Posted on 07/23/2002 6:16:21 PM PDT by Glutton
Forest defenders in southern Oregon have taken the struggle to save Peak to the next level. People are now occupying treesits to make a stand for some of the last remaining native forests in Oregon.
The Mazama Forest Defenders take action to resist the Peak timber sale, the replacement volume program, and the continued destruction of our last native forests.
Activists are occupying tree-sits in the Peak timber sale to resist the imminent logging of this ecologically important native forest. The construction of platforms high in the canopy of trees marked for cutting follows a multi-faceted grassroots campaign to end the replacement volume program. Nonviolent direct action has successfully stopped logging operations in regions throughout the world.
Rio, who sits in a platform over 100’ high in a douglas fir known as Esperenza said, “This is a nonviolent act of civil disobedience to protest industrial logging and the replacement volume scam. This forest is only a modest example of the threats we all face. We must connect our struggle with the forest defenders of South and Central America, Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and those who continue to resist here in North America.”
The Peak timber sale is located in the Rogue River National Forest, on the flanks of Mt. Stella and Wolf Peak, only 10 miles west of Crater Lake National Park. The US Forest Service has promised Roseburg Forest Products/Scott Timber 3.9 million board feet of mature and old growth timber from 660 acres. This sale threatens the integrity of wet meadows, abundant streams and springs that contribute to the Rogue River. Habitat for a diversity of wildlife will be affected by Peak, including a pair of spotted owls known to nest nearby. Other species of concern in the area include the red tree vole, great grey owl, northern goshawk, and the elusive Pacific fisher.
Communities across Oregon and Washington have worked to educate the public about the replacement volume program, a lesser known portion of the 1995 Salvage Rider. This infamous legislation directed the USFS and Bureau of Land Management to cut maximum board feet of timber during a suspension of all environmental laws. The replacement volume program requires the USFS to provide “an equal volume of alternative timber, of like kind and value”, to replace timber sales that were canceled on the Siuslaw National Forest. This exchange was supposed to protect nesting habitat for the endangered marbled murrelet. In reality, the timber companies have traded second-growth tree farms for mature and old growth “replacement volume” within sensitive wildlife habitat in the Cascades and Siskiyous. This is a clear violation of the public trust. “This is a taxpayer rip-off. We Americans must stand up to save our remaining wild places. We stand in solidarity with forest defenders at North Winbury, Blodgett, Silver-Sturgis, Slap, and all other replacement volume timber sales in Oregon and Washington,” said Osprey, a spokesperson for Mazama Forest Defenders.
Allyn Ford, the Chairman of Umpqua Bank, is the sole owner of Roseburg Forest Products (RFP) and Scott Timber. RFP/Scott Timber holds the contract to log Peak and dozens of other taxpayer-subsidized timber sales on public lands. RFP/Scott Timber is one the largest purchasers of mature and old growth timber sales on public lands in the Pacific Northwest. Recent polls indicate that 65-75% of people in rural and urban areas support full protection of mature and old growth forests. In a stance that is clearly out of synch with public sentiment, Allyn Ford openly advocates logging old growth. “With less than 10% of native forests remaining in the U.S., we believe that logging mature and old growth timber is an archaic practice that selfishly threatens the integrity of forest ecosystems and the survival of countless species,” said Root, a spokesperson for Mazama Forest Defenders. Activists across the state have targeted Umpqua Bank for their complicity in native forest destruction.
Senator Ron Wyden has been asked to seek solutions to the replacement volume program. He has the power to direct the USFS to find alternatives to these old growth sales. RFP/Scott Timber should be awarded replacement volume in second growth plantations, fulfilling the “like kind and value” clause of the replacement volume program. “We cannot stand aside while the last of our mature and old growth forests are cleared for industry profits. For too long we have allowed commercially driven timber sales to dominate our land management practices. The time has come to redirect our energies towards restoration and plantation thinning,” said Oso, a spokesperson for Mazama Forest Defenders.
In any event, this piece appears to have been activist written so be warned of the bias in it.
Naturally this is a question that raises a hornet's nest of debate, so I only offer a real broad based definition on the intended meaning of this piece's author.
As this is not written by a reporter who shold be objective in a topic, this piece should be read with filters on.
The US Forest Service has promised Roseburg Forest Products/Scott Timber 3.9 million board feet of mature and old growth timber from 660 acres. This sale threatens the integrity of wet meadows, abundant streams and springs that contribute to the Rogue River. Habitat for a diversity of wildlife will be affected by Peak, including a pair of spotted owls known to nest nearby.
Less than 1 mile square of trees, and TWO OWLS?
My G_D, these folks are nuts. I have had more trees than that stolen from me.
I would propose they cut down the trees they are sitting in.People should be responsible for their decisions.....if you choose to perch in a tree designated for cutting then don't complain on the way down. We are letting morons (peta & enviros) hold us hostage.
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