FORTUNA, Calif. (AP) -- An activist was struck in the head and killed by a falling tree Thursday afternoon while trying to block the logging of ancient redwoods on Pacific Lumber Co. land, Earth First! said.

The radical environmental group said David Chain, who uses the nom-de-guerre "Gypsy," was standing among redwoods marked for logging and trying to dissuade tree fellers when he was killed.

A fellow protester who fled the scene reported that the impact cracked open Chain's skull, said Earth First! co-founder Daryl Cherney, who said sheriff's deputies told the group he died at the scene.

"It's easy to get hit by a tree out there," said Cherney. "Even experienced activists or seasoned people -- it doesn't matter. One time I found myself in a hole and had to scramble out before the tree fell."

Pacific Lumber did not return telephone messages seeking comment. The Humboldt County Sheriff's department and the California Department of Forestry confirmed only that they were responding to a logging accident.

Earth First! had staged a 12-day protest against the logging of an ancient redwood stand along Grizzly Creek, in a ravine near the mill town of Fortuna, about 300 miles up the coast from San Francisco.

Eight of the group's activists had been arrested Wednesday on trespassing charges. Thursday was the first day the group engaged in the more  aggressive tactic they call "cat and mouse," putting their bodies in harm's way.

The protesters say the logging, on land adjacent to a "lesser cathedral" of centuries-old redwoods purchased under the $495 million Headwaters Agreement, is destroying the protected habitat of the Marbled Murrelet, an endangered seabird that nests in the tops of the majestic trees.
 

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