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> Activist's family begs for
> privacy
>
> Sep. 23, 1998
>
> By MIKE GENIELLA
> Press Democrat Staff Writer
>
> The Texas family of an Earth First!
>activist killed
> by a falling tree while attempting to
>disrupt a
> remote Pacific Lumber Co. logging operation
>
> appealed Tuesday for privacy during a
>planned
> trek this weekend to the scene.
>
> "We're coming to grieve. We don't want this
>to
> become a circus,'' said Cindy Allsbrooks,
> mother of 24-year-old David Chain.
>
> Chain's death Thursday, the first in a
>decade of
> anti-logging protests on the North Coast,
>is at
> the center of a new controversy over
>activists'
> tactics in the woods, and whether
>frustrated
> logging crews are unnecessarily endangering
>
> protesters' lives in response. Activists
>plan a
> protest march Thursday in Eureka, the day
>Chain
> is to be buried in his native Texas. On
>Monday,
> friends are planning a memorial in the area
>where
> he died.
>
> Allsbrooks, a resident of Coldspring,
>Texas, said
> it's important for her family to see where
>her son
> died.
>
> "We need to have some time there. We also
> want to give comfort to the young people
>that
> were his friends. That's our sole purpose.
>We
> are coming to mourn and grieve,'' said
> Allsbrooks.
>
> Pacific Lumber representatives said Tuesday
>
> they have not been contacted by the family
>or
> any representatives about the possibility
>of
> making the trek into the scene of Chain's
>death,
> located in rugged terrain 17 miles east of
> Highway 101.
>
> "We are certainly willing to discuss the
>situation
> with them if they would like,'' said
>company
> spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkel. "We understand
>
> how it could help bring closure to this
>tragedy.''
>
> Allsbrooks declined Tuesday to comment on
>the
> controversy surrounding her son's death, or
>the
> pending sheriff's department investigation
>into its
> cause.
>
> "We don't have anything to say at this
>time,'' she
> said.
>
> Allsbrooks said her son first learned about
>Earth
> First! and its role in a decade-long
>controversy
> over the fate of ancient redwoods while
>living in
> Austin with a childhood friend. She said
>her son
> decided last year to come West and
>participate
> in the Earth First! redwood protests
>because of a
> developing conviction the old trees must be
>
> saved.
>
> "I feel David's conviction had to do with
>the
> beauty he saw on his first trip to
>California, and
> his desire to preserve the environment.
>This is
> what he believed was right,'' said
>Allsbrooks.
>
> Chain was born and reared in Pasadena,
>Texas.
> He graduated from high school in 1992, and
> attended San Jacinto College for awhile.
>"He
> really was not ready to commit to
>college,'' said
> Allsbrooks.
>
> Allsbrooks said her son returned to Austin
>in the
> winter and worked to save money to make a
> return trek to the North Coast.
>
> She said he returned to California a few
>weeks
> ago.
>
> Allsbrooks said Chain's father, who still
>lives in
> Pasadena, and his two sisters and three
>nieces
> and nephews, are devastated by his death.
>
> "There are so many people who will miss
>David
> and forever hold his memory in their
>hearts.''
>
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> © 1998 The Press Democrat
>
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>
David M. Walsh
P.O. Box 903
Redway, CA 95560
Office and Fax(707) 923-3015
Home (707) 986-1644


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