Arlington Earl Ammons, the 52-year-old logger responsible for falling the tree that caused Chain's death can be heard shouting expletives and threatening the protesters. Based on the local sheriff's probe, Humboldt County district attorney Terry Farmer decided not to press charges, concluding Ammons had not knowingly aimed a tree at any of the protesters. Farmer concluded Chain's death was an accident, and went further to say that he had considered charging Earth First! with involuntary manslaughter charges instead. Civil suit and settlement Following the reticence of the district attorney to file criminal charges, Chain's mother started a civil suit against Ammons, Pacific Lumber and its parent company, Maxxam, alleging they were reckless and responsible for the death of her son. A wrongful death settlement was reached three days before trial was scheduled to commence. Its financial terms remain undisclosed but other parts were made public, as a reminder of the tragedy, the 135-foot tree that struck Chain will remain where it fell, and a 100-foot buffer zone prevented any nearby logging. A memorial was also erected. Consequences Soon after Chain's death, it was revealed that the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection had charged Pacific Lumber with at least 250 violations of the California Forest Practice Act between 1995 and 1997. These violations continued to accumulate in 1998, and in November of that year, Pacific Lumber became the first company ever to lose its logging license in California. As a condition of reinstating their license, Pacific Lumber agreed to the creation of the Headwaters Forest Reserve. It received $380 million of public funds in return for the purchase. A Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was also developed and approved to allow limited logging on the remaining of Pacific Lumber Company timberland. Memorial scholarship A memorial scholarship for high school seniors and first-year university students has been set up in Chain's name. It is intended to support students with a demonstrated passion in environmental conservation. In popular culture Local Humboldt County based songwriters Karrie Jesse Manzanita Wallace & Juli Palmer wrote a song for him titled "A Chainsaw For A Gun (For Gypsy)" (c)1998 Singer-songwriter David Rovics dedicated a song to him, titled The Death of David Chain. Seattle singer/songwriter Jim Page also wrote a song about David Chain entitled "Gypsy". Writer John Burnside wrote a poem called "Earth" in memory of David Chain. See also Judi Bari Earth First! References