Over 200 Fairy Creek protestors have peacefully taken back a blockade from the RCMP that has been dubbed ‘Waterfall Camp’ near Port Renfrew as part of the Fairy Creek blockades to halt old-growth logging in the area.
RCMP had arrested four individuals and cleared the blockade two days prior.
At the behest of Elder Bill Jones and Hereditary Chief Victor Peter of the Pacheedaht Nation, 200 protestors hiked 10 km past the exclusion zones around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 29th from the bottom of Gordon River road and Braden Road.
In the video below posted from the Fairy Creek Blockade Instagram, Hereditary Chief Victor Peter and Elder Bill Jones — who are permitted to travel past the restricted area — are seen cutting the police tape and bartering with the RCMP to allow the protestors to join them.
Elder Bill Jones has been a critic of both the old growth logging and the leadership of the Pacheedaht Nation regarding Tree Farm license 46 that permits logging on the Pacheedaht land.
‘Exclusion zones’ have been set up by RCMP to contain protestors and media and have been criticized by both parties for being unlawful.
According to protestors, the exclusion zones were not set out in the injunction set forth by the BC Supreme Court on April 1st.
Protestors filed a notice of appeal against the injunction in early May.
Last week, a coalition of media outlets expressed their intention to take the RCMP to court over the “limited” access to cover a demonstration against the logging of an old-growth forest.
