Editor:
I just read the article on the McKay Tract, and one paragraph stood out among the rest — Trees Foundation funding for Earth First! Humboldt. In the lawsuit brought against the Trees Foundation, by a donor who attempted to make a $185,000 donation to North Coast Earth First!, the Trees Foundation stated that they had never supported nor given funding to North Coast Earth First! They also said that the Earth First! offices that were funded by them were run by Trees Foundation volunteers for Earth First! [Ed. note: For background on this dispute, see “Money On Trees,” Oct. 4, 2007.]
So who is the Trees Foundation volunteer running the Earth First! office now? Or are they just giving the money to Earth First!ers to run their office?
It seems that the “EF! Humboldt” people got what they wanted when they were betraying me in and outside of the courtroom during the Trees Foundation trial. I always felt that my former so-called friends and associates were turning on me and the generous donor as a financial investment, hoping to get more Trees Foundation funding in the future, a reward for backstabbing an old friend.
While I’m happy to see treesits still happening, I can’t fully support the organizers who turned their backs on the truth and displayed the kind of behavior you would expect to find in the cutthroat corporate world. It’s a shame what money and greed can do to people.
Shunka Wakan, Arcata
This article appears in ‘Immediate Jeopardy’.
It’s a shame what money and greed can do to people.
Yes, and Jeff is a prime example. Along with being one of the traitors who sided with the Trees Foundation, Jeff also went overboard in his efforts to spread venemous lies about me wherever and whenever he could.
A relative newbie to the movement, Jeff had not seen me running supplies for years, endlessly tabling to pay the pager and cell phone bills for the lucky ones in the trees, wasn’t there when I was repeatedly arrested for the movement, and only had the distorted lens of his very limited view to cast his judgments through.
Jeff publicly accused me of being everything from a con artist to a federal agent; anyone who really knows me knows that these libelous/slanderous accusations are completely rediculous. As a result, many people feel that Jeff is completely rediculous.
I see "EF! Humboldt" as a New World Order incarnation of Earth First!, where all the original values have been betrayed and forgotten, and is now more of a joke than anything.
While "EF! Humboldt" may be enjoying their dirty money from the Trees Foundation, the scars of betrayal will never be erased from their souls.
The old-school Earth First!, the one I dedicated 10 years of my life to, would stand up for the truth at any cost. The new "EF! Humboldt" has made calculated decisions about disregarding the truth, and what is right, in hopes of receiving future funding.
"EF! Humboldt" may have their coffers filled, yet they are still morally bankrupt.
Who the hell cares what you think, Shunka? You are out of the loop, out of the picture, and apparently off your rocker. You accuse Trees Foundation and others of doing exactly what you have done to grassroots forest defense for the past 5+ years. What a hypocrite!What a guilty conscience! Why do you think EF! Humboldt was formed? Why was Save Ancient Forests, Spooner Direct, Humboldt Forest Defense, We Save Trees, and any other ACTIVE group formed, trying to free itself from your treacherous web of deceit? Basically, for the survival of the action.
Due to the fact that you are a fraud, a liar…an embezzler, none of the tree-sits in the recent and current past recieved your support. This is a well known fact amongst tree-sit long-timers and bottom-liners. Donations go directly to your rent. Your office. Your EGO!
Just reading your words above above paint the real picture of what is going on inside your floating talking head.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJrJPgmFhxU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnorthcoastearthfirst%2Eorg%2F&feature=player_embedded)
Scary Huh? The NCEF Emperor wears no clothes…or is Shunka a pathological liar? What’s really scary is the fact that you are still around, fronting as a activist. Activist infers to action. Your only actions are greed, misrepresentation, and theft. Do you consciously realize this? Or are you in denial? I know better, I’ve seen it in your soul. And it must be a struggle for you, to keep a straight face when promoting NCEF, claiming solidarity within your group of one. In the beginning when I confronted you about your "operation", you responded with anger. I again questioned the legitamacy of your operation years later, and you laughed. You had this look in your eyes that you knew what you were doing, but didn’t care. When Water duped everyone into donation fraud, at least he moved around, changing his image and message. You seem to think that you are exempt from your actions, or in-actions for that matter. Your survival is based on web donations, the national notoriety of EF!, and the history of local forest defense. Locally, you have been exposed for the fraud that you are. Even the Co-op won’t let you table anymore. Stop stealing donations from the un-informed or mis-informed public, virtual or local, that should go to a current action. Get a hobby, get a life, maybe even a girlfriend. Most importantly, get a job hippie!
lol "get a job", just like the loggers always said. "White Rabbit" is most likely Jeff Sewer-rat, and/or his girlfriend.
