From the open publishing newswire: The Hobson timber sale, part of the Biscuit Fire salvage logging hoax, located in an old growth reserve in the rugged Siskiyou Mountains is home to many rare & sensitive creatures including mountain lions, eagles, scorpions, rubber boas, & black bears. This area is currently being logged. The sale was bought by Greg Liles Timber Company, based out of Medford, OR. The sale has already been a focal pont of blockades & other actions that are on going.

Due to the many variables involved in forest defense, including the start of active logging at the Hobson timber sale, we have had to move the location of our resistance camp once again! But don't fret, it's easy to find, and you'll want to find it to come join us "Hunkering Down at Hobson" this week and beyond.

From the open publishing newswire: Are four separate shootings in the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests between July 2003 and July 2005 linked? Douglas County has charged Samuel Lawson in one case and is seeking the death penalty. The evidence against Lawson is very weak and there are serious questions about whether police are ignoring evidence that the shooters are still out there while an innocent man may die for a crime he could not have committed.

From the open publishing newswire: The Klamath River tribes are back in Scotland to try to convince Scottish Power to removal all the dams that they own in the Klamath River. Scotish Power owned Pacific Power the company that is responcible for the Klamath dams, which have devestated the Klamath Salmon runs, thus the Klamath Tribes health and way of life. While this is going on 100,000 fish just died above the Klamath dams.

Related Articles: [July '04 anti-ESA rally opposition by Tribes | Tribes Host protest July 12 '05 in Southern Oregon and Scotland for Klamath Salmon]

From the open publishing newswire: Wednesday morning, just 72 hours after law enforcement dismantled the log cabin fortress that launched the Siskiyou Free State in Southern Oregon- dedicated forest defenders worked through the night to reconstruct a bigger, better-fortified version of the blockade. When the feds arrived at the Hobson old growth reserve timber sale this morning, they encountered an intricate lockdown scenario that foiled their efforts at extraction for the entire day.

on pdx indymedia: [ Battle of the Biscuit ]

From the open publishing newswire: In an exciting new chapter of the campaign to save the Wild Siskiyou, forest activists announced today the construction of a bold and elaborate infrastructure of resistance at the Hobson old growth reserve timber sale in the Biscuit Fire area. Southern Oregon forest defenders are calling on all allies to support these actions in whatever ways they can.

An impressive log cabin fortress now stands on the single road leading to this remote North Kalmiopsis timber sale, sealing off vehicle access to an area now referred to by many as the "Siskiyou Free State." In addition, an unusual new form of tree sit has been established in one of the units of the sale that connects many trees together across multiple acres in a rope-work network that suspends an activist in midair while preventing any trees from being felled in the area.

Blockade evicted
I was not present for the desmantling and the crew up there is without cell communication- we can only speculate why the lockdown did not occur- it is reported that everything was in place and a thorough plan made. . .frustrating and disappointing, yes, but the treesit/multi-acre webwork platform still stands and the fortress was yet another skirmish in a much larger campaign-

pdx indy stories/background: [ Battle of the Biscuit ]

From the open publishing newswire: Selma, OR - Three years after dry lightning strikes started the Biscuit fire in southwestern Oregon's Siskiyou Wild Rivers area, the Siskiyou National Forest has begun logging forests in the Wild & Scenic Illinois River canyon.

"It's disappointing to see that with millions of taxpayer dollars and three years to work with, the Forest Service is still getting it all wrong" said Rolf Skar, campaign director of the Cave Junction based Siskiyou Project. "Instead of working together on real fire safety and creating restoration jobs, we're watching them log along the fish-rich Wild & Scenic Illinois River at heavy taxpayer expense."

The McGuire logging sale is located entirely in an Old-Growth Reserve that was to be shielded from cutting for sensitive species under the Northwest Forest Plan. It also logs the 3,529 acre Six Mile Creek roadless area - an uninventoried roadless forest near the giant Kalmiopsis wildlands.

The Forest Service has recently discovered a n occupied arboreal structure in the area, and machinery has started to enter the area. The beginning of logging may be imminent. The Biscuit campaign has been preparing and working to make this new site of civil disobedience and resistence public. Lots of planning and organizing rewards us with making this announcement to everyone interested

[ Battle of the Biscuit ]

From the open publishing newswire: Medford, OR - The Rogue River/Siskiyou National Forest sold a logging sale today that would cut forests in the Wild & Scenic Illinois River canyon as part of the massive Biscuit logging project.

Located entirely in an Old-Growth Reserve that was supposed to be shielded from cutting as a safety net for sensitive species, the McGuire logging project would also slice into the 3,529 acre Six Mile Creek roadless area - an uninventoried roadless forest near the giant Kalmiopsis wildlands.

