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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2013)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 24, 2013 A History of the Hippies of Takilma: Lou Gold continued to travel er National Recreation Area was cre- of supporters. Barry Snitkin and Deb and connect with other environmen- ated but the Oregon side remained Lukas began the process of local or- ganizing. Steve Marsden took on the tal groups such as, the Environmen- unprotected. Since forest policies were the leadership role and took the conser- tal Law Conference in Eugene, the National Wildlife Federation, Amer- predominant issues, and several tim- vation proposals to Washington DC, ican Lands Alliance and the Wilder- ber sales were being planned in and working with political leaders. Author Kindi Fahrnkopf is a ness Society. Some interested alli- around the forest communities, the ances were made and with the help young non-profit organization, found poet and flower child of the 60s who of Dave Willis, Board member and itself drawn into activism to counter has lived in Takilma for 33 years. wilderness guide, Bald Mountain proposals to log, mine and spray She moved to Cave Junction in 1979 camp became a meeting place for toxic herbicides on federal lands. with her husband and two small chil- many powerful leaders in the move- The Siskiyou Project began its For- dren to open the Cave’s Cobbler shoe ment. In 1987 dry lightning fires est Watch Program and was success- repair and Birkenstock shop. were ignited over southern Oregon, ful in stopping timber sales along the and started the Silver and Long- East Fork of the Illinois River, and wood Fires. Lou was driven out of obtained a moratorium on herbicide his forest home on Bald Mountain spraying, through administrative ap- and escaped through the Illinois peals and direct action. In the early 1990s the Sis- River Canyon. The massive fires had spared the Bald Mountain sanctuary, kiyou Project, having centered on racing up the slope only to die out the goal of permanent protection, before reaching the top. The passion and achieved the financial support to protect the beloved Siskiyous was of foundations through the work of early administrator Shel Anderson, growing. Throughout the 80s and 90s hired a staff of dedicated workers. the journal also reported news of an Cathy Hocker came on to manage annual 3 day “Bio-regional Confer- the books, and Romain Cooper and ence”, which united advocates for Barbara Ullian laid down a conserva- the area. The conferences were a tion program. Kelpie Wilson crafted Lou Gold; “The hermit fertile breeding ground for alliances, the newsletter, now called the “Voice new campaigns and strategies to de- of the Wild Siskiyou” and worked to with the most frequent flyer velop in the environmental move- fundraise and develop the network miles.” ment. The young educational group had expanded by 1987, to host the 3rd annual Bio- regional Confer- ence at Humboldt State University, attended by 700 people. The Sis- kiyou Country Journal was 60 pages long, with 2500 copies per is- sue being sent out. In 1986, with help from the Oregon Natural Resources Council in Port- land, the Siskiyou Project launched a campaign to protect much of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area as a Lou Gold and others protesting a new road into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness at National Park, and garnered the sup- the “Bald Mountain Blockade.” port of Congress- All the Special Occasions in From Weddings to Anniversaries & man Peter DeFazio. Between... In 1990, after Everyday is Special with Flowers proposing a study area for the bio-re- (541) 415-5378 228 S. Redwood Hwy. . C. J. gion the Smith Riv- UNITY HEAL OMM TH CE UC O Y NT KI RD AB 1973 - 2013 LUT A ION FOR QU AL TH FO SO CARE ER AN AF LE Years HE The evolution and impact of the environmental movement in Takilma is explored in the next chapter, of so- lutions. The Siskiyou Regional Educa- tion Project, 1983-2013 The Siskiyou Regional Educa- tion Project was founded in 1983 in Takilma, Oregon. It started as a small but aggressive grassroots en- vironmental group, which had or- ganized around the Bald Mountain Road Blockade in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. The two main founders of the group were Pedro Tama, a tree planter and forestry worker from the Forks of Salmon, and Lou Gold a former political science professor from Oberlin College in Ohio. These two men were