August 1, 2011
Mollala, OR- As a culmination of the annual Trans and Womyn's Action
Camp, activists occupied the regional Oregon Department of Forestry office.
Three members of the camp have locked themselves together inside the
office using modified pipes. Currently the trio is refusing to leave
until the Oregon Department of Forestry revoke their support for the
2011 Elliott State Forest Management Plan.
Today is the last opportunity for citizens to comment on the plan.
Activists involved in the action criticized the plan for opening up
areas to logging which were previously off limits. They also
criticized the plan for increasing clear cutting to boost local
timber jobs while not making any decisive moves to regulate or even
monitor the large timber export industry which ships logs and jobs
overseas.
The Trans and Womyn's Action Camp, or TWAC, was formed out of a need to
make space for marginalized identities that otherwise may not be
represented within the broader push for environmental justice. This
action is organized and carried out by women and trans identified
people. "As a trans person, my affinity with forests stems from the
harsh reality that both of us are targets of oppression for merely
existing. Systems of oppression such as patriarchy, homophobia, and
transphobia are inherently linked to the violence towards forests
such as the Elliott. I am in solidarity with all forms of resistance
against the destruction of marginalized identities, human and
non-human." says Samuel Morrissey
Meredith Cocks of Portland, OR said, "It's absolutely devastating to walk
into the middle of a clearcut in the Elliott and know that after decades
of fighting for forest protection this sort of logging is still accepted
on public lands. This is some of our last intact coastal rainforest, a
precious place that deserves our respect, not to be decimated by the ODF."
Onsite Press Contact: Maya Andrews (413)695-2249
Offsite Press Contact: Timothy Swenson (703)994-6359
 Timothy.Swenson@yahoo.com
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