In the weeks before the BC Government’s announcement, Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones released an official letter of invitation to Indigenous and non-Indigenous forest defenders to unite on his territory to defend the ancestral rainforests of his family — the unlogged Ada’itsx / Fairy Creek headwaters. His invitation followed the discovery of logging road construction by a subcontractor of Teal Jones. At that time, Friends of Clayoquot Sound and BC EcoNews joined the Rainforest Flying Squad onsite in responding to the invitation of Elder Bill Jones to help prepare and get the word out.
Since then, thousands of courageous forest defenders have responded to the call and prevented Teal Jones from logging the ancient forest by blocking logging equipment. After 9 months of peaceful direct action, a court injunction moved the RCMP to begin arresting forest defenders. Unfortunately this also resulted in the RCMP assaulting young Indigenous land defenders, arresting members of the media, and threatening to use rubber bullets and tear gas against peaceful tree sitters. Over 200 forest defenders have been arrested and thousands have marched past the police lines and into the injunction zone.