drawn together by their mission to save what was left of Oregon’s magnificent old-growth forests. In 1983, Pedro met Lou Gold at the first Bald Mountain Road Block- ade into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Forest activists were calling for people to participate in the first non- violent blockade of a logging road being punched into the new wilder- ness, created in 1964. This led to six consecutive human blockades of the bulldozers building the Bald Moun- tain Road, 44 arrests, and eventually a legal victory which halted the con- struction entirely. The next week af- ter his arrest, Lou was back on Bald Mountain and vowed to remain and bear witness to the attack on the for- est and pray for its safety. He had bonded with many other young for- est activists and had found an urgent mission in the protection of the few remaining ancient forests in south- west Oregon. Lou Gold, had discovered the magic of a place called Bald Moun- tain, through which a line had been drawn between the Kalmiopsis Wil- derness to the south and the remote roadless areas slated for logging on the north side. During his sec- ond summer, a series of ceremonies had been conducted and the Takilma Peace Circle dedicated Bald Moun- tain as a sacred place to pray for world peace. A group of friends had formed and were delivering food to Lou throughout the summers. Lou had been busy up on top of Bald Mountain cleaning up the debris and remnants of a fire tower which once stood there, and the Forest Service had allowed him to stay on as a spe- cial volunteer. His agreement with the Forest Service called for him to maintain the Bald Mountain Look- out Trail. Lou, began his career as a “Sto- ryteller” during those early years, and carved many beautiful walking sticks, which he gave as gifts to the occasional visitors. He created a sign which read: Bald Mountain Sanctu- ary-Follow the Beauty Trail-Come in Peace. By summer solstice, Lou and a few friends had built a “Medi- cine Wheel” at the barren top of the mountain, based loosely on the tra- ditional Native American Medicine Wheel, a prayer circle marking the four directions with flagpoles. They spent 24 hours fasting and praying in the silence of the sacred circle. Lou had a vision of many prayer circles; places of power and renewal, which would be sanctuaries for those who love the earth and her peoples. During the fledgling non-prof- it’s early years, Pedro Tama, along with a talented group of young ac- tivists had begun to educate and inspire the local community about the activities in the “bio-region.” The “tree-free” Siskiyou Country Journal, brought the new eco-poli- tics into the small eco-communities of Southern Oregon and Northern California. The journal provided a platform for Lou, and other writers to tell their stories, publish envi- ronmental analyses and appeal for public support of Lou’s annual vig- ils on Bald Mountain. Then Lou got the idea to take his message on the road, and Marybeth Howell, of Port- land, helped Lou organize a National Tour. Lou developed a slideshow and went to campuses across the na- tion, to generate over 3,000 letters in support of a Siskiyou National Park. The media had been calling Lou Gold the “hermit with the most frequent-flyer miles”, but the Forest Service ignored the letters. Lou met many on his travels, including people in high places. He flew over the vast Kalmiopsis with Congressman Jim Jontz of Indiana, who as a member of the House Ag- riculture Committee, had become compelled to be a champion of Pa- cific Northwest forests. The Siskiyou Project was able to open an office in Takilma, in the former home of the Takilma People’s Clinic, started by Dr. Jim Shames. by Kindi Fahrnkopf SI S Part 19-Solutions- The Environmental Years in Takilma Page A-9 LIT Y Accepting New Patients Siskiyou Community Health Center welcomes its newest providers, Abhilash Makkar, FNP and Elbert Collins, MD. We provide personalized, patient-centered care to help manage our patients’ individual and family wellness needs through all stages of life. Our goal is to provide a medical home that focuses on high quality primary and preventive care services for the whole family. Abhilash Makkar, FNP Elbert Collins, MD Family medicine specializing in chronic disease management such as hyper- tension, dyslipidemia, thyroid problems, diabetes and asthma. He performs skin biopsies, nail removal, skin tag removal, laceration repair and Cryosurgery. 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