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      [From the March 27, 1991 issue of _Anderson_Valley_Advertiser_]

      The PALCO Papers
      by Judi Bari

      Corporate millionaires are a vindictive lot.  Take Charles
      Hurwitz, for example.  When he's not busy raiding other
      companies, slaughtering ancient redwoods, or stealing the
      workers' pension plan, Hurwitz amuses himself by suing
      impoverished Earth First!ers.  Thus it came to be that Pacific
      Lumber, also known as PALCO, is suing Earth First! activists
      Darryl Cherney and George Shook for $25,000 for the crime of
      sitting in a redwood tree.

      Darryl and George have already paid their debt to society for
      this ``crime'' by serving 10 days in the Humboldt County jail.
      But the lawsuit asks for additional civil penalties.  Of course
      Hurwitz knows that he'll never get any money out of Darryl or
      George, since neither of them owns a thing.  The purpose of this
      lawsuit is bare-faced harassment.  Such lawsuits are called
      SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation),
      and are a standard weapon in the arsenals of destructive
      corporations trying to avoid public accountability.  They are
      filed against people for engaging in political activities that
      should be protected by the Constitution.  And, although SLAPP
      suits often fail in court, they succeed in diverting the
      attention and resources of activist groups, and in intimidating
      people from challenging the rich and powerful.

      Darryl and George first attempted to settle this suit out of
      court, but PALCO refused their generous offer to pay $100 each,
      and the lawsuit moved on to the Justice Court of Fortuna.
      Fortuna is a town whose national anthem is ``I'm a Lumberjack
      and I'm Okay,'' where the police chief last April instructed
      the good citizens not to talk to Earth First!ers.  So Darryl
      and George, represented by lawyer Mark Harris (of Redwood
      Summer/Head Shaving Case fame) asked for a change of venue.
      And that's when the case got interesting.

      Since they needed to prove that EF!ers can't get a fair trial
      in Fortuna, lawyer Mark harris used the right of Discovery to
      request all documents Pacific Lumber may have relating to
      Cherney or Earth First!  The stuff he got back -- mostly
      internal company memos sent from public relations director David
      Galitz to PALCO president John Campbell -- shows a sneeering,
      bully mentality worthy of any Mississippi good old boy.

      And it shows Pacific Lumber's complicity, at least in the role
      of official cheerleader, in the violence we are subjected to.
      I'm not making up a word of this.  These are real Pacific Lumber
      memos, and are available for inspection.

      The first memo is dated June 21, 1989, shortly after EF!
      organizer Greg King was punched and knocked to the ground by an
      irate logger at a non-violent demonstration in Calpella.  Galitz
      sends this memo, along with a clipping from the _Press_
      _Democrat_, to Charles Hurwitz, John Campbell and others in
      MAXXAM and PALCO management.  It reads:

        SUBJECT:  EARTH FIRST
        Enclosed is an article on Cherney and King's latest stunt.
        As soon as we find the home of the fine fellow who decked
        Greg King, he has a dinner invitation at the Galitz
        residence.
            DAVID W. GALITZ

      The next memo we have is dated April 18, 1990, right around
      the time the timber companies began circulating false press
      releases claiming to be from unnamed Earth First!ers saying
      that we intended to use violence against loggers and mill-
      workers during Redwood Summer.  Galitz writes to John Campbell:

        SUBJECT:  EARTH FIRST
        Enclosed is a _Press_Democrat_ article on the environmental-
        ists' internal split over Mississippi Summer.  Also enclosed
        is a flyer with the Earth First logo, however, as Daryl's
        [sic] name is misspelled, we are not sure who put it out.

        The other ``Hike in the Woods'' was handed out by a New York
        crazy.
            DAVID W. GALITZ

      Galitz' acknowledgement that this press release was fake since
      it misspelled Darryl's name is particularly interesting.
      Because despite this knowledge PALCO continued to distribute the
      press release, through their public relations firm Hill &
      Knowlton, to city newspapers.  In fact on April 25, 1990, Jane
      Kay of the _San_Francicsco_Examiner_ wrote an article criticiz-
      ing them for having just distributed this ``inflammatory'' press
      release.  A few days later, columnist Robert Morse wrote,
      ``Things are getting pretty weird up there.  Not only are the
      trees being clearcut, but dirty tricksters are turning them into
      fake press releases.''  Darryl then approached both John
      Campbell and L-P's Shep Tucker to try and get them to stop the
      distribution of these fakes.  Both company reps admitted to
      Darryl that the fakes were being distributed in but [sic] their
      mills, but neither was willing to take any action to stop it.

