Woody Harrelson arrested in San Francisco Protest
11/25/96
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 16:37:18 -0500 (EST)
Subject: redwood forest story
Woody Harrelson arrested in San Francisco protest
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuter) - Actor Woody Harrelson and eight other
protesters were arrested Saturday after they climbed cables on San
Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to demand an ancient redwood forest be
protected, officials said.
Harrelson and the other protesters, both men and women, spent more
than four hours hanging precariously from cables above the landmark
bridge, unfurling banners. They eventually came down voluntarily and
were arrested, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said.
The CHP blocked off two of the bridge's six lanes as well as mboth
walkways for safety reasons as they waited for the protesters to come
down. That created huge traffic jams as motorists waited to cross the
bridge.
Harrelson and the other environmental activists were calling for the
protection of ancient redwood groves in northern California and
opposing a tentative agreement to protect 7,500 acres of forest in
northern California, which environmentalists say is too little.
Speaking by cellphone with San Francisco radio station KCBS from his
perch above the bridge, Harrelson said it might not be popular right
now to be an environmentalist. ``But it seems to me it's necessary
when we are down to three percent of the ancient redwoods are left
and Charles Hurwitz and his MAXXAM corporation are just hacking away
at these trees,'' he said, referring to the head of MAXXAM Inc, which
owns six northern California redwood groves in dispute.
The Clinton administration, the state of California and forest owners
reached a tentative agreement in September to protect two of the
groves, including Headwaters grove, the world's largest privately
owned grove of ancient redwoods.
But environmentalists want 60,000 acres of forest protected,
including all six of the redwood groves. They are also angry that
MAXXAM subsidiary Pacific Lumber Co recently began logging dead and
dying trees in a redwood grove that is not part of the agreement.
Hundreds of environmental activists have been arrested in long-
running protests over Headwaters forest, 300 miles north of San
Francisco.
The nine protesters used climbing gear to scale cables near the north
and south towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. They then hung a huge
sign reading ``Hurwitz. Aren't ancient redwoods more precious than
gold?''
When Harrelson and the protesters eventually came down, they were
arrested on charges of trespassing, being a public nuisance and
failing to obey a peace officer, the CHP said. They were taken to San
Francisco jail for booking.
Local news reports said the protesters could each face fines
of $10,000.