| resources | contact | about | volunteer | tv news | video | radio | questions |
| |||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
      regionstopic pagesgenresactionsall action pages >> resourcesglobal imc
|
Southern Cascade MountainsThe Southern Cascades consists of incredibly diverse ecosystem types within the Klamath-Siskiyou coastal Bioregion and up into the Umpqua and Willamette Ranges. Some of the many groups dedicated to protecting ecosystems within the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion include: Umpqua Watersheds, K-S Wild, The Klamath-Salmon Action Network, The Mazama Forest Defenders, and The Siskyou Regional Education Project, and the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters. Another open posting websites that has pretty regular updates posted about forest defense issues in this bioregion is www.tree-sit.org UPDATES & CALLS TO ACTION: Last updated: 3/20/04
This group works to protect and restore the outstanding biological diversity of the Klamath-Siskiyou and south Cascadian Ecoregions of southwest Oregon and northwest California. They use environmental law, science, education and collaboration to help build healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities. KS Wild also participates in regional and national campaigns, such as the Oregon Wild Campaign, the National Forest Protection Alliance, national monument designations, carnivore recovery campaigns, and local watershed campaigns in Ashland, Williams, Selma, and the Little Applegate Valley. This happens through petitioning species for the Endangered Species List, participating in the Adopt-A-Wilderness program, and providing information to the public about these issues through mainstream and alternative sources. From the K-S Wild website: "The entire Klamath-Siskiyou eco-region is a critical refuge for wild nature, and has been described as an 'area of global botanical significance' by the World Conservation Union...Like many other once wild places, the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion is being irrevocably damaged by timber sales, mining, cattle grazing, road construction, and other destructive practices.
The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) won a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) for the King Wolf timber sale in the Glendale District of the Medford BLM, with a hearing has been set October 28, 2003. The basis of the lawsuit is that the Medford BLM sold more than half the volume that they said they would to Swanson-Superior. Groups dedicated to protecting ecosystems within the Umpqua-Willamette bioregion include: Cascadia Forest Defenders (CFD), Cascadia Wildlands Project (CWP), Umpqua-Watersheds, Inc. and Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC). Umpqua-Watersheds. CWP, and ONRC all work towards permanently protecting forests through legislation and holding the Forest Service accountable by making sure environmental laws are upheld. Cascadia Forest Defenders These folks are currently challenging over 50 controversial timber sales in this region. Sales such as Turnridge, Straw Devil, East Devil, Pryor, South Pyramid, Clark, Winberry, Lemolo, Upper North/Warm Springs, and Blodgett, which target roadless areas, municipal water supplies and native and old-growth forests, will be logged in the next year without grassroots efforts. Sampling of current campaigns Blodgett - The sale is located in the Cottage Grove district of the Umpqua National Forest. Local citizens in Cottage Grove had become fed up with getting the run-around from the forest service and Congress when trying to save their watershed. They concluded their only recourse was to seek the assistance of the Cascadia Forest Defenders. Blodgett is a replacement volume sale sold to Roseburg Forest Products. The sale has had a tree-sit campaign since June 2002. October 15 '03 update: "USFS and Roseburg Forest Products conspire to cut old growth in Umpqua Natiional Forest but forest defenders caught wind of the secret deal and resist with road block. The forest defenders had to give up their position and logging began the following day. With heavy rains falling the logging goes against even USFS recommendations. Their plan is to finish logging by November, but with the rainy season well underway even more damage than usual to the environment of the beautiful Brice Creek Watershed is to be expected." Straw Devil/Pryor/East Devil - Logging began at this trio of sales in October 2002. Starfire Lumber of Cottage Grove is the purchaser of the Straw Devil Timber Sale, and Roseburg Lumber Co bought East Devil and Pryor. These sales are located north of Diamond Peak Wilderness and east of Bunchgrass Ridge/Warner Creek. Several of the timber sale units are within roadless areas and contain pristine native old-growth forests. RFP is hearing loud and clear from forest advocates that logging at these sales will not come easy. These sales are definitely a top priority for forest defenders in this region. Complex Structures have been set up by the forest defenders currently occupying Straw Devil, which was originally dedicated in late March, 2003 to the memory of a lost forest defender, Sparrow. In early July, 2003, an All Womyn Action Camp, occupation, and tree-sit was set up to defend the remaining units in the Straw Devil Timber Sale. In October 2003, an ONRC lawsuit won an injunction, temporarily stopping logging in several sales in the Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests. The judge will decide the final fate of these sales November 7th. For