Jennifer Pickford will be showing her documentary ECO Warriors at Mansons Hall on Tuesday April 22. 

 “This film is telling the story of several environmental activists who have faced imprisonment for their actions, as well as the actual and real threat of being labeled terrorists for protecting the land and the forest that they love,” she explained. 

“Eco Warriors is about 12 years old. It’s one of my earlier works, but following on the footsteps of last year’s Earth Day screening of ‘Sacred India, A Plastic Revolution,’ I wanted to show another film because I felt that not only is it still a relevant topic, but also it’s just nice to have that continuity of having an Earth Day screening here on Cortes Island.”

Cortes Currents: One of the scenes I appreciated in the film was when Derek Jensen said deforestation did not start in modern times. Ancient Iraq, Greece and North Africa were once all heavily forested. A quick google search revealed that there’s still a forest canopy in about 30% of Greece but it’s largely disappeared from Iraq and North Africa because of human activities. Perhaps if there had been more of a resistance in ancient times, all of these areas would still be heavily forested today. 

I actually wanted  to ask you about  the current trend to label environmentalists ‘climate activists.’ It seems like a way of dismissing people. 

Jennifer Pickford: “It’s just because the activists and especially ones that are in the forefront and are very outspoken and represent a real threat to the system. Of course the system wants to label anybody that is a threat in a derogatory way.  Labeling activists as terrorists is a way for the system to play on people’s fear of that word, and by the system I mean mostly the corporations and the government that supports them.” 

“Now, hello, can we look at the contradictory nature of that? Is a terrorist somebody who’s standing up with a protest sign, or is that perhaps a corporation that’s taking down acres and acres  of old growth forests in the name of corporate interest? Who is the real terrorist here?” 

“This is really what the film is looking at. What does that word mean?  How can we actually see what’s really going on here in the interest of saving and protecting our sacred mother earth?” 

Cortes Currents: Tell me a little bit about the story of how your film came about. 

Jennifer Pickford: “Well, this story came about when I heard about  a young fellow named Tre Arrow. At that time he was imprisoned in a  Canadian institution, William Head near Victoria, and he was fighting extradition to the United States and life in an American jail as an eco terrorist.”

“Now he was fighting pretty hard. He claimed he was innocent and he had been framed. Even if he wasn’t innocent, he was facing life in jail for what he was accused of, which was essentially  bombing some logging trucks. He was being made an example of.”

“I was looking at how somebody who was an environmentalist, who was essentially a very popular and vocal figure in Portland, Oregon.  He ran for the Pacific Green Party there and he got 15,000 votes because people thought he was just great. He was a hero for the work he was doing and yet now he was facing the rest of his life in jail if the US government had their way.” 

“This struck a chord with me. I was pretty emotionally drawn to his story. I could see all sorts of ways that this was relevant for , if I can use that word in another way, the climate of activism at the time.”

“This is still relevant because recent legislation has been nothing less than silencing protestors.” 

“Going back to your original question, I started to research Tre’s story. I  talked to him and I realized that this was  a story and a message that really needs to get out there.”  

“From there I went on to speak with Courtenay’s Ruth Masters, who was a World War II nurse  and had seen a lot of protests, but also a great deal of destruction of the forests overseas. This had compelled her to spend the rest of her life trying to protect the environment from any more of the same. Ruth was at the forefront of nearly every successful environmental action in BC over the past 40 years. She’s one of the Raging Grannies,  which is a prolific group of elderly activists, and she was also named Comox Valley Citizen of the Year.”

“Ruth has passed away since I made this film, but she is really one of the greatest heroines.  Heroes and heroines I like to call my subjects because in my eyes they’re not terrorists. She has  things to say about the use of this term eco terrorist. She feels that really the only effective way to protect the environment is to be active and sometimes very directly active.”

“I’ve also filmed an interview with Cortes Island’s Tzeporah Berman, who was the key organizer of the Clayoquot Sound protest  and was also imprisoned for her actions. Alexander Morton, founder of the Raincoast Research Society, was responsible for exposing the salmon lice issue with farmed salmon. Derrick Jensen is one of the most well-known philosophers of the radical environmental movement . He is the author of a book called Endgame, which  encourages active resistance. And I also have two other activists in the film, Zoe Blunt and Ingmar Lee. All of these people have faced great adversity in their attempts to protect the environment, and they now feel threatened by the use of this word, ‘eco terrorist.’”

Cortes Currents: The word terrorism comes from a Latin word meaning to frighten and when most people think of terrorists, bombings and killings come to mind but none of the activists you interviewed condoned killing anyone. The closest any of them came was Tre Arrow’s destruction of  logging trucks.

Jennifer Pickford: “Clearly he wanted to do it and get away with it, but he didn’t. He was framed by others that were involved. He never endangered any human lives.  He went about things in such a way that the only people that would’ve been harmed by his actions would’ve been large forestry corporations that certainly could afford this attack.”

“Let’s just say what he did, he felt justified in doing.  I’m not saying whether he was or not.  However, when you think about the fact that the work he was doing actually had an impact on the forest that he was trying to protect, perhaps some people would argue that he was actually justified to take that kind of action.”

“Tre ended up spending six years of his life in jail for what he believed in.” 

Cortes Currents: What did he gain by it? 

Jennifer Pickford: “He did protect the forest. Let’s just say people were jumping on the cause to the extent that he was able to protect the forest that he was defending.” 

Cortes Currents: So there was no logging carried out? 

Jennifer Pickford: “Not in that area.” 

Cortes Currents: Where do you see this conflict going?

Jennifer Pickford: “As long as corporate interest is put first, there’s always going to be conflict between the people that want to protect the forest and the people that want to denude the forest.” 

“A corporation, as Alexandra Morton talks about in my film, is just a piece of paper that exists in two dimensions with the sole intention of making more and more profit. There are people that stand behind that corporation, but what’s actually making those decisions is just on the base of this piece of paper. Whereas real humans are the ones that are caring about the forest and the ones that are standing up against the corporations. Those are the ones that I think we should be supporting.”

Cortes Currents: Did you have any final words you wanted to say?

Jennifer Pickford: “I’m going to let the film speak for itself. Come and celebrate Earth Day with the screening of Eco Warriors. The presentation will take place at Manson’s Hall. Tuesday, April 22nd. Doors will open at 7:00, screenings at 7:30. Admission is by donation. Suggested around $10, and I really hope to see you there. This film has been screened throughout BC and Northern Washington State and was officially screened at the Thunder Bay Environmental Film Festival and the Tofino Film Festival. This is the first time it’s been shown on Cortes Island, due to mature subject matter the film has been rated PG 13. Hope to see you there.” 

Links of Interest:

• The making of ‘Sacred India’: a personal pilgrimage & investigation of plastic waste – Cortes Currents
• Filmmaker shedding light on a filthy world – Comox Valley Record

All photos courtesy Jennifer Pickford

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