Once again, the venomous lies spew out of the faceless "white rabbit" (anyone know what a bear uses a rabbit for in the woods?).
I supported all the tree-sits, all the way up to the final days. I was paying pager bills, sending more tree-sitters to the sits, forwarding donations, etc.
These are the kinds of lies that were being spread during and immediately after the trial, so my point is made perfectly.
I don’t have to divulge who I’m currently working with, nor the projects I’m currently working. "EF! Humboldt" isn’t the only thing going on, the world is a much bigger place, even within the Humboldt sphere.
See, I get baseless accusations, while the people who actually stole $185,000 from the movement get ignored by people like Jeff/white rabbit. Just like the corrupted police force during the aftermath of Gypsy’s murder and the bombing of Judi Bari, people like Jeff/white rabbit try to turn the tables and blame the victims.
Thanks for giving a prime example of the ignorance and backwardsness of the current "EF! Humboldt" collective.
I feel sorry for the new folks, who just want to tree-sit, help save some trees, and resist corporate greed. Little do they know that they are working with/for some very corrupted individuals.
Also, "We Save Trees" was not formed to distance themselves from me. There were other issues present that caused the separation, which had nothing to do with me. Yes, everyone wants to re-invent the wheel and start their "own" group, which has resulted in a fragmented, sadly divided and nearly insignificant movement.
Sorry that happened to you Shunka. I know you work really hard as an activist, supporter and educator. It’s a real shame that "non-profits" lose sight of the main collective movement goals and choose instead to create strife and difficulty within the movement. I hope the message gets to them that they should be supporting the grassroots and putting money into true action to end exploitation.
Thanks, Christine, and well stated, I couldn’t agree more.
I think it’s interesting how "white rabbit" claims that he can read so much into the "look in my eyes," too(lol). Seems like shaky evidence, don’t you think? Maybe that’s because he/she/it has no real evidence for their claims, no real facts, just a bunch of baseless accusations, as usual.
I also think it’s laughable that I’m "out of the loop;" there is no "loop," unless you consider your little clique of friends to be the "loop." Once again, the world is a much bigger place, and I have intentionally distanced myself from people who I feel are dishonest, two-faced, sell-outs, and ego-maniacs.
The Earth First! movement is worldwide, and is not owned by anyone, including the local "EF! Humboldt" group. Anyone can be an Earth First!er, if they decide they want to be, and I just happen to have 10 years of dedicated experience to qualify myself as such.
I believe that the "EF! Humboldt" group is doomed, mostly because of the corrupt foundation that it was founded on. "EF! Humboldt" was basically created to receive donations from the Trees Foundation, so that a group of backstabbers could get thier hands on the money they provide.
Farmer, the de facto leader of EF! Humboldt, was there when Gypsy was killed, yet has betrayed the "no compromise" basis of the Earth First! movement by compromising the truth for a handful of dirty dollar bills. Unless he has completely lied to himself, and convinced himself of the lies of the Trees Foundation, knows that I would not make up the story of how we and the donor were robbed by the Trees Foundation, yet he dutifully sided with them during the trial, and now receives a whopping $2,500 per year in return for his betrayal.
Yep, the Trees Foundation did a real number on the local Earth First! movement, and the young pawns in the game have been all too willing to turn their backs on the truth for the money. It’s amazing what poor people will do when you dangle a wad of chump change in front of them, isn’t it?
Meanwhile, the Trees Foundation sits in their cozy SoHum office, paying themselves approximately $15/hr., which they skim off the top of the funds that they receive for their affiliate groups. Yeah, real "non-profit," eh?
Liars, thieves, and backstabbers, the true nature of the Thieves Foundation and EF! Humboldt.
"It’s amazing what poor people will do when you dangle a wad of chump change in front of them, isn’t it?"
or
"It’s a shame what money and greed can do to people."
If you read into what Shunka is spouting, you will see the bigger picture. His guilty conscience is hard to miss. If you worked with the treesits, you would find all of this very funny. Like I do.
Thank you for the laughs, the misinformation and the wrench that you keep throwing into the local EF! movement, Shunka. There would be little or no drama if it wasn’t for you.
For the real Earth First site, collective, and action, please visit efhumboldt.org.
Thank you for all of your hard work Farmer. Goddess bless the Trees Foundation for all of their hard work, may they recoupe their losses(over $185,000 from that lawsuit, and I bet if the donaor really knew Shunka, she would feel terrible).It seems that those who are actually in the woods or working for the trees in their office have little time to deal with Shunka’s shennanigans.
We all saved Nanning Creek and Fern Gully.
