Biscuit Update - Written from the Josephine County Jail

laurel, 16.03.2005 10:42

The people's movement to halt the largest logging project in modern history continues to build momentum after a dramatic week of actions and arrests. The Green Bridge over the Wild and Scenic Illinois River is the site of a growing campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience opposing Bush administration attempts to roll back decades of hard fought environmental protections. The story is receiving major national and even international press - with ongoing coverage in print, television and radio networks.

This Monday's compelling all-women's action was the fourth major demonstration against the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project since logging began within the Fiddler old growth reserve timber sale last week. Twenty-two women were arrested, including Stacy Williams, an expectant mother in her ninth month of pregnancy, supported by her midwife and birthing team. Surrounding her on the Green Bridge over the Illinois River were Harriet Smith, 85, Dot Fisher Smith, 76 and Joan Norman, 72, who went to jail for the forests for the second time this week.

Hanging off the bridge beneath them was Becky White, suspended on a small platform by a rope that crossed the bridge and blocked the convoy of Silver Creek Timber logging trucks from passing for more than seven hours. In addition to the eighteen women on the bridge, another three were arrested in a separate blockade a few miles up the road. A tree-sit occupation remains suspended seventy feet in the canopy of a burned, but living Douglas Fir in logging unit 5 on the border of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

The Forest Service issued a full closure on the access road to the Fiddler Timber Sale Monday afternoon. The encampment at the Green Bridge is no more. A new base camp is being set up a couple miles upstream from the bridge, just below the closure line, on BLM land off Eight Dollar Road. Our morale is high and the momentum of this campaign is strong. We continue to need fresh minds and bodies to infuse this campaign with new ideas and energy. Join us in the beautiful Siskiyou Mountains!

Federal Judge Michael Hogan finally ruled against the Temporary Restraining Order filed in his court. An emergency appeal is immediately being submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The merits of the case are very strong and it challenges the very purpose and need of post fire logging. It has the potential to shut down logging not just in the old growth reserves but in the unprotected 'matrix' sales as well.

See www.o2collective.org, www.kswild.org, www.siskiyou.org and www.rogueimc.org for more info and updates!