Though controversial Biscuit logging has been ongoing since March 7th of this year, the McGuire logging sale would be the first to log directly along the Wild & Scenic Illinois River, and may engender even greater public outrage.

more indymedia stories: [ Battle of the Biscuit ]

From the open publishing newswire: The Siskiyou Summer push is on! Logging companies are gearing up to punch into several Biscuit old-growth sales as we type. Logging is imminent; we need your help! Come join us at our community mobilization & education camp dedicated to protection of our public lands. Located right in the heart of what's at stake, forest defenders, community activists, and all who love wilderness are coming together again to organize. At the camp we will be going on hikes, teaching each other skills in areas such as: direct action, community organizing, climbing, and local ecology. Everyone is invited - come out for the day, a few days, or a week or more to help protect our endangered forests.

For those who have been involved in this movement already, it is important at this point to remember that there is MUCH left to save. We are still waiting for rulings on lawsuits that affect many of the impending timber sales. Stall time right now is really valuable - come help, have fun, and defend our forests!

Another forest defense call-to-action: [ McKenzie river ranger district (just east of Eugene) ]

From the open publishing newswire: Southern Oregon University's Student Government (ASSOU) passed a resolution last night banning military recruiters from the Student Union. The US Military's discrimination against homosexuality, the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, is in direct conflict with SOU's anti-dicrimination policy. The resolution was carried 8 votes to 2.

The resolution titled, "Barring discriminatory practices in the Stevenson Union," will prevent Military Recruiters from having access to the building. They will no longer be allowed to table in the foyer or at job fairs in the Student Union. Nor will recruiters be allowed to hang flyers or display brochures in the Student Union and Access center.

From the open publishing newswire: About 100 people gathered on the corner of Highway 199 and Eight Dollar Road in the Illinois Valley this morning to protest logging at the Biscuit timber sales. The crowd walked a few miles to the closure line and were not met by any law enforcement. The closure blocks public access to the Fiddler timber sale and the famed Babyfoot Lake area.

A group of women crossed the closure line and walked 3 illegal miles of public land to the Green Bridge. Five women locked arms and sat down on the bridge, blocking logging trucks that were carting away Fiddler Mountain Old-Growth. All five were arrested and taken to Josephine County Jail.

The over-reaching Biscuit project has resulted in more than 60 arrests since Old-Growth Reserve logging began March 7. The Green Bridge, leading to the Fiddler sale, is the location of dozens of arrests in the last couple of months. Twenty-two women spanning four generations were arrested on one day in April for refusing to move from the bridge, incuding one woman who was hanging from a platform suspended above the epic Illinois River. The area has since been under a broad closure, denying the public access to the area and any opportunity to monitor logging activities.

From the open publishing newswire: Amber Birmingham was arrested April 18th after unlocking from a 1200 lb. cement-filled barrel blocking the road to logging on the Biscuit timber sale at Fiddler Mountain. She stayed locked in while the Forest Service and County Deputies used a small dolly to precariously move the barrel to the side of the road. This was her second arrest, after she participated in the Women's Blockade of the Green Bridge on March 14th, and the court refuses to release her without bail, which is she refuses to pay. She follows in the footsteps of 74-year-old Joan Norman who has never paid bail in her life, and spent 18 pre-trial days in jail for her second arrest in March.

From the open publishing newswire: This lovely young woman, Amber Birmingham, is my daughter. She currently resides in the Josephine county jail. She was one of many brave souls who have helped bring attention to the illegal logging of the Biscuit through direct action. Like "Grandma Joan" Norman, Amber has refused to give bail money to a government that is intent on undermining our environmental laws that protect our children's health and future. "I may have broken a minor law," Amber said, "but this is an attempt to bring attention to all the environmental laws the Bush Administration and Forest Service are violating and gutting which are truly egregious and harmful to us all. We have to do what we can so folks everywhere might know what these greedy people are doing to the rest of us, our children and grandchildren." As she quotes underground slave liberator Harriet Tubman, she reminds me that we have a moral responsibility to, "defy the laws when the laws are wrong". Amber said, "In this case my friends and I are trying to protect the laws that are right and defy a government that is wrong."

As the campaign continues legal costs are mounting; money and attorneys are needed.

[ pdx indymedia: The Battle of the Biscuit ]

From the open publishing newswire: This Week the Ashland, Oregon city council proclaimed Independent Media week in Ashland. What's there...Rogue IMC, Low-powered FM community radio, SOU media center...etc

PROCLAMATION

• An informed citizenry is a cornerstone of democracy.
• An informed citizenry depends on unrestrained press, which provides greater access to information, more points of view and greater diversity of thought and fact.
• The trend toward the consolidation of media ownership has resulted in journalistic practices that hinder public awareness by excluding or marginalizing minority and dissenting viewpoints.