Well, all of us aside from Shunka. He just wanted his head on something, maybe a coffee mug perhaps? Remember everyone, he paid a non-active $10 per month pager bill for Fern Gully during the campaign, and that is a really important and noble gesture considering the donations that he scammed. Now we can all watch his floating talking head as it floats around the forest on youtube.
If I saw that scary floating talking head coming up my tree, I’d have to throw something at it. Non-violently, of course.
OK, boys, this is just about reaching the end of its usefulness. Don’t you agree?
I was just made aware that someone is trying to defame my character on this site and I’d like to have a chance to defend myself.
Though Shunka’s previous posts are full of lies and false accusations, I don’t have much time so I’d like to clarify at least one thing before this thread ends.
I do not recieve $2,500 a year from anyone. I, as well as other activists, are reimbursed for some campaign expenses such as traveling to legal events, phone bills and other forms of legal activities necessary for forest defense.
We are on the front lines of forest defense. Some of my comrades are risking their lives daily to protect this forest by living and working high up in the threatened redwood forest of the McKay Tract. Slunkas attempts at smearing me only serve the interests of the police, logging corporations like Green Diamond and the FBI. I wouldn’t be suprised if they donate to him on his website.
To support legit EF! activities please write us at contactefhumboldt@gmail.com
To be clear, I have more than one job and do make my own money to support myself. I, nor anyone I work with, receives any payment for our Earth First! work. It goes against our volunteer principles. We do this because we are compelled by our consciences to defend our imperiled ecosystems, not for petty money.
Waht do you mean Hank? Shunka’s letter, the blogthing, or the NCJ?
I find this all quite funny…
I doubt anyone is reading this anymore, yet I thought I’d post one more time, just to further clarify my point.
I wasn’t saying that Farmer pockets the money for himself, as I don’t believe that he does. I don’t believe that Farmer truly believes that I pocket the money, either, that’s Jeff’s hang-up.
My point is that the new EF! Humboldt group is being funded by the Trees Foundation, as a reward for backstabbing me during the Trees Foundation trial.
Farmer does make the leap into rediculousness when he starts claiming that the police and FBI donate through the NCEF! website. Farmer, I thought you were smarter than that, old bean. You put yourself out there in articles with the NCJ, and it’s a small town, so you’re dreaming if you think that you’re unknown.
What about that brand new laptop that you got reimbursed for by the Trees Foundation, after they supposedly cut our funding? Over $1,000 for your own personal computer? Hmmmm, seems like the Trees Foundation has been buying your loyalty for quite some time. There are always laptops for sale on craigslist and ebay, for much less than what you took for that brand new one.
Wow, Hank, it seems that Jeff has no respect for the work you do, either.
Jeff developed what many of us call a "superman complex," when he was running supplies for the tree-sits. He was doing so much ground support that he was really running himself into the ground, and it seems that he still has some of that flawing his character.
It’s been a problem in the Earth First! movement for years, the whole woods vs. town dynamic, where people who are in the woods, or doing a lot of supply running, think that the folks in town aren’t doing anything, or are spoiled, etc. I haven’t driven for almost 8 years; I sold my gas-guzzling van that I drove out to Cali in when I realized how much suffering was being caused by the oil industry in the Middle East. I still did a lot of supply running after that, for Julia "Butterfly" Hill and during the Aradia tree-sit, on Gypsy Mountain, and then somewhat in the Mattole. After that, though, I started focusing more on outreach, education, fundraising, and getting more people involved.
I remember when I was up in the Aradia tree-sit, reminding people in town that they need to table to keep the tree-phones on. The account, which was in my name, had several phones for several tree-sits on it, and it was vital that the bill be paid in order for communications to continue. One morning, an activist showed up at the base of Aradia, saying that there were rumors of a raid that day; I picked up the phone to start calling folks and found that our service had been cancelled. Luckily, the raid rumor was a false alarm, so in the early afternoon I descended and went back to town to see if I could take care of it. I discovered that there was an outstanding bill for over $700, which no one had bothered to make any payments on, despite my constant reminders and the promises of fellow activists to take care of it. I went to work, sending out e-mails and posting emergency messages all over the internet, tabling and putting in what little resources I had, to get the phones turned back on. One activist’s father put in a fairly hefty chunk to get the phones turned back on, too.
This was a bit of a turning point for me, when I realized that my fellow activists lacked the sense of responsibility, reality, and discipline to take care of regular bills.
It seemed that everyone wanted to live out their rebellious fantasies, and anything that resembled regular life was too lame for anyone to bother with. I understand, tree-sitting and Earth First!-ing is fun, romantic, exciting, rebellious, etc.
