Urgent Support Needed [Forest Defense]

"Greetings from a camp of people defending one of southern Ontario’s last Old Growth forest parcels. This particular situation has many points of interest that converge to make it a very very important issue. This is bigger than this one particular construction contract, and it is bigger than all of us on the site right now. This is a principled stand on the side of the earth, on the side of life. We all need a healthy landbase to survive and this current occupation is for us all.

As you can see from the below post, the city wants people to leave the construction site so they can continue building infrastructure for a 675-acre industrial park. They are currently mowing some grass in a distant meadow to build us a ‘protest pen’. They haven’t told us anything about it, but in the paper they say we can set up a camp far from the construction site. What they don’t understand is that the purpose of our occupation is to protect this land from this construction/destruction.

The City of Guelph says we are ‘trespassing’. They forget, or don’t realize, that the founders of Guelph were trespassing when they cut down the forests, dammed the rivers, and built their churches, bars, mills, and homes. This has all gone on too long. We are the generation who needs to take a stand and protect this earth from those who would continue it’s destruction – and now under the guise of a business park ‘necessary for economic growth’.

Come out to the site. Give us a call on one of our phones (519-82... and 519-820-6239) and join us. The more of us there are, the safer we all are. We need the City to understand just how many people are standing together on this one. There are lots of amazing people, good food, water, and camaraderie. Note: we are technically trespassing under Canadian law, which warrants a small ticketable offence. It is not the same as a criminal offence. There will be adequate opportunity for anyone to be safe from arrest. We have a competent police liason and vast public support on our side.

Here is a link to a map. We are just on Downey Rd., just south of Teal: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=101874770457439416142.000465705f818967c7c60&ie=UTF8&ll=43.488124,-80.22459&spn=0.030887,0.070639&z=14.

With love,

the Land Defenders at the Hanlon Creek"

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Hanlon Creek Business Park Occupation News
Link: http://hcbpoccupation.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/urgent-support-needed/
MORE INFO: http://twitter.com/oldgrowthguelph