[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: CACADIA FOREST ACTIVISM

Thu Jul 18 21:40:34 PDT 2002

Hi folks, 

Writing to you live from the Editorial workshop at
Media Maker's Night!

A few notes on the proposed feature:

1. In my opinion, we're in need of more environmental
news features. Enviro activists are posting pretty
regularly to the site, and the more we feature their
work, the more we honor that.

2. I've basically grabbed the feature that Portland
folks did for the global site. Nice summary of forest
actions this month in the NW. 

3. The changes I made were to the Olympia action
paragraph .... I took info from David Kelley's post to
flesh out the Oly story a bit more. And tweaked the
tiles.

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Image source: 
http://madison.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/berrypatch071202vucuns.jpg

Subtitle: CASCADIA FOREST ACTIVISM
Title: Activists Block Pipeline Drilling, Defend Forests

During the first week of July, hundreds of forest
activists from around North America attended the annual
<a
href="http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/efj/rendezvous2002_1.html" target="new">Earth First! rendezvous</a>.
This year's rendezvous was held in the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest in the part of Cascadia temporarily
known as the State of Washington. Immediately after
the event's end, early on Monday, July 8, direct
actions rippled across the Northwest of the United
States.

Just south of Olympia, Washington, 60 activists
staged a protest and lockdown over the drilling of a
controversial pipeline. A natural gas pipeline is being
built across Thurston County leading to the Satsop
Nuclear Plant, which is being redesigned for an
electrical power plant. The proposed pipeline will
drill the entire east/west length of Thurston County
going under the Black, Nisqually Rivers, numerous
fragile wetlands and the Black Hills Wildlife Refuge as
well as other public lands. The pipeline project has
been approved over the objections of local government
and local residents. Several activists locked
themselves down to the pipeline drilling equipment,
stopping all work on the project for most of the day.
Three IMC reporters were arrested while covering the
event, as were several protesters. <a
href=”http://www.seattle.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=15998&group=webcast”>Full story</a> | <a
href=”http://www.seattle.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=16026&group=webcast”>Video</a>

In Portland, Oregon, <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14106&group=webcast">activists descended</a> on
the headquarters of the Umpqua Holding Company on the
19th floor of a downtown skyscraper and shut it down. 
In Eugene, Oregon, <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14127&group=webcast"> activists gathered
outside "stUmpqua" Bank</a> to educate customers about
the tree-slaying ways of Umpqua's president, Allyn
Ford. Mysteriously, a load of wood chips was dropped
inside the door of the bank and a big stump blocked the
driveway entrance. In the Bitterroot National Forest
in Montana, two Wild Rockies Earth First! activists <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14110&group=webcast">occupied trees</a> in a
proposed helicopter landing site.

On Wednesday, July 10, the <a
href="http://www.cascadiaforestalliance.org/"
target="new">Cascadia Forest Alliance</a> announced
that <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14258&group=webcast">a tree-sit had gone up</a> in
the Solo timber sale in Mt. Hood National Forest,
bringing up to five the number of <a
href="http://www.tree-sit.org" target="new">active
tree-sit locations</a> in Oregon. That afternoon,
people protested outside the Federal Courthouse in
Portland, where a Grand Jury has been <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14259&group=webcast">subpoenaing local forest
activists</a>. Due to the secretive nature of grand
juries, the <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14277&group=webcast">subject of
investigation</a> [ <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14293&group=webcast">1</a> ] is not known.
Activists in Medford, Oregon, <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14366&group=webcast">protested</a> at Senator Ron
Wyden's office and Umpqua Bank against replacement
volume timber sales and old growth logging.

<p>Meanwhile, at a <a
href="http://www.efn.org/~cforestd/"
target="new">Cascadia Forest Defenders</a> tree-sit at
the Berrypatch timber sale in the Willamette National
Forest near Eugene, <a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=14329&group=webcast">one activist was
arrested</a> and logging continues within 20 feet of
the tree-sit despite confirmed sightings of the
endangered spotted owl in the area.<br>

Link 1:  
Portland IMC Forest Activism Coverage
http://portland.indymedia.org/forestactivism

Link 2: 
San Francisco Bay IMC Forest Coverage
http://sf.indymedia.org/features/forest/

Link 3: 
Earth First! Journal
http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/efj/