancient monuments. RGAN notes that every time there is a protest against the expansion project, CalTrans trips over itself to create new lies and to counter growing awareness of the nefarious plan. While CalTrans claims that root excavation does no harm, several landslides have occurred in the past month, including a massive slide onto Highway 101 north of Richardson Grove, exhibiting of what happens to roads and mountains when roots no longer stabilize the ground.

April 18th was CalTrans' Advertised Bid day for the major construction in the road widening plan. Although recent activity in lawsuits against the project suggest that CalTrans will halt its bidding process for a couple of months, CalTrans District 1 Supervisor spoke on Monday to the press about the bidding process going forward, while the only delay he acknowledged regarded a related, but separate, culvert project in the Grove.

On Monday (April 18th), while a hundred community members protested at the CalTrans District 1 HQ in escalating resistance to the highway expansion, CalTrans locked its doors to the public. While demonstrating on the office lawn, people made dozens of phone calls to CalTrans to express opposition to the plan; CalTrans responded by turning off its phones. One demonstrator climbed a ladder onto the roof to address the crowd and highlight the urgency of direct action to prevent the road widening: “We are strong, unified and growing in numbers. We will not back down, and our determination to protect the Redwood Curtain is not shaken by the violence, lies, and scare tactics perpetuated by the State, nor by distortions of the truth from the complicit corporate media.” She was arrested by several officers. Many officers were posted inside, at the front doors, and on the various rooftops of the HQ.

One demonstrator's thorough presentation to the crowd included information about the long-standing and shrouded motivations of the project and the fact that there are also CalTrans road “widening” projects on every highway entrance east to the Northcoast. The cracking open of the Redwood Curtain promises to forever change the physical, social, and economic landscape of the Northcoast and what has been, for millenia, redwood country.

RGAN will broaden and intensify the non-violent direct action campaign against the wasteful, illegal, and irreparable plan. The group warns potential bidder companies that contractors will deal with more than just a construction job if they choose to do harmful road widening through the world-renowned ancient grove.
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Photos will be posted soon from April 18th Mass Rally Protest!

Download PDF of Press Release:
http://www.box.net/shared/73sxabqa48

A Statement from Lock-downers at Monday's Direct Action at CalTrans

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

Right now, community members from Richardson Grove Action Now are locked down inside here in the CalTrans District 1 Headquarters building with One Demand:

Cancel the plan to widen the highway through Richardson Grove IMMEDIATELY!!

ONE DEMAND! CANCEL THE PLAN!! ONE DEMAND !! CANCEL THE PLAN!

ONE DEMAND! CANCEL THE PLAN!!

The people who are locked down to the CalTrans office risk their freedom in order to Inspire You.

This direct action is born of URGENCY.

The people locked down take this direct action to inspire you to prepare and take action now to stop this destructive plan through Richardson Grove.

Even though we've opposed the plan in the courts,

Even though the Richardson Grove project promises nothing but the downfall of our local economy and the irreparable destruction of our natural environment,

Even though our Earth strains to support over consumption and expansion, and over consumption and expansion would only increase with this road widening,

CalTrans continues to move forward.

In spite of our input, our petitioning,

In spite of our letters to the editors, our calls to politicians

In spite of our lawsuits, our presence in meetings,

In spite of all the outright opposition to the road widening, it seems like they haven't heard us.

We've been loud, but we need to get louder.

Get loud folks!!!

And it's time for us to get more bold!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

CalTrans and elected representatives continue to ignore our will, the will of the people, bowing instead to a few big business owners and the wealthiest one percent of our population. People charged with the duty of representing the will of the people blatantly go against us: The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors both secretly and overtly have shut out public participation regarding this project. Elected state assembly member, Wes Chesbro, has lied and given the green light for the ruin of Richardson Grove. CalTrans project manager, Kim Floyd, and District One Supervisor, Charles Fielder, stand to advance their own positions with the completion of the Richardson Grove road widening. They have all rubber stamped this horrendous project in spite of the will of the people.

The people have made a Loud and Bold expression of our desire for autonomous communities. Autonomous communities that operate free from outside domination, free of top-down governance.

We want communities without unnecessary infrastructure.

We want communities not dependent on endless expansion and the false progress of convenience.

We want a place free of corporate invasion, free of WalMarts and prisons.

We want a place that honors the spirit of the land and the spirit of the people who call it home.

We want to cultivate community and we will stand together until this plan and any other nasty plans are canceled!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

Profit-driven corporations are vulnerable because working people keep those corporations going and therefore, working people can shut them down! While those who think they are in power are short-sighted and close-minded, the people are fueled by their hearts and spirits. We are compelled, out of necessity, to act to preserve the survival of our ecosystem and respond to the needs of our living families and communities.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!!

Richardson Grove Action Now is in solidarity with the people of Tunisia, Algeria, Albania, Yemen, Chiapas, Egypt, and people all over the world who say NO, WE WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!

We are in solidarity with all people resisting oppressive conditions imposed upon them and who are rising up against corrupt systems that attempt to enslave them.

We are in solidarity with those fighting back for their freedom. We are here to say “NO. You WILL NOT expand the highway through Richardson Grove. WE WILL STOP YOU.”

During this perilous time in the herstory of this planet and the history of our species, we must, WE MUST Stop the Destruction of the Natural World. We must stop destruction that comes in all shapes and sizes, from international laws that keep people in poor qualities of food, water and air, to the mass of plastic bottles floating in the ocean, the paving over of the life-giving land, to the toxicity that enters our bodies and minds.

The Earth is undergoing a continual smothering into a concrete hell. Capitalism is killing us. We know it's the problem. Focusing on simplifying our lives is the first step towards surviving and determining our own healthy existence.

The people who think they are in power orchestrate wanton destruction of the land and push for the building up of structures that only ensure their profits and deny the survival and quality or our lives. Their aims are presented as progress, yet in reality, they bring us sickness.

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

We want to be able to walk along the road through Richardson Grove. Those trees in Richardson Grove are in a protected park. We want them to stay that way. With such a small amount of ancient forest left, everything we do to it should be good for the trees, not good for the trucks.

We will defend what's left. We will defend the ancient trees. We will defend our lives from further corporate and military invasion. We have the power to protect the forests for future generations!

Raise your voices and shake the walls of CalTrans! We will Stop This Plan and we are CANCELING THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION PLAN THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Join us with direct action. It is urgent!