NEWS
B Y K E L LY K E N O Y E R
CASCADE FOREST
DEFENDERS
BLOCKADE
N
O
I
T
C
E L E E M E N TS
ENDOR
S
IT’S VOTING SEASON AGAIN
BY THE EW EDITORIAL BOARD
EUGENE CHARTER AMENDMENT: YES
20-274 Eugene Amends Charter: Election to
fill vacant Mayor or Councilor position
IN DEFENSE OF FORESTS
This amendment cleans up confusing language.
Go for it. We like clarity in government.
Protesters block road in Willamette National Forest
EUGENE STREET BOND: YES
PHOTO: KELLY KENOYER
S
uspended high in the canopy over the Willamette
National Forest on a platform, an activist sits, put-
ting his life on the line. The rope holding him in
the air is connected to an anchor — a box full of
concrete and two vehicles that form a blockade on
the timber road.
If any part of this intricate set-up is moved, the activist
could plummet to his death.
Prof, a Cascadia Forest Defender (CFD) going by his
“forest name,” says this set-up is called the dunk tank. For-
est names are pseudonyms used by forest activists who are
aware their activities could lead to arrest or prosecution.
We’re standing in the middle of the woods off Highway
126 near the McKenzie General Store, about 50 miles east
of Eugene, and these activists are trying to save this portion
of the forest called the Goose Project. A tree sale called the
W Timber Sale is within it.
This project was proposed in 2009, but the sale of
these 2,500-some acres to Seneca Jones Timber Company
wasn’t finalized until January, according to Scrimshaw, a
tall man with glasses and long blond hair — he’s also using
a forest name.
“We’ve been sitting in a tree since May, and the new
development is that we’re blocking the road now so log-
gers can’t come in and drive in,” Scrimshaw says. “They
started cutting last Tuesday, and I think they’ve been work-
ing every day since.”
EW visited the blockade Monday, Oct. 23. Two legal
observers from the Civil Liberties Defense Center were
also in attendance, as were two law enforcement officials
from the federal Forest Service.
As EW went to press Oct. 25, several trucks rolled up
to the blockade and cut the rope anchor and towed one of
the anchor trucks away, “despite our yelling about the mor-
tal danger,” Scrimshaw says. He adds that CFD filmed the
event.
Scrimshaw says the sitter was unharmed and “all of us
packed up and left.” He says as CFD left, they passed For-
est Service law enforcement vehicles on their way to the
block site.
Jude McHugh, a spokeswoman for the Willamette Na-
tional Forest, spoke to EW before the blockade was re-
moved, saying, “Our only interest is to resolve the situa-
tion, and of course to protect everyone’s civil rights as we
do so.”
McHugh says the blockade was preventing citizens
from using the area for hunting, recreational driving, hik-
ing and legal business purposes. “It’s my understanding
that the law enforcement officials out there have asked the
protesters questions and that the protesters have by-and-
large declined to comment,” she adds.
Scrimshaw says there’s a long history of various
groups trying to prevent this sale from going through,
which EW covered in June of 2017 (“The Forest for the
Trees”). “It’s public land, it belongs to United States
citizens. The timber is being sold,” he says. “The land
will stay public, but it’s being cut over.”
This is far from the first time Seneca and CFD
have butted heads. In 2014, The Oregonian reported
that Seneca bid on a timber sale in the Elliott State
Forest, not because it needed the trees, but because
CFD had threatened lawsuits and tree sits.
According to Sylvan, another Cascadia Forest De-
fender using a forest name, “We give up on the idea
that if we ask you nicely, you’ll not destroy our public
resources. So we’re going to have to stop you, and
nothing else will stop you until our bodies are in the
way.”
She adds that this forest needs protecting because
several streams that run through the timber sale feed
into the McKenzie River. “They’re doing some clear-
ing in riparian reserves, supposedly to improve them
for water quality. But it’s commercial logging,” she
says, meant for profits, not for forest health.
On day one of this direct action, Prof says he dealt
with heckling loggers just before sunrise. He says they
weren’t too happy to be without work, and they called
law enforcement. Officers arrived around 10:30 am,
and the loggers left soon after.
As of 2 pm that day, law enforcement had left as
well, and the activists were planning their next moves.
Prof left the area to get some sleep, but says he
was attacked as he walked down the logging roads
towards his car. “So I was walking back from Goose
tree sit, and this guy came around in his white truck,”
he says. “He jumped out and like threatened me.”
Soon after the alleged attack, the truck stopped
near another group of workers close to some logging
equipment, and the driver got out of the vehicle to
speak to them.
“He came by me like three times,” Prof says, vis-
ibly shaken. “And then he kicked me in the stomach.”
“He tried to attack me twice,” he says, “while his
friend stood there with a gun to ensure that if I de-
fended myself I’d probably get shot.”
EW contacted Seneca Jones Timber Company, but
their representative was not able to answer before
press time.
But for the activists, the danger is worth it to pro-
tect the forest. “Old growth forests are natural habitats
for a lot of species,” Prof says. “My personal reason
for doing this is that I want to preserve biodiversity
in forests.”
Scrimshaw is similarly committed. “I am opposed
to resource extraction. I am opposed to institutional
corporate land management. It’s just part of the ongo-
ing ecocide.”
He says he values the forest he’s standing in. “I can
feel when I’m out here that it’s a life-giving place. I
want to be out here.”
20-275 Eugene Bonds to Fix Streets, Fund
Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects
You know what voters hate? Potholes. You know
what we like? Bicycles. Vote yes.
CRESWELL WEED MEASURE: NO
20-280 Creswell Regulation and Taxation of
Recreational Marijuana Businesses in Creswell
The voters in Creswell indicated last year that they
didn’t want marijuana businesses in their town. They
miss out on some tax benefits, but that’s a choice. The
measure appears to give One Gro, the business
pushing this measure, a monopoly in town. If Creswell
wants to add the weed industry, it should offer a fair
playing field.
SCHOOL LEVIES: YES
20-276 Oakridge School District 76 Oakridge
School District General Obligation Facilities
Bond
20-279 Lowell School District 71 Authorizes
General Obligation Bonds for Lowell School
District
20-281 Siuslaw School District 97J Renewal
of five-year local option levy for school
operations
Until Oregon finally fixes its messed up tax
system, local school levies will be necessary to fill in
the gaps.
FIRE LEVIES: YES
20-277 Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection
District Local option levy for EMS and Fire
operations
20-278 South Lane County Fire & Rescue
Renewal of current five-year local option tax
for general operations
20-282 Rainbow Water and Fire District Five-
Year Fire Protection Local Option Levy
This fire season has been a sober reminder of the
need for fire protection in rural areas as well as the
urban-rural interface.
SPRINGFIELD POLICE & JAIL LEVY: YES
20-273 Springfield Five-Year Levy for
Springfield Jail Operations and Police Services
We’d rather see money being used to help people
avoid committing crimes than for holding them in jail,
but that’s also part of the Springfield PD’s job. They
need the funds to do it.
eugeneweekly.com • October 26, 2017
9