      On April 23, Galitz sent another memo to John Campbell, this
      time chuckling over the death threats I was receiving:

        SUBJECT:  EARTH FIRST
        How attitudes can change!!  When the Earth First! put out
        the ``wanted poster on Charles,'' one for $1000 and later
        at $5000 reward it was okay.  Now Ms. Bari is upset she
        apparently has her own wanted flyer.
            DAVID W. GALITZ

      The ``wanted poster on Charles'' that Galitz refers to was
      an Earth First! flyer offering $1000 reward for the arrest
      and conviction of Charles Hurwitz for his illegal takeover
      of Pacific Lumber.  Quite a far cry from the anonymous and
      obviously serious death threats I was receiving, including
      the rifle scope and cross-hairs superimposed over my face
      in a photo.

      Since Galitz so enjoys seeing us threatened and attacked, it's
      not surprising that he would latch right on to the _Sahara_Club_
      _Newsletter_.  The Sahara Club is an organized hate group from
      Southern California that targets Earth First! and other environ-
      mentalists.  They came here in person during Redwood Summer and
      gave workshops for the local Stompers on how to use dirty tricks
      against us, and they even got arrested planting a fake bomb in
      the Arcata Action Center.  Anyway, back on April 27, Galitz
      mailed copies of the _Sahara_Club_Newsletter_ to Kevin Eckery of
      the Timber Association of California and Shep Tucker of L-P,
      with the following cover letter:

        Dear Kevin,
        Our Southern California sales people were kind enough to
        send the enclosed.  It is so good, we had to share it.  I
        may join if only to enjoy the writing style.
            Best Regards,
            THE PACIFIC LUMBER COMPANY
            David W. Galitz
            Manager, Public Affairs

      Here is a sample of the ``writing style'' Galitz enjoys so much,
      taken from the _Sahara_Club_Newsletter_ he was distributing last
      April:

        THE SAHARA CLUBBERS DIVISION!
        The Sahara Club needs about a dozen volunteers to form a
        special division -- The Sahara Clubbers!  All Volunteers
        should weigh at least 200 pounds and have a bad attitude.
        Big, tall, ugly desert riders preferred.  We want to set up
        a few trucks with Sahara Club stickers in ``certain spots'
        and see who might be tempted to break the law.  Naturally,
        the Clubbers will be expected to honor all laws, but if some
        Earth First scum resist a citizens arrest in the process,
        it may be necessary to ``subdue'' them prior to turning them
        over to the authorities.  If interested, contact us by mail.
        All names will be carefully checked via the off-road grape-
        vine.  Clubbers will be issued personalized walking sticks
        about the size of baseball bats.

      This same issue of the _Sahara_Club_Newsletter_ includes a
      diagram of a bomb that they claim is from an Earth First!
      terrorism manual.  The Sahara Club will send you this manual
      for $5.  Of course, Earth First! never produced any such
      manual, and it is only available from the Sahara Club.  But
      by distributing it as ours, they accomplish a dual purpose of
      getting info out on how to construct bombs, etc., while simul-
      taneously inciting hatred against Earth First!

      Of course PALCO execs shed no tears when I actually was bombed
      in May.  May 29 found Galitz distributing this cheery note form
      State Senator Jim Nielsen:

        TO:  My Friends In The Forest
        FROM:  Jim Nielsen
        The summer may be long and hot -- not just due to the
        threat of fires!

        Let's hope this explosion disposes ``eco-terrorists''
        to cease their destructive, life-threatening behavior.

      The PALCO Papers that we have seen are probably incomplete.
      There are, for example, no memos concerning John Campbell
      ramming our picket line last August and careening down the
      road with Bob Serena plastered to his hood.  I'm sure they
      got a belly laugh out of that, especially when Bob Serena
      went to jail and John Campbell went free.  But even what
      we've seen shows an outrageous glimpse of corporate executives
      promoting and enjoying violence against Earth First!ers.  And
      I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

      Darryl and George's dedicated (and pro bono) lawyer Mark Harris
      submitted a Brittanica-sized brief to show the judge why EF!ers
      couldn't get a fair trial in Fortuna.  It included the above
      memos, along with dozens of local newspaper articles and letters
      to the editor saying Darryl is violent, a terrorist, corrupting
      children, inhuman, ungodly, etc.  It included newspaper clips
      form last April when the city council and police chief of
      Fortuna made public anti-Earth First! statements, saying we were
      violent because Fortunans threw eggs at us at a demonstration.
      It included the bumpersticker that says, ``Earth First!ers,
      America's Favorite Speed Bumps.''  But despite all this and
      more, Judge John L. Loomis ruled last week that he would not
      move the trial out of Fortuna.

      Darryl and George are appealing this decision, of course.  If
      you would like to help with expenses, please send contributions
      to Mark Harris/EF! Legal Defense, P.O. Box 982, Arcata, CA
      95521.  We don't know what the outcome of this suit will be,
      but so far, as a SLAPP suit, it has failed miserably.  The info
      we have gotten as a result of this case far exceeds the hassle or
      intimidation it has caused.