Maybe it’s because I was raised in the Midwest, and I still have that sense of reality and responsiblity about me, or maybe people just knew that I would do it, since the bills were in my name.
I was a bit irritated that I had to come down from the tree-sit to take care of bills that others said they were taking care of, and I never really made it back up into the tree-sits for any length of time after that.
Once I got into a room in a house, started paying my own bills and stopped living out of my backpack and off of the generosity of others, it became even more difficult to think about going out into the woods for any period of time.
I’ve managed to pay my own way without working a "regular" job, doing video work for local musicians, printing CDs and DVDs for folks, buying wholesale lots of computer stuff and reselling it on craigslist, and doing it all without taking a penny from Earth First! donations. That’s reality, in sharp contrast to Jeff’s delusional, libelous, and slanderous accusations.
I’ve always stood up for the truth, and had to take a very unpopular stance during the Trees Foundation trial. I don’t regret standing up for the truth, and I will continue to expose the Trees Foundation and the corrupted, two-faced Earth First!ers who turned their back on the truth, all for the dirty dollar bill.
Farmer, I have no doubt that your original intentions to protect the wild are intact, it’s just a shame that you and your comrades were willing to stab me in the back to fund your activities.
Farmer has also been the king of starting new groups, which, I remember, was something that former Earth First! organizer Josh Brown had a problem with as well. During the "Mattole Free State," Farmer was making public statements that the group out there (which he was basically leading) was "not Earth First!," yet support from NCEF! was still expected. There was much talk of "townies" while I was out there, and I remember Josh being very unhappy with the division that was creating. That was the beginning of the end, and Farmer has continued to divide the movement by creating these little sub-groups for years now.
The end result is a highly divided local movement, which has lost most of its potency and become an example of the bad things that can happen to movements that were once strong, cohesive, and stood by the original principles of standing up for what is right, regardless of the cost.
Let’s see your tax records Shunka.
In fact, let’s see NCEF Media’s tax records. Let’s see your books. Let someone, ANYONE, see your books. Where is your accountability, Shunka? How does anyone know you are legit, when your site is a photo gallery of yourself. We all know better, and you may fool some people, but you can’t fool those who are actually doing the work.
While Farmer was keeping a close watch on the Mattole, I was working two jobs and hiking supplies out to Nanning Creek and often Fern Gully, sometimes both treesits in the same rainy night. Farmer always answered the call to help us, like during the raid in Nanning Creek, or holding non-violence and climb trainings for new sitters. He never hesitated to reach deep into his pockets to come through for the sits with his own funds. I love you brother, and it doesn’t matter what Shunka says about you, the activist community supports you.
I remember in the beginning of my participation that the most confusing thing about Shunka First! was the fact that I would watch him pull in money in front of the Co-op supposedly for treesitters, yet I was bankrolling Nanning Creek and often Fern Gully out of my own meager paychecks. I used to get so angry when I would see him scamming for the donations that were replaced by my hard work at my minimum wage jobs. I eventually dropped out of college and devoted my nights to the trees during the last two year push.
I wasn’t alone, Spooner Direct filled in the gaps when I had to leave town or when they got a good donation or harvest. And even though I didn’t agree with Amy’s embracement of Humboldt Redwoods Co., she still did a lot of work with Nanning which allowed me more time for Fern Gully. Thank you Amy.
Then you have the town con-artists.
You have Shunka, who when we were on speaking terms would throw us a bone with some food that was donated; never, ever cash. When we were on speaking terms, he would sometimes call me to train, equip and deliver a treesitter. There was a pack of socks that came through because of Shunka. When I would question him about his management of EF! resources, he would freak out.
Shunka freaks out a lot, actually. He even spit on my partner and called her a @unt and a black magic witch. Shunka is anti-pagan, which doesn’t jive with the earth movement. Go ahead, ask him about it. I invite anyone to attempt to hold Shunka accountable. You will see his true colors.
You also have Lodgepole, but at least he doesn’t claim the title of Earth First! He has the We Save Trees site. Aside from building Nanning Creek Treesit, Lodgepole dropped out of the action within the first year.
Don’t get me wrong, Lodgepole did a lot for Nanning in the beginning. But he continues to ask for donations over the net. He also sells donations from Patagonia that were meant for treesitters. The last time we saw him, he was bragging about logging trees, trying to get our goat. Then he hops on the front cover of the NCJ with Amy to take credit where it was never due. But we know better than to react with violence or agression.
I feel that we all had our roles to play in both actions. In life, there must always be a balance between good and evil.
So I would like to take a moment to thank Shunka, Lodgepole, and all of the Shunkas of the past who created these challenges that Forest Defenders had to endure and overcome. There had to be a anti-hero, a hypocrite, a wingnut; so the rest of us could shine. To inspire good. To inspire action.(As if PL’s destruction wasn’t enough)
In the end, it all made us stronger, and smarter.
