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On December 8, 1988, dozens of activists from the radical environmental group Earth First

demonstrated in the tiny town of Scotia, California.

Scotia was a true company town.

Pacific Lumber's largest mill was there, and the company had built the houses in the town

for workers to live in, and ran the stores, the movie theater, and so on.

The activists had shown up to protest the purchase of Pacific Lumber by Maxam Corporation,

which was run by the corporate raider Charles Hurwitz. They believed that

Hurwitz would increase the speed at which the centuries-old redwood trees would be cut.

It was the Day of the Living Dead in Scotia as the environmental group Earth First staged a mock

funeral procession to protest the takeover of Pacific lumber by Charles Hurweth group Earth First staged a mock funeral procession to protest the takeover

of Pacific lumber by Charles Hurwith. Earth First claims Hurwitz plans to clear cut the forest

and close down the mill, making Scotia a ghost town. As they marched through town, mourners wore

paper Hurwitz mass and carried coffins labeled security, community, ecology, and economy.

They were met by counter protesters. The families of timber workers who feared that

earth first threatened the jobs of people who in many cases were the product of many generations

of men who made a living by cutting the redwood forest.

Supporters of the lumber industry met the protesters halfway, carrying signs of their own.

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