Milford, PA, March 1, 2013 – Yesterday, local hero and tree-sitter Gifford Pinchot was arrested on the ninth day of holding fast in a forest tree-sit. A tree-sit is a form of non-violent civil disobedience, meant to stop tree clearing for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. This morning Pinchot was released from police custody, while workers were again turned away from the work site by local protesters.
Last evening at approximately 6:00 p.m., Gifford Pinchot was apprehended in the forests of Pike County, PA on the ninth day of the tree-sit. He was charged with aggravated trespass, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, but was released on his own recognizance this morning. Meanwhile, work crews returned to Cummins Hill Road to continue clearing trees along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline right of way and were turned away by emotional pleas and testimony from local residents. Local activists were able to appeal to their common interest in a safe, clean environment, and the workers walked away from the job of clearing one of the final stands of trees for this right of way.
The arrest was part of a nine-day tree-sit blockade and two-week road blockade. Both actions supported a campaign opposing the Tennessee Gas Pipeline in the Delaware River Basin. The direct action campaign is taking place after nearly two years of local opposition from grassroots groups and political leaders in the courts, in public hearings, and through protest.
When asked for a personal statement on his experience in the tree stand, his arrest, and future plans, Gifford Pinchot said, “Let this be a lesson to all those resisting ecological destruction. The state and their corporate cohorts will lie, coerce and intimidate us. But we must trust in our friends and the forest. Those are our only true allies in this fight. As these struggles continue and intensify, it is important to remember that we are not alone. We are just one link in a chain of resistance to those oppressing the earth, and this chain will not be broken until the earth and all her inhabitants are free at last.”for updates: http://www.notennesseepipeline.blogspot.com
