author: Stumptown Earth First!
e-mail:
ef@cascadiarising.org
***For Immediate Release***
Date: March 30, 2005
Press Contact: Kevin Sloan, Cascadia Rising Action Media, 503-493-7495 (photos available)
At 11 am, Stumptown Earth First! shutdown SW 2nd Avenue in downtown Portland in front of the USFS Region 6 Headquarters in protest of the Biscuit Logging Project. One protestor currently swings 20 feet in the air on a tripod structure above the roadway while 30 others rally around.
Nonviolent civil disobedience actions, aimed at keeping chainsaws out of the fragile post-burn recovery area, have already resulted in 42 arrests over the past three weeks in the Biscuit logging project. Today Stumptown Earth First! brings the struggle to save the Biscuit and end logging on public lands to the front doors of the USFS regional headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
"We're here today to bring the demands of the public to the front doors of the Forest Service. Logging is not restoration. This wasteful project will increase fire hazard, harm the local nature-based economy, hurt the regeneration of the forest, and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars," said the protestor perched in the tripod.
The US Forest Service has systematically undermined the public process for participating in land management decisions related to this project. When the USFS first proposed the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project, they received over 23,000 comments from the public, more than 95% of them expressing opposition and outrage. In response, the Bush Administration gave the USFS unprecedented new powers to declare "emergency exemptions" and deny the citizens who commented their legal right to appeal the final decision.
The Siskiyou Mountains of Southwest Oregon contain the largest expanse of wildlands left on the west coast of the US and are internationally recognized for the extraordinary biodiversity they support. The Siskiyou National Forest is the most botanically diverse in the nation, and the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area contains the highest concentration of federally-designated Wild and Scenic Rivers in the lower 48.
The Biscuit Logging Project targets 31 square miles of sensitive forest areas, including thousands of acres of roadless areas. This extreme logging is fraudulently billed as restoration, contradicting the opinions of respected scientists, such as Northwest Forest Plan architect Jerry Franklin. The majority of Americans are opposed to the continued logging of native and old growth forests on public lands, yet the US Forest Service continues to undermine the process of public participation while catering to the demands of the timber industry.
Stumptown Earth First! plans to continue protesting the commercial logging of our national forests. The 25th annual Earth First! national Round River Rendezvous will take place this July in Mt. Hood National Forest outside Portland, Oregon.
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