Documentary Reflection: If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front

May 20, 2022 By: Melissa Harding

Multiple articles have been in the news recently covering old growth protesting efforts happening on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. Protest groups such as Save Old Growth are protesting against the harvesting of old growth forests by the forestry industry. I agree with protestors that old growth logging should be stopped immediately, banned permanently, and these highly productive forests protected from future destruction. The documentary, “If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front” highlights a group of environmentalists and their civil disobedience fight against old growth logging, clear cutting of forests, wild horse culling and genetic engineering within the forestry industry.

Save Old Growth protestors have been blocking roadways during high traffic times in an attempt to disrupt the harmful industry activity and call attention to their cause. Recently, two members were arrested during a protest where they had chained themselves to a concrete-filled barrel in the middle of a busy highway outside of Langford, BC (CTV News, 2022). These actions have sparked a counter protest movement by people who are unsupportive of this type of civil disobedience. An article by Skrypnek (2022) reported on a similar event in Vancouver where angry motorists dragged Save Old Growth protestors off the road in an attempt to allow traffic to move through the blockade. These types of protests are not new events in British Columbia, and in fact have been occurring for decades. Protests occurred in Clayoquot Sound (the “War in the Woods”) in the early 1990s and are ongoing at Fairy Creek (Owen, 2021).

Daniel McGowan was a member of ELF, a protest group that also took to civil disobedience to fight for their beliefs. The group became quite radical in their actions, carrying out over 1200 arson events (Curry, 2011). These events were well-planned, well thought out and never resulted in harm or death to any individual. The group wanted to take drastic action to temporarily stop something from occurring, such as when the group burnt down a slaughter house that was killing wild horses, or set fire to work vehicles that were (wrongly) associated with genetically modifying trees at a tree farm.

Civil disobedience plays an important role in change. This is a form for expression that articulates people are not consenting to or agreeing with the conventional actions around a given issue (i.e logging old growth forests). I fully support the cause of Save Old Growth, Fairy Creek and other environmental protestors, and I believe many people also support these causes. Where this issue becomes less defined is in their actions. I would not participate in a road blockade, I would not jump into traffic in protest and I would not set fire to a building. The vast majority of people would agree these actions are not appropriate and do not support radical groups that routinely perform these actions.

I have been told by the organizer of Save Old Growth that if I am not willing to act by participating in a road blockade, then I am a part of the problem and I do not care about the fate of humanity. This is a very extreme statement, especially since I am deeply concerned about the environment am willing to and have made significant life changes to lessen my environmental footprint. Statements like this alienate people from the causes they believe in and are counterproductive to the environmental movement. These protest groups run into conflict with the rest of the population because of their extreme radical actions. Daniel McGowan spoke to the split that occurred within the ELF group after they set fire to the tree farm. Some members believed they had gone too far with their actions, while others believed they had not gone far enough.

Extreme radical behaviour takes away from the issue for which the protesters are fighting. If you are against logging because of the cascading environmental effects, then causing a significant fire event only adds to that environmental issue. Blocking traffic could have cascading effects including motor vehicle collisions resulting in injury, job loss from not being able to pass through a blockade, illness or death of someone unable to reach a hospital, and simple citizen frustration that changes people’s support for the cause.

Protests can get out of hand very easily. Society’s resistance to systemic change and their capitalist values stand in the way of positive outcomes. Radical actions come from a place of despair, but do not typically add overarching value to a movement. Daniel made a statement in the documentary that was quite relatable. He stated, “when you are screaming at the top of your lungs and no one hears you, what are you supposed to say? What are you supposed to do?” (Curry, 2011). Radical actions reflect this very statement and people make radical decisions to try and spark change. From historical cases like Daniel’s, it does not bring positive change. Protestors like himself face life-changing prison sentences and the issues persist.

Protesting often yields poor results, which leads to increasingly radical actions, which then result in harsh punishments from the legal system. Logging has been highlighted as an environmental issue for over 100 years. Vancouver Island is left with only a small percentage of its old growth forests. Protests have been ongoing for at least 60 years with various forms of civil disobedience occurring and the issue still persists. Positive change has not occurred as a result of civil disobedience.

References

Skrypnek, J. (2022, April 21). ‘you wanna die?’: Angry commuters drag ‘Save old growth’ protesters off B.C. Highway. Today In BC. Retrieved May 18, 2022, from https://www.todayinbc.com/news/you-wanna-die-angry-commuters-drag-old-growth-protesters-off-b-c-highway/

Group launches “Clear the Road” campaign against old-growth logging blockades. (2022, May 4). CTV News Vancouver Island. Retrieved May 18, 2022, from https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/group-launches-clear-the-road-campaign-against-old-growth-logging-blockades-1.5888934

Owen, B. (2021, August 29). Old-growth protesters in B.C. have shaped public discourse over year of blockades, expert says. CTV News Vancouver Island. Retrieved May 18, 2022, from https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/old-growth-protesters-in-b-c-have-shaped-public-discourse-over-year-of-blockades-expert-says-1.5565867

Curry, Marshall. Director, writer, producer, and Sam Cullman, Co-Director, Producer. “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.” 2011. Marshall curry Productions, 1:25:40.