Price worth paying; Great-grandmother Jailed For Trying To Save Ancient Forests
The Guardian (London)
November 29, 2000
By Betty Krawczyk
I'm writing from prison, a long way from the mists and moss of the ancient forests in British Columbia that I have been imprisoned for trying to protect. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett has sentenced me to one year in prison without parole. My crime? I stepped out on a road in the Elaho Valley to stop the logging trucks of
A solid year is a big whack out of a 72-year-old great-grandmother's remaining years, but I accepted that possibility the morning I stood on the road to try to protect some of the last intact temperate rainforests on the planet. At 72, some people think I'm too old to risk a jail sentence, but I tell them the temperate rainforests are a lot more fragile than I am and at much greater risk.
These coastal Canadian forests are among the most rare and most endangered forests on earth. I will do what I can to protect them. We need a revolution in our forests. Here in British Columbia tree farm' licences are still given out to the largest corporations. Not only do they get the right to liquidate our ancient forests, but taxpayers have to pay for cleaning up the mess they leave behind in the forests and salmon streams. And, to add insult to injury, we have to pay for the lengthy mass trials brought against protesters like me, but which are speedily taken over by the government - which in turn results in lengthy prison sentences also paid for by the taxpayers. The eco-systems on this continent are extremely fragile. And so is democracy. If we really want these twin wonders, these incredible gifts that make life worth living, then we must fight for them over and over again. If we don't, the alternatives are complete corporate rule and a trashed, logging -induced desert of a continent to leave to our grandchildren. These forests are a global treasure and a legacy to the planet. I want to be home with my family. But I'm prepared to spend a year of my remaining life in jail for the crime' of defending these ancient forests from the corporate clearcutters. Please, will you spend 10 minutes of your time to help as well? Write to the premier of British Columbia and the CEO of Interfor. Ask them to protect Canada's remaining temperate rainforests from the ravages of industrial logging. Ask them for a moratorium on logging these last intact valleys. And please ask them to stop criminalising people trying to stop the destruction.
Betty Krawczyk, inmate number 03793924, is at the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women, 7900 Fraser Park Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5J 5H1