|
SELMA,
Ore. -- Forest defenders halted business as usual for Silver Creek
Timber
Company and Portland-based Columbia helicopters this Monday morning as
they
attempted to haul old growth logs from the backcountry of the Siskiyou
Mountains to the Roseburg Forest Products mill outside Roseburg, Ore.
Citizens
continue acts of nonviolent civil disobedience to shut down logging
operations
within the Fiddler old growth reserve timber sale, part of the massive
Biscuit
Fire Recovery Project.
These
actions follow more than a year of campaigning that produced tens of
thousands
of public comments and a series of major lawsuits that are still
pending
against this extreme logging plan, the largest in US Forest Service
history.
When old growth reserve logging began for the first time on March 7,
the people's
movement to save the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area turned to direct action
to
demand democracy and accountability from their public agencies.
Citizens nationwide are coming to recognize that the Biscuit Fire
Recovery Project
is an historic confrontation of ideological agendas that will set
precedent for
decades of future public policy and land management. On the one side is
the
Bush Administration and regional politicians beholden to the timber
industry
for campaign contributions. Their policy is one of using taxpayer money
to
subsidize private resource extraction off of public lands. Their’s is a
purely
economic strategy benefiting the few at the expense of the many.
On the other side are the vast majority of Americans; recent polls show
over 70
percent of whom are opposed to the practice of logging within old
growth
forests on public lands. Locally, regionally and countrywide, the
majority of
people prioritize clean water, endangered species, recreation and long
term
sustainability for local economies. These values are all associated
with
healthy native forest ecosystems and not with projects that give a
short-term
economic boost to a few big timber companies and leave behind ugly
stumpfields,
muddy rivers and government managed tree plantations.
The
emotional controversy boiling over from the back woods of southern Oregon is the
visible frontline in a much larger struggle that strikes at the heart
of our
nation’s character. The people have spoken, and they are being ignored.
Now, in
a struggle born in the spirit of the movement’s for woman's suffrage
and civil
rights, people are using the tools left to them to leverage human
dignity
against the injustice and oppression of an unresponsive government.
The
campaign opposing the extreme Biscuit logging scheme is settling in for
the
long haul. As long as the USFS and the timber companies continue to
commit
crimes against the public trust by destroying what is left of America's
natural
heritage, people will continue to organize in innovative ways, using
nonviolent
means to oppose them.
For more
information check out the Oxygen Collective's website at http://www.o2collective.org
|
UPDATE - 4:45am
18.04.2005
- 05:00
First law enforcement on the scene around 4:15 (only Forest
Service law enforcement at this time) FS Officer Williamson arrived
first, was
very gruff and unhappy. He aggressively shook the lines supporting the
bipod,
which could potentially endanger the person in the pod. Spirits were
more than
high. Around 5 log haulers, 7 loggers (including John West, president
of Silver
Creek Timber) are stopped in their tracks. The person in the bipod
invited John
West out for cocktails (no word yet on whether or not he's accepted).
Update
-- 4:55am ... They're
having the log haulers back up and move to the side of the road
(possibly to
make room for incoming vehicles?)
UPDATE - 5:30AM
18.04.2005
- 05:40
Update for 5:30am ... almost a quarter-mile of log trucks, loggers'
rigs, and
law enforcement vehicles are stretched out in front of the blockade
with no way
through. A police line has been established and the supporters are
separated
from the blockaders, but everyone can still see each other. Officer
Williamson
has been inspecting / fooling around with the support lines to the pod
and has
been overheard saying that they could tie into the support and lower
the pod.
(That would be VERY dangerous)...
And
the sun is starting to rise...
UPDATE - 6:30AM
18.04.2005
- 06:57
Update: Josephine county sheriffs dept arrived on the scene. They (for
no
apparent reason) decided to move to police line back a few lengths,
separating
the supporters and blockaders even further.
A
few minutes later: Sheriffs and FS law enforcement have begun to
forcibly
move the 1200 lb barrels with the people still attached! Each barrel
has two
people locked to it by one arm each. Their arms are inside the barrels
to above
the elbow. There isn't much wiggle room for their arms... If a barrel
tipped or
the person couldn't move with it, they could be seriously injured...
The
sun is up now....
UPDATE - 7:30AM
18.04.2005
- 07:50
7:30AM Update: All
three barrels (each with two people attached)
were moved to the side of the road. The cops used a winch to attach to
the
support line of the bipod and began slowly lowering the bipod. When the
apex of
the pod (where the sitter sits) was a little over 5 feet from the
ground, the
legs of the pod began to wobble and threatened to buck. To protect his
own
safety, the pod person decided to jump out of the pod to avoid falling,
and was
not injured. After the pod person was arrested, the folks in the
barrels
voluntarily unlocked from their lockdown positions and were also
arrested.
There were a total of 7 arrests.
Much
love and many props to all you hardcore blockaders! You are loved! You
rock!
Thank you, thank you, from the Wild Siskiyous!
|
