On Monday, February 14th, a tree sit and canopy occupation kicked off in a 650 acre pine and saw palmetto forest, known as the Briger tract, in South Florida. The goal of the occupation is to block the fast approaching destruction of the forest and the construction of what state officials and developers have called a biotech city.
The Scripps biotech corporation is connected to Novartis, Monsanto, Primate Products, Phillip Morris, Kraft Foods and the Scripps Media conglomeration. Another Scripps campus in La Jolla, California has been cited several times for abusive experiments on a variety of animals. Scripps Florida is currently engaged in research which involves horrendous experiments on living macaque monkeys.
Linking forest defense with direct action against vivisection, urban sprawl, and the corporate ownership of life, the Briger occupation is under way and in need of physical, financial, and spiritual support. We are requesting care packages and letters addressed to the tree sitters as well as phone calls to the mayor of the city of Palm Beach Gardens and solidarity actions at the California campus.
The Briger forest is home and a staging ground to endangered and threatened species and habitat including gopher tortoise, bald eagles, giant wild pine bromeliads, hand ferns, royal ferns, ground lichens, and upland scrub pines. It is a medicinal forest of saw palmetto, pennyroyal, and cabbage palm. Armadillos and racoons scurry through the thick and razorous underbrush in abundance.
The Briger forest is completely surrounded by sub/urban development, a university campus, and the current Scripps Florida facilities. It is one of the last remaining forests of its kind in the metropolitan corridor of South Florida. This fact has caused many environmentalists to write the forest off as dead. Such miserabalist surrender is not an option. We occupy the forest in defense of all life.
Sincerely and with Love,
Everglades Earth First!
Please make checks payable to Everglades Earth First!
All mail may be sent to:
PO Box 964
Lake Worth, FL 33460