Let’s hear it for the true heroes and heroines of Forest Defense, past present and future!
Let’s hear it for Earth First Humboldt!
BTW, I don’t respect Hank, or need to for that matter, although I still enjoy his town dandy column, for what it’s worth.
Hank, if your going to attack The NEC, and change your tone the next week due to public influence, then you are pandering. If your going to take a stance on something Hank, be sure that the public that holds your puppet strings agrees with you.
Or you could think for yourself. But that doesn’t sell advertisements, now does it?
http://saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com/2009/04/town-dandy-eats-humboldt-pie.html
Oh, shall we talk about your girlfriend, Jeffrey? The one who was bragging about sleeping with different guys at each of the witch camps she attended (for real). Yep, that’s your girl, oh, I mean your much older woman.
She also stated, on that same road trip, that she was only interested in supporting the women in the movement; when I said that it was sexist, she threatened to kick me out of the car, up in southern Oregon, and call the police on me (and tell them what?).
She then oppressed my freedom of speech by telling me that I couldn’t speak for the rest of the ride home, or else she would kick me out of the car and call the police. My blood had been silently boiling all the way back to Arcata, so, when she finally dropped me off at the NCEF! Media office and walked in front of me to lock her door, I spat a little spittle on her shoulder.
It wasn’t the best thing I could have done, admittedly, yet she could wipe it off a lot easier than I could wipe away the oppression of my free speech for so many hours. She would talk to herself, flaunting the fact that she could talk and I could not, using her gas-guzzling war machine as a weapon to oppress my freedom of speech. Yes, I was angry, and yes, I spat on her shoulder. In Meditteranean culture, it’s a sign of disrespect and disgust.
I was willing to exchange apologies with her afterwards, yet she would not admit that she oppressed my freedom of speech, and so I didn’t feel like participating in a one-sided apology.
I don’t recall calling her the name you claim I called her, and I would admit it if I did.
I don’t have to be down with any particular religion/spirituality to be an Earth First!er. EF! has no religious requirements, and I enjoy my freedom to not be religious at all. That’s my freedom of religion, to be non-religious, and I’m not really down with any -ism. I won’t oppress anyone’s freedom of religion, as a matter of upholding the Bill of Rights, yet I don’t have to be "down" with any of it.
As for the donations, I had to raise the money to pay the bills in order to be reimbursed by the Trees Foundation. The checks would sometimes take awhile to arrive, and the bills couldn’t wait, so the money had to be raised.
Remember, Jeff, that I’ve been doing this for over 10 years, including many years of living out of a backpack and doing nothing but supply running.
You weren’t around when I was doing full-time ground support for Julia "Butterfly" Hill, and I don’t remember you being around when the Aradia tree-sit was going on, during which time I was also doing non-stop ground support and maitaining support camps on highway 36 with Remedy and others.
I don’t expect you to understand the progression I’ve gone through as an activist. You weren’t there when I broke my foot doing supply runs, and had to couch-surf Arcata on crutches.
Only Tree and Sonfox were there when I had athlete’s foot so bad that my foot cracked and I couldn’t walk, which was right around the time that I started the NCEF! Media office (with the approval of folks who were working with the Trees Foundation at the time).
I don’t remember you being on any of the S.L.A.P.P. suits stemming from the Mattole Free State, and you weren’t there when I hauled my own platform all the way out to the Mattole to do my first tree-sit.
All you have seen are the past few years, when my primary focus shifted from gound support to outreach, education, and fundraising.
Did you know that Remedy came to Humboldt in response to a call to action I posted on indymedia, way back in the day?
You weren’t there when I was nearly framed by a couple of infiltrators in the Mattole Free State, who vandalized a piece of heavy machinery, stole pencils and maps from it, and then handed them out to activists at our backwoods camp. The next day, the owner/operator of the machine was sent to hunt us down, I was tackled, and the police found one of the stolen pencils in my pocket, so I was nearly charged with vandalism and theft. I was put on probation for that one, added to the Mattole S.L.A.P.P. suit, and had a restraining order from trespassing on PL lands, yet I still did supply runs to Aradia in the middle of the night.
Yes, I know, you’ve only seen the relatively mundane past few years, during which time I’ve been running an office for NCEF!, an element that had been missing ever since Josh Brown and others left the movement to us next generation folks.
I don’t blame you for your ignorance, yet, make no mistake, it is ignorance.
O.K., you’re both on probation. Take your trainwreck of a conversation elsewhere, please.