Here is an update from the latest action in Seattle, hosted by SeaRAG. I was able to attend and see firsthand the excitement of Seattle activists, and the nervousness of Quadrant executives and thier hired security guards. Way to go SeaRAG.

For the past few months SeaRAG (the Seattle Rainforest Action Group) has been showing up at housing developments built by
environmentally-challenged and deceptive Quadrant Homes. Now, January 24th, 2007, it was time to take on their headquarters…

On an unusually clear Seattle day, our troupe, who had come from as far as Sultan and Puyallup, descended on Quadrant’s Bellevue offices. One of our signs read “Honk if U [Heart] Trees!” and received lots of
supportive horn-tooting. Another sign said “I’m Peter Orser, and I like
stealing from Native People”, referring to Quadrant’s CEO and emblazoned with his picture. Someone even brought a chainsaw, which made a funny prop next to our “Sustainable Forestry NOW!” poster.

I could feel that we were making a big impact. With Peter in that
building, along with his upper-level white-collar underlings, we were
going where the real power was and affecting them personally. As
employees went home they saw our signs, and others in the office windows stared out at our little circus. You had better believe that our message will be the water-cooler talk there for a few days, and make Mr. Orser’s life a hassle as his colleagues bombard him with questions about why we were out there protesting him. Perfect.

Quadrant’s houses are built using wood clearcut from the traditional
lands of the people of Grassy Narrows without their consent. This
indigenous group has supported itself on this land in Ontario, Canada,
for thousands of years, hunting, fishing, and gathering berries, rice
and medicinal herbs. Now Weyerhaeuser-led logging is threatening this
way of life and cutting deep into the Boreal forest, part of the largest
intact forest in the world, and known as the ‘Amazon of the North’
because of its size and many species. The Boreal is also an important
buffer against global warming because of the large amount of carbon it
stores.

Overall, a short, sweet and very effective action, impacting the heart
of the Quadrant corporate machine. Learned your lesson yet, Pete?

Check out SEARAG.ORG for photos from this action, as well as video of
our past actions