Tree-sitter tells tale of painful fall

By Suzanne Zalev
The Times-Standard

CARLOTTA--An Earth First! tree-sitter's fall from his perch last week was probably caused by faulty equipment, he said Monday.

Steve Bowling, who goes by the nickname "Bird," was attempting to cross from a platform in a neighboring tree using a pulley attached to a rope. Bowling said he was between the two trees when the pulley came apart. He fell 130 feet.

Bowling, who suffered a broken pelvis, said he doesn't remember hitting the ground.

"As I was falling I remember a sense of comfort and peace," he said. "It felt as though there was an angel right beside me."

The 22-year-old has inhabited the tree on Pacific Lumber Co. property almost continuously since last fall in the area Earth First! has named Gypsy Grove in honor of David "Gypsy" Chain, an activist killed Sept. 17 by a falling tree (sic).

Bowling, from Tomaston, Conn., said he's staying with friends. Doctors said his injury would probably take four to six weeks to heal.

This is the first time in four years of tree-sitting that anyone has fallen, Earth First! spokesman Josh Brown said Monday. Hundreds of people--activists, reporters and visitors--have ascended to the platforms that serve as makeshift camps in the treetops, he said.

"This is really just a freak accident," Brown said. "It's definitely jarred us and we're extremely lucky that all Steve has is a fractured pelvis."

Activists are trained to use two pieces of safety equipment, Brown said, and Bowling was relying on only one. Had he also been connected to the rope joining the platforms, he wouldn't have fallen.

"When people are in a tree-sit for months on end, it's just human nature to cut corners," he said.

Bowling, who's about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, said he's been using the pulley for months.

Sheriff Dennis Lewis said Monday it was difficult for his deputies and the Carlotta Volunteer Fire Department to get to the bottom of the tree Friday night because of obstacles Earth First placed in the road.

Sitting high up in trees is risky, he said.

"Time and again I've said this is very dangerous," Lewis said.

Bowling said he's thankful to the rescuers, as well as Redwood Memorial Hospital, where he was treated. He has no medical insurance.

If his injury heals completely, Bowling said he'll continue to climb trees in the future. Brown said the accident won't stop Earth First from occupying trees. The organization has already begun revamping safety procedures.

Last month, Bowling spent a long, cold night locked to the tree by his neck. When PL tree-climbers tried to remove him and another activist last month, Bowling put a U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck and the tree.

He accidentally dropped the key and was stuck there until a fellow Earth First member sawed off the top of the tree, removing him. Brown said Bowling wore the lock around his neck for a few days until it could be removed with a special saw.

Bowling and other activists are occupying trees in the area, hoping to preserve the site of Chain's death as a crime scene. Earth First maintains Chain was killed when a logger purposely cut a tree in his direction. Law enforcement authorities determined the death was an accident.

PREVIOUSLY:

From Eureka Times-Standard Friday, Dec. 11, 1998, A1

Activist locks self onto tree Protester tossed key away, still on branch

By Suzanne Zalev
The Times-Standard

CARLOTTA--Dropping the key to your bike lock is one thing when the lock is around your bike.

When it is wrapped around both your neck and a tree trunk--and you're 100 feet in the air--dropping the key to your bike lock is an entirely different manner.

When tree climbers working for Pacific Lumber Co. tried to remove an Earth First! activist known as "Bird" from the tree he's been occupying for several weeks, Bird retaliated by locking himself to the tree and throwing away the key.

He spent a long, cold night locked to the tree before another Earth First activist was able to scale the tree and cut off the top. Bird is no longer locked to the tree, but the U-lock is still around his neck, Earth First! spokesman Jeff Davis said Thursday.

The tree-sit near grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park is near the site where Earth First activist David Chain was killed Sept. 17. A tree fell on Chain (sic) while he and other activists were protesting PL's logging practices.

The treesitters are trespassing, PL spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkel said Thursday, and PL workers, along with the Humboldt County Sheriffs Department, tried to remove the activists from private property.

"It's a little bit like being held hostage on your own property," Bullwinkel said. "They have no respect for the law at all."

She compared the situation to having a visitor sitting on someone's porch and refusing to let the homeowner in through the front door. Not only won't the visitor move, Bullwinkel said, but they tell the homeowner they don't want anyone living in the house anymore.

"We're frustrated that these types of activities are continuing. It's a form or terrorism," Bullwinkel said.

The treesitters are keeping watch over the area they call "Gypsy Grove" (Chain's nickname was Gypsy) because they consider it a crime scene and don't want it disturbed, Earth First spokespeople have said.

While PL officials say loggers didn't know anyone was in the area when they cut the tree that killed Chain, Earth First members say loggers knew the protesters were there and aimed trees in their direction.

The Sheriffs Department is conducting an investigation, but Earth Firsters have called for an independent investigation.

Davis said PL's tree climbers removed the activists' supplies and took the branches off the trees.

"They left him like one little branch to sit on," Davis said.

Bullwinkel said she didn't know anything about a U-lock around a protester's neck. When PL workers tried to remove the treesitters, several other Earth Firsters came out of the forest. PL chose not to try to remove them, she said.

Bird and an activist known as "Lily" remain in the tree, Davis said.

Rich Miller, a bicycle technician at Adventure's Edge in Arcata, said Thursday he thought it would be difficult to remove a U-lock around a person's head. With some brands, the owner can send away for a replacement key, he said, and a locksmith might be able to help.

He's heard of bicycle thieves using freon and a blow torch to remove a lock or using a car jack to pry it open.

"Since there's a head and a neck in between there, it probably wouldn't work," he said. "Not many people put U-locks around their necks and hang from trees," he said.

FIND THE HATE CRIME

#1: So when and where does a hate crime begin, really?

From Eureka Times-Standard Friday, Dec. 18, A4

Letters to the Times-Standard:
Protesters cut tree, but was it legal?

Vickie Aust
Fortuna, CA

I read the article about the activist who locked himself to the tree then, being the bright young man that he is, threw away the keyÑleaving himself locked to the tree, 100 feet up in the air. The article stated that a fellow activist scaled the tree and cut off the top of the tree.

My question is, did they file a timber harvest plan to top the tree? Will they be fined for an unlawful tree cut? It seems to me that no matter how minor the offense is, Pacific Lumber Co. is cited or fined. Why is Earth First always above the law and why does it seem to get away with committing crimes?

Maybe when PL's hard-working employees, who believe in supporting their families, are all on welfare like Earth First activists, we can all chain ourselves to the businesses that support Earth First and see how they like their rights being taken away.

Do you want to Help yet?

Last updated March 20, 1999

Back to David Chain index

Back to EF! Media Center