Send Brandi and Amber back to Fairy Creek

UPDATE Aug. 16: After spending last week reporting from Fairy Creek, Brandi and Amber left for a conference in Winnipeg. On Saturday, they got a tip that an RCMP raid was expected early this week, and they flew right back out there. The raid happened Tuesday, and Brandi and Amber were behind police lines to cover it. You can see photos and videos on our Twitter accounts, and a feature story is forthcoming.

The presence of journalists during these raids is essential, and we’re so proud to have been able to make it work. Unfortunately, the second set of flights, truck rental and accommodations added thousands to the budget for this trip. We were originally raising a total of $8,750 to cover the costs of the first trip. We’ve raised that total to $11,750 to account for those additional costs.

Every little bit helps. Thank you.

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The last time the world was watching Fairy Creek, we witnessed the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Well over 1,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous forest defenders were arrested by the RCMP over months of tense standoffs in 2021 as activists sought to halt the logging of rare ancient trees.

The courts hammered that movement, with charges and bail conditions keeping many away, and the tussle in the trees went dormant for most of the last two years.

Until now.

A new blockade, led by Indigenous youth and supported by non-Indigenous allies, has just been erected on a key bridge crossing an arterial logging road. The RCMP's specialized tactical team that responds to land defence actions is present and surveilling the camp. A raid could come any day, and having media on the ground is of crucial importance to keep tabs on police and document the latest developments as land defenders seek to protect their unceded territories from old-growth logging.

Brandi Morin, an Indigenous journalist and author who has won a number of major awards, including a Canadian Digital Publishing Award and an Edward R. Murrow award in the U.S., is getting on a plane this morning to bring you the story from Fairy Creek's new front lines.

She'll be joined by World Press Photo of the Year-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken, reuniting a dream team that last joined forces to tell the story of First Nations communities fleeing wildfires in Alberta.

This trip is the result of a partnership between Ricochet Media and Indiginews, and Brandi and Amber's reporting and photos will be published by both outlets.

It shouldn't be up to you to pay for some of this country's most accomplished journalists to cover such an important story. But it is.

Our industry is broken. But with just a small donation you can help us do the essential on-the-ground reporting that so often slips through the cracks these days.

At least six times in the last 18 months we've asked for your support to fund one of Brandi's reporting trips to places like Wet'suwet'en and Fairy Creek. Every single time, you've come through in record time.

Can we push our luck, and ask for your help once again, to produce fearless investigative journalism from the frontlines?