On Saturday, 11 RAN activists in Southern California carpooled from all over Los Angeles to Moorpark, California. Moorpark is a little town, just east of Simi Valley just north of the LA county line. We gathered our banners and signs (and lots of water – its hot in Moorpark in August!) and stood in front of Pardee’s newest development, Waverly Place.

RAN’s Old Growth campaign is still putting pressure on Weyerhaeuser. We are demanding that Weyerhaeuser respect the Grassy Narrows First Nation’s call for a complete stop to all industrial activity on their traditional territory by refusing to buy wood that comes from their land. Pardee (and 4 other Weyerhaeuser home-building subsidiaries) built their new homes, in part, with wood logged in Grassy Narrows. Targeting new home development openings is a great way for RAN to get our message to Pardee and Weyerhaeuser because they are events where the home builder wants badly to show a good face to potential home buyers. Protesters at these events are a very unwelcome presence.

As we assembled with our banners and signs in front of the entrance to Waverly Place, Pardee quickly sent their manager to shoo us away. We told the manager that we thought we were fully within our first amendment right to protest and that if he disagreed, he could call the Moorpark police. About half an hour later, the police arrived and they weren’t sure whether we were allowed to stay. Another hour passed, as we talked to dozens of potential home buyers and gave them campaign brochures drawing the link between Pardee, Weyerhaeuser and Grassy Narrows. At around noon, the Sheriff’s department arrived and told us with certainty that we had to move down the road to the public entrance of the development. We stood at the public entrance and talked to more people coming into the opening, as well as some people who already own Pardee home in other developments in the area.

All in all, we had a great response from all the people we talked to – nearly everyone was shocked to hear about where the wood for Pardee’s homes comes from. The activists who came out for the event had a good time, and are excited for the next RAN action in LA, and Pardee representatives will hopefully call their colleagues at Weyerhaeuser and tell them to get out of Grassy Narrows!