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forest defense 16.03.2005 - 13:55 the greatest plan to dave the forests would be to pulp hemp not trees. One acre of hemp equals four acres of west coast rainforest. The hemp paper is of far higher quality in that it last longer. Wood paper last one hundred years , while hemp paper last a thousand years. Hemp is aan annual crop that can be grown as a farmers crop. It takes hundreds of years to grow old growth west coast rainforest. In every way hemp is ahead of pauping wood. Keep up the good fight for ancient forests, the whole wide world is watching. Good luck. Walter> Brilliant 16.03.2005 - 14:48 Yeah lets take out the native species and plant a non-native one. Boy that will really make for great habitat. I can't wait to see a Woodpecker try to perch on side of a hemp plant and beat his head against it. Cavity nesters will really like it too. I've said before that we don't plant pulp forest here. There really is no market for mass quantities of pulp in this region. Questioning> Pregnant? 16.03.2005 - 16:03 What in the hell was a nine month pregnant woman doing in a protest?! Why is she complaining? She knew she would be arrested. Just because she is pregnant, she does not have a pass to break the law. Why does she use a midwife? Shouldn't she use a trained doctor when she undergoes the most dangerous activity in a woman's life, childbirth? Bob> Homebirth Advocate/Forest Lover 16.03.2005 - 17:21 are you for real????????? homebirth is far safer than a hospital birth when you are low risk, as is the pregnant woman you are speaking of. it sounds like you are the one "complaining" your comments strike me as uninformed and close minded. WAY TO GO!! To all the women out there that day and the many supporters who stayed by their sides!! Ria> I was there 16.03.2005 - 19:00 I was at the protest and arrested on the green bridge on Monday March 14th. In comment to "BoB" about breaking the law.........I do not feel as if I have broken any law. I am innocent. It is the logging company and the Bush administration that is guilty of taking away the legal protections for old growth timber. They did not ask the people what we want. Public land is our land. It is our right to speak up and stop the bush administration for robbing us of our beautiful and giving old growth forests. Do you realize that there are many other trees that can be logged safely and without destroying a whole ecosystem? Do you even know what the issues are Bob? I urge you to read about the issues by going to KSwild.org or greenpeaceusa.org. Read up about the history of Fiddler Mt timbersales and so called Biscuit fire salvage plan. What a hoax the logging industry is pulling over on the public people. Next, go to Siskiyou.org website and browse the site. PLEASE take the time to view the "picture" section under campaigns that shows the documentation of ILLEGAL cutting sites. It is so very heartwrenching. Then, later, while you are still surfing the web, read up about midwifery. Have you ever had a baby BOB? Hmm, I am guessning by your name that you have not. It is best to let women deal with these matters. Midwives are valuable educated people who are skilled in the delivery of babies and well equiped with decision making skills regarding the safety of mothers. They know when surgical intervention is needed and believe me it is NOT often. Thank you signed: Woman in Black Kodi> I am there 17.03.2005 - 17:58 There is nothing illegal going on with the harvest of dead trees that were burnt in the biscuit fire. The rules governing the harvest of theses dead trees are the strongest of any forest rules in the world. It is not the biggest logging action ever taken, 95% of the land that was burnt, and the trees that were killed will never be touched. You want the truth, go and look. Talk with the people who are doing the logging with an open mind, you might learn something. The "timber industry", who are they, your neighbors maybe?, trying to create value from these dead trees. "public forest, not private profit"?, the public is profiting too, payments to the Forest Service, payment to workers, payment to county tax rolls, it gos on and on. Please think, and dont believe everything you read on the websites provided by the enviromental groups. stump stump> Your credibility has SUNK even lower!!! 17.03.2005 - 20:57 I laugh at the way things have to be blown out of proportion on this website, though the hidden agenda's seem to vary it seems. The 9 mo. pregnant woman may been "arrested" but was NOT one of the women who went to jail as the writers may lead you to believe. These misconceptions are in each and every story on this site but this one was too much to leave alone. Doesn't anyone actually check the "facts" of these article before they are spread internationally. Local> "Crying Wolf" 17.03.2005 - 21:53 I agree "Local", just as in the story at  http://www.siskiyou.org/news/in_the_news/activists_new_cuase.cfm which you can access from one of the links from this website... Pay special attention to the "Crying Wolf" section, but the story says it all. Hmmmm> It doesn't say that she went to jail 18.03.2005 - 04:57 It doesn't say anywhere that the pregnant woman was jailed. Learn to read> misleading 18.03.2005 - 13:03 It says she was "arrested" which would me to believe that she was cuffed up, thrown in the back of a cruiser, and then taken to the county jail. In reality, she was cited and released and never went to jail. lie n. 1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood. 2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression. Thinktivist> um... 19.03.2005 - 20:00 Being cited and released means that you have been arrested. They arrest you, cite you, then release you on the spot, so they don't have to worry about transporting you around. The only difference between the pregnant woman and her companions was that she didn't go to jai. But she was arrested. Oh, and a side note: The way things are going on this planet, I think its about time you did a little bit less "thinking" and more acting. If you want somethin done, get off your ass and do it yourself, you know? Double Arrestee> keep fighting 20.03.2005 - 02:54 Sickening to read about more destruction of our few remaining wild areas. I was in the Coast Guard many years ago stationed in Oregon. Although this is the first I heard of this and I don't know all the details, I feel certian if Bushco is involved the environment and people are being ignored. Thankyou to the people who are trying to stop the carless, needless destruction. ex coastie> The way things are going on this planet 20.03.2005 - 10:13 "The way things are going on this planet, I think its about time you did a little bit less "thinking" and more acting." I can't believe you actually said that! Is that what they teach you in direct action school? I've always suspected that the motto for some of these organization is, "less thinking, more acting," but I never expected anyone to admit it outright. What a sad day it is. Thinktivate before you activate! Thinktivist> blah blah blah 20.03.2005 - 17:58 "It says she was "arrested" which would me to believe that she was cuffed up, thrown in the back of a cruiser, and then taken to the county jail. In reality, she was cited and released and never went to jail." I am glad to see that people are reading up and not believing EVERYTHING they read, however speculation is still prevalent! "arrest" 1. To check or stop the motion or growth of. 2. To seize and hold legally. well...they stopped the motion of her blocking the road, and they took her away (from the bridge) to cite and release her as well as telling her to leave the premises. seems that the rest of your "story" is just that...YOUR STORY. the press is not responsible for public speculation. Webster> how 'bout all "facts"? 20.03.2005 - 18:29 okay "local" is this what you are choosing to focus on? have you spent time, any at all, in researching the "facts" of the long term effects of logging this area? or the areas to come soon after? the roadless areas? you say you're local, so does that mean that you've driven up 8$ road and seen the units they are logging? do you know anything about the company doing the logging? the fallers? are they "locals"? i know they are not. how do you feel about none of the $ from logging our forests coming into our little community?? or are you one of the few wealthy locals that is not concerned with our local economy. i am just in such shock at the apathy that so many people have for our surrounding environment. people come here because it is so incredibly beautiful. and yes, the economy isn't great. so should we let anyone just come in and take something so special and important to us as Illinois Valley Residents away for a quick buck without considering the long term repercussions? who cares if the pregnant woman went to jail or was given a ticket...the point is that she willing to go to jail, for the forests!!! another local> elitists 21.03.2005 - 08:57 Half a million acres that just happens to come close to CJ on one side, and you seem to think that the forest is owned and managed by the city? Wrong! So Grants Pass isn't 'local'? Neither is Medford, Roseburg, or Brookings? Do you have blinders on? Happy Astronaut> derp! 21.03.2005 - 12:03 Most of the protesters aren't locals, either. Herb Pharm> Something 21.03.2005 - 13:58 that nobody wants to believe but its a fact is that with many of the posters here's encouragement the Federal Forest were almost completely shut down decade ago. They remain that way. You are whining about a minor fraction of what the cut use to be. Right or wrong the cut is almost nonexeistent when put in perpective. With the cut went the "local" mills. Murphy Creek, Spaulding, Medco Rouge River, and at least 2/3 of the capacity at Rough and Ready. Why are the same folks that wanted the cut to go away complaning about no "locals"? That somebody is questioning the accuracy of your facts just means they think that if you are wrong and or misleading in one set of "facts" it is just symptomatic of a bigger issue of accuracy. If you are willing to take a position you shouldn't be able write off mistakes of fact by saying they are not important. If it is important enough to say it is important enough to be as accurate as possible. Curious>