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May 4th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
SANDISFIELD, MA — Eighteen protesters were arrested this morning at the Otis State Forest after blocking an access road to a pipeline construction site, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Kinder Morgan subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline has started cutting trees within the forest, owned by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, for a natural gas pipeline project.
Tennessee hopes to complete the project by November 1 to serve three natural gas utility customers in Connecticut.
A leading anti-pipeline strategist who is not associated with the Sugar Shack Alliance — and did not take part in their action on Tuesday — had sharp words for Gov. Charlie Baker. “The real tragedy in all of this is that no state actors have been willing to stand firmly and say that Connecticut does not need this pipeline,” said Kathryn Eiseman, director of Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network.
MassPLAN has led efforts to fight natural gas pipeline development through various legal and regulatory means on the state and federal levels.
Eiseman said the “the deck is stacked” against the protection of conservation land in Massachusetts “when our own environmental agencies in Massachusetts have be stripped down by a Governor who is also seeking to eliminate all regulations that could impede corporate profits.”
Eiseman called FERC’s process in permitting the pipeline “abysmal.”
Mary C. Serreze of Mass Live Reports:
“Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. could start cutting trees for its Connecticut Expansion Project any day, and protesters at the Otis State Forest in Berkshire County say they plan to keep watch.
Massachusetts State Police and private security guards are blocking access roads to the forest around the clock, and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns the conservation land, has posted signs threatening trespassers with arrest or fines.
“Area closed to public access,” the signs read. “This area is subject to a temporary construction easement.”
Nonetheless, around 70 members of the Sugar Shack Alliance gathered at Lower Spectacle Pond Friday to voice opposition to the natural gas pipeline project.
The group walked along Cold Spring Road carrying signs and and singing songs. Their messaging targeted pipelines, the destruction of forest land, and fossil fuel development in general.
Ashfield selectman Ron Coler spoke to the crowd and addressed the law enforcement in attendance.
“Go down the street and arrest Kinder Morgan and its contractors for trespassing on constitutionally-protected conservation land,” he said. “They are crossing my property and your property.”
Coler said he would put his body between the contractors “and the destruction of our forest.”
Tennessee, a subsidiary of the Texas-based Kinder Morgan, won its overall federal certificate for the project in 2016. On April 12, it gained federal authorization to cut trees and build its 14-mile natural gas pipeline in three states.
Tennessee is now tying up final details with the Sandisfield Conservation Commission, and has already begun erosion control work.
Thirty acres will be cut, crossing cold water streams and other water resources. A million gallons of water will be drawn from Spectacle Pond to hydrostatically test the pipeline, according to federal documents.
The Sugar Shack Alliance says it is “determined to keep up our opposition on the ground, in courts, and in the media.”
To that end, the protesters released a video to the media:”
“We need to protect our forests, not build pipelines through them,” said Susan Theberge of Amherst. “We are facing climate chaos.”
Days earlier, members formed a large circle “to recommit to non-violence, civil disobedience, and peaceful resistance to fossil fuels, regardless of the any security presence,” said Abby Ferla, an alliance spokeswoman.
Sugar Shack, first formed to fight the now-defunct Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, has expanded its mission “to resist all expansion of the fossil fuel industry,” and tends to deploy creative and theatrical tactics.
Alliance members, most of whom are from Western Massachusetts, are trained in non-violent civil disobedience, and pledge to adhere to a code of conduct, said Ferla. The group does not endorse violence or property destruction.
“Anyone who acts outside of these conditions is not endorsed or part of Sugar Shack,” added Cate Woolner, a trainer with the group.
The alliance previously contacted police to keep channels of communication open, said Ferla. “They are aware of our plans, and are prepared for possible civil disobedience,” she said.
The inter-generational group is bound by its concern for climate change and reverence for the natural world, its members say.
“I still abide by the apparently quaint notion that conservation land is actually conserved in perpetuity and not just unless and until we find some profitable or expedient reason to destroy it,” wrote Bob Barba of Ashfield.
The pipeline would cross Massachusetts to serve three natural gas utilities in Connecticut.
In recent days, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joined U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey in writing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The three Massachusetts Democrats assert that FERC was not authorized to issue the tree cutting order, in part because the commission has been operating without a quorum since January.
A leading anti-pipeline strategist said Saturday that even if the trees are cut, it’s not necessarily the end of the story. “There are still a number of unresolved issues,” said Kathryn Eiseman of the Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network.
Eiseman, known for working behind the scenes, did not take part in Friday’s protest and is not affiliated with the Sugar Shack Alliance.”
Source Article from https://popularresistance.org/sugar-shack-alliance-desperate-to-save-state-forest/
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