Susie Russell has been an activist all her life: as a high school student marching against the Vietnam War and against apartheid, at university, and later as an active unionist in the transport sector. Since she first learnt about oldgrowth forest in 1992 and its destruction, she has dedicated her life to fighting for forest protection. It’s been quite a journey since then. First as part of the local group Wingham Forest Action and for decades as part of the North East Forest Alliance. The early years were blockades, legal action and then campaigning to change the government. More blockades and then a process, which had some success in protecting significant areas of forest in north-east NSW.

But many areas missed out, so Susie kept going. She spent years on government committees such as the Forestry Advisory Council and the Natural Resources Advisory Council as well as being a board member on the Forest Stewardship Council for over a decade. She successfully campaigned against a proposal to burn forests in a charcoal plant near Gunnedah and is still actively opposing a giant wood-fired power station proposed for the Hunter Valley.

She holds committee positions in several environmental organisations: The North East Forest Alliance, the North Coast Environment Council, 4Nature and the Rainforest Information Centre.

Earlier in 2024 she was awarded the Miles Dunphy Award for her long-term commitment to environmental activism.

In October 2024 she was arrested again, attempting to delay the logging of endangered Greater Glider habitat near where she lives by attaching herself to a piece of the giant logging machinery. Seen as a ringleader of the ongoing protests to SaveBulgaForest she was refused bail and held over night. She is currently on bail and wielding a pen to continue the fight.