and philosophy of
Wiccan witchcraft.
She has taught
magic, work-
shops, ritual
and Wicca.
Starhawk’s
study and prac-
tice of Earth-
based spirituality
led to her concern for
Starhawk
the environment and to
activism. Her life changed when she went to
the WTO protest in Seattle in 1999.
She writes in Webs of Power, “I went to
Seattle reluctantly. I went with somewhat the
same attitude with which I used to go to syna-
gogue as a child — thinking I would fulfill a
somewhat unpleasant duty, feel absolved of my
guilt for a little while, come home and resume
my life. Instead I found myself galvanized into
a new level of political activity.”
Since Seattle, Starhawk has focused on
global justice. She trains activists through role-
play: acting out dangerous situations and trying
different responses and tactics stressing flexi-
bility and centeredness. Training also includes
planning techniques for pre-action, survival
techniques in jail and post-action support (de-
briefing, trauma counseling, etc). In 2000
Starhawk trained activists in Washington,
D.C., Prague, Brazil and Argentina. She partic-
ipated in the April 2000 IMF/World Bank
blockade, the 2000 World Social Forum in
Porte Alegre, the Quebec April 2001 action,
and was in Genoa in July 2001 as a witness to
the brutality there.
Starhawk organizes, facilitates, and builds
alliances between groups such as labor,
churches, and NGOs that are striving for jus-
tice. She writes eyewitness accounts of these
experiences and inspirational fables, clarifying
and sharing issues that are otherwise clouded
with propaganda and brutality.
Starhawk will conduct workshops at Lost
Valley, Dorris Ranch, Grower’s Market and the
WOW Hall. She will speak at the EMU and
hold a booksigning at Mother Kali’s. She will
also lead a Ritual for the Earth at Dorris Ranch.
For
more
information,
visit
www.lostvalley.org/starhawk.html
or
www.starhawk.org/ — Paula Hoemann
WILD NATURE AT STAKE
The brewing battle over Biscuit fire “sal-
vage” logging is about more than trees. Four
people made history when they sat down on the
Bald Mountain road in southwestern Oregon
20 years ago. Arms linked, they blocked a bull-
dozer and heavy equipment that were building
an illegal Forest Service road into the rugged,
roadless backcountry of the Siskiyou National
Forest. A series of blockades ensued, bringing
44 arrests and national attention. A federal
judge halted the road-building and the Bald
Mountain Blockades quickly became for forest
activism what the Rosa Parks incident was for
the civil rights movement.
Twenty years after Bald Mountain, events
in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area are again
making history. Eugene area residents have a
chance to learn more about the longest sus-
tained forest protection campaign in Oregon at
7:30 pm Monday, May 19 in the UO EMU Fir
Room. Lou Gold, nationally-known storyteller
and “Sage of the Siskiyous” will share his first-
hand accounts as well as a new retrospective
video.
— Rolf Skar
BURN OUT
The city of Eugene projects that at least 14
of its firefighters will retire this coming year
due to the threat of cutbacks in the state PERS
pension system.
Although replacing senior workers at the
top of the pay scale with new workers making
starting wages often saves employers money,
the city is projecting a big initial financial hit.
The firefighter retirements will cost $300,000
next year, the city estimates. That includes
$100,000 in required payoffs to retiring em-
ployees; $55,000 in hiring and promotion
costs for replacements; $150,000 in pay for a
dozen new hires to attend a 12-week training
course; $20,000 in new uniforms/equipment
and $50,000 in firefighter overtime to cover
shifts until new staff are hired and trained. —
AP
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
Regarding our story last week on
“Livestock with Fins,” the owner of
Fisherman’s Market on 7th Avenue tells us he
has never sold farmed Atlantic salmon, “and
never will.”
FREE TO THE PUBLIC • REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED
Friends of Eugene Annual Meeting
1000 FRIENDS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
BOB STACEY speaks about
Land Use: The Legislature and Beyond
THURSDAY, MAY 22
AT F I R S T U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H
• 1376
OLIVE
Bob Stacey is Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, a 28-year-old public interest group that
advocates smart growth and countryside conservation through the effective implementation of the State’s
land use planning laws. From 1975 to 1986, Bob Stacey was a staff attorney for 1000 Friends of Oregon.
FOR
MORE
INFORMATION
C O N TA C T:
friends of eugene 514-4766 • www.friendsofeugene.org
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