now the injunction has stopped logging in Straw Devil, East Devil, and Pryor sales in Willamette NF, and Solo, Clark, and Borg in Mt. Hood NF. March 2004 Update: These sales were put Back on the Chopping Block, with the comment period ending March 18th, 2004. During the past two summers, citizen surveys found emperiled species of flora and fauna in both these National Forests. Using this and other evidence, the judge was able to see that the Forest disService has failed to comply with the terms set out in the Clinton-era Northwest Forest Plan requiring the agency to "Survey and Manage" for wildlife before making decisions about forest "management" in these sales. It is still uncertain whether this is enough for the judge to permanently stop logging in these sales. Stay tuned! For more info and background on CFD's campaigns go to: www.forestdefenders.org Cascadia Wildlands Project NEST Survey Team - A group of activists in the forest in 2003, took on a new tactic to preserve forests surveying for rare species. In 1999 forest service was forced by a lawsuit to survey for rare species listed in the Survey & Manage guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan. Activists realized how inadequate the government surveys were and started performing their own surveys. Information is collected and turned in to the forest service for verification. This tactic has been successful but has recently come under attack, as is anything that stops trees from being slaughtered. The timber industry and the government recently came to an agreement to weaken the protections under Survey & Manage. In the meantime activists have continued their work to preserve habitat for species such as the red tree vole, and several species of fungi, mollusks and lichens. It is unclear what affect the S&M changes will have on injunctions currently in effect using the S&M guidelines as the basis for these injunctions preventing logging on sales in the Willamette & Mt. Hood National Forests filed by ONRC. Red Cloud Thunder Campaign:
Please call and/or write to the purchaser of the sale and the forest service to help get the rest of this sale cancelled! Jim Hallstrom, Zip-O-Log Mills PO Box 2130; Eugene, OR 97402 541-343-7758 For more info and background on this campaign, go to: http://www.efn.org/~redcloud/ and for recent updates, keep checking in to the tree-sit.org open posting website. MFD is a non-hierarchical, consensus-based organization working to eradicate racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and all other forms of oppression. MFD is committed to preserving and maintaining the integrity of remaining native and old growth forests in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion. Mazama Forest Defense
Siskiyou Project - Campaign Office
Medicine Lake geothermal energy drilling project will decimate Sacred Tribal Land... The Medicine Lake Caldera is a magical area held sacred to many of the Northern California and Southern Oregon tribes and a rare refuge for the wild in the scared landscape of the Southern Cascades and valleys of the Klamath Projects. Partially due to the "energy crisis" they helped manufactured, Calpine corporation has approval to begin turn this landscape into an industrial wasteland of power plants, toxic slumps, large roads and at least 38 miles of clearcuts for 1000 feet wide power lines. This will all be paid for with taxpayer money and sold back to us as "green energy". In November 2003, Calpine announced that they would be doing no exploratory drilling due to the lawsuit that has been filed by the affected tribes and environmental groups in Southern California. In the spring of 2004 Environmental Groups lost the lawsuit that would have stopped development of these sacred lands by Calpine corporation. Judge David Levi, a Bush I appointee, denied the claims on all grounds for the Fourmile Hill lawsuit heard last September. Issues ranged from our challenge of the validity of the leases that were issued and renewed with little or no public input, to cumulative environmental impacts of multiple projects on the pure water, air, Native American cultural values and the exquisite natural setting of the Medicine Lake Highlands. The attorney at Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Deborah Sivas, representing the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Pit River Tribe, and Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense-is currently evaluating issues for an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. stUmpqua Bank Boycott: The owner of Roseburg Forest Products, Allyn Ford, is also the Chairman of the Board of Umpqua Bank, the largest bank in Oregon, and growing. Given Mr. Ford's insatiable appetite for public lands timber sales in this region, a campaign against him and his cohorts has been growing. A boycott against stUmpqua Bank, including regular protests at bank branches statewide has been a rallying point for forest advocates across the state because of its ties to forest destruction. Allyn Ford was recently named Most Wanted Eco-terrorist by the Earth First! Journal due to his insatiable appetite for old-growth trees on public lands. In March 2004, it was learned that Humboldt Bancorp is being acquired by Umpqua Holdings Corp., parent company of Umpqua Bank, Oregon's largest community-based bank. Contact Allyn Ford and tell him to stop logging on public lands! He currently holds contracts to log over 20 timber sales in Oregon including Winberry, Blodgett, Pryor, Canyon East (formerly called East Devil) and Straw Devil. Allyn Ford |