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★ At this time, coming to camp is by invitation only. The public-facing camp known as “Roadside” is now closed. It's been cold, with snow, ice, high winds, potential flooding, and hazardous conditions. We need to keep our numbers low to keep camp safe and sustainable through the winter.
★ We’re also taking these slower months to rest, regroup, and strategize our next moves. Please stay tuned; there will be a public call out when logging resumes in the spring.
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★ Due to the inspiring efforts of a small group of dedicated forest protectors, Big Mouth Blockade near Revelstoke BC continues to stand at the mouth of Argonaut Creek, despite the harsh winter conditions. There is a call out to join this camp.
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★ Bear Henry is still missing. RCMP have failed to look for them. Grass-roots fundraising efforts enabled a search with helicopters and boats in early January, but no luck finding Bear yet. A vigil for Bear was held in Victoria on January 6th.
If you have any information, please text or call 236-638-3121.
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Taking care of Indigenous land defenders and OG protectors
This month we're focusing our fundraising efforts on the land defenders and forest protector allies who have sacrificed the most. From losing jobs, having vehicles destroyed or impounded, to being injured or suffering from ongoing PTSD after being violently arrested - these are the people who have put it all on the line for old growth forests at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek in the past year.
Every single dollar donated to this winter campaign will directly support one of the following:
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Physical needs for people still at camps
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Reimbursements for lost, stolen, and damaged property
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Direct support for frontline defenders who are healing from experiences at camp during enforcement.
We ask for your help in caring for the people who have given so much.
This fundraiser will provide direct support to these individuals - with priority for Indigenous, BIPOC, and Two-Spirit folx, who are continually targeted both at the blockades and in the world at large.
More information on how OG protectors can access these funds will be provided at the end of January.
The more money we raise, the more need we can meet. Thank you SO MUCH - every dollar helps!
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Where have donations gone so far?
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Since May 2021, when the RCMP began spending millions to enforce the court injunction against peaceful protests at Fairy Creek, we've needed funding across multiple fronts, from physical camp needs to legal defence to strategic planning and public outreach.
The averages shown here provide insight into the financial decisions made from January to October 2021 to support people, camps, and arrestees on both the forest and legal frontlines.
It's been a whirlwind and we are beyond grateful to all our donors who've kept us going this far. YOU are protecting the trees as much as we are.
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Now that winter has set in, donations have slowed to a trickle - but we’re still out here, and we’re not going anywhere until these forests are protected, permanently. Don't give up on this fight!
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
▻ Donate:
▻ Attend an event or organize a solidarity action of your own.
▻ Sign-up for your “Protect Old Growth” lawn or window sign (Greater Victoria area only at this time)
▻ Follow Save Old Growth - a new student-led civil resistance movement that will see ordinary people risking everything to protect the lives of their families from the effects of the corporate destruction of our world. Starting on January 10, S.O.G. will disrupt the Trans Canada Highway near Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, and Revelstoke, with the frequency and scale of actions escalating until all old growth logging is stopped. The government has an option to fulfill its election promises or send nonviolent people on the motorways to jail.
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▻ Stay tuned - We’ll be putting the call out for support at FAIRY CREEK BLOCKADE AND OTHER CAMPS as soon as logging resumes in the spring.
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In the News
Jan 10, Times-Colonist, Douglas Street reopens after arrest of old-growth protesters(This group, Save Old Growth, describes themselves as ‘an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion.')
Jan 10, The Tyee, BC NDP Faces Internal Pressure to Change Course on the Wet’suwet’en Crisis
Jan 5, BriarPatch, The C-IRG: the resource extraction industry’s best ally (How the Community-Industry Response Group and the RCMP officers, otherwise known as the green guys, threaten democratic process in Fairy Creek and elsewhere .)
Jan 5, 2022, B.C. First Nations and Forestry Council Call for a Reset of ‘Flawed Consultation’ Process https://www.forestrycouncil.ca/blogs
Jan 4, Canadian Press (TC), Logging among stressors for Pacific salmon, experts say
Jan 1 Financial Times, Climate change and the battle for Canada’s forests
Dec 30, Victoria News, Friends and family launch fundraiser for missing Kevin ‘Bear’ Henry last seen near Fairy Creek
Dec 23, Ricochet, NDP fallout over B.C. government actions harms federal election chances
Dec 22, Times Colonist MLA, Environmentalists push for funding to protect old-growth forests
Dec 22, CBC News As an Indigenous leader, I didn't feel heard at COP26 "Our stewardship and knowledge is essential to combating climate change."—Nuchatlaht chief Jordan Michael, Tyee Ha’wiilth
Dec 22, The Narwahl, opinion piece by Sierra Club BC's Jens Wieting When will the B.C. government prove whether it really intends to save the last old-growth? "Despite a flurry of recent announcements about intentions to defer old-growth logging, little progress has been made to protect the province’s last ancient forests."
Dec 21, Victoria News, B.C. ancient forest advocates call on province to fund alternative revenue streams
Dec 1, UBCIC First Nations and TAP Member Demand Faster Action and Adequate Resources to Protect Old-Growth Forests
Dec 1, Focus Magazine, The Great Tree Robbery A jaw-dropping article by Ben Parfitt on the ‘credits’ given to logging companies for cutting down trees for wood-pellets. “Under the scheme, which applies across BC’s vast interior region, logging companies that truck lower value trees to wood pellet mills and pulp mills receive credits from the government that allow them to go back into the forest and log as many trees again.”
Nov 25, 2020, The Narwhal B.C. argues Nuchatlaht Nation ‘abandoned’ its territory.Lawyer reminds court ‘land was stolen." |
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We're honoured to do this work as guests on traditional territory of the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations. We work with utmost respect for the land and all its relations, human and nonhuman.
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Please help us by forwarding this newsletter to any friends or family you feel would like to be involved or learn more. They can join our list here.
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About Us
Were a volunteer driven, grassroots direct-action campaign to protect the last stands of globally significant ancient temperate rainforest in British Columbia. We stand in solidarity with Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht Nation. This movement is also grateful for the guidance and support of future Hereditary Chief of Pacheedaht and Ditidaht, Victor Peter, and Pacheedaht band member Whale Tail Jones. We hold our hands up to the many Chiefs and Elders from other territories and Nations who have visited and shown support and solidarity.
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