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Arrested
Greenpeace protester Jennifer Kirby of Washington, D.C., is escorted to a Douglas County sheriff’s patrol car after being arrested Tuesday for disorderly conduct.
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ENLARGE
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Cutting away
Using an acetylene torch, law enforcement officers and loggers work Tuesday morning to free Greenpeace protesters from a storage container on Bureau of Land Management land near Glendale, blocking a logging road to a BLM unit being logged by H&W Logging of Medford. Protester Jennifer Kirby, second from right, was arrested for disorderly conduct, along with Kingman Lim, of Berkeley, Calif., and Anthony Villagomez, of Troutlake, Wash.
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ENLARGE
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Arrest watch
Jessica Rucell of San Francisco watches as two fellow Greenpeace members are taken into custody on a BLM road near Glendale Tuesday.
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GLENDALE -- Three Greenpeace activists were arrested after chaining themselves to a three-ton steel shipping container that blocked a logging road Tuesday.
The bright yellow container was painted with the words "Ancient Forest Protection Starts Here" in green letters. Twenty feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet tall, it blocked Perkins Creek Road, about six miles west of Glendale, and kept loggers from the 236-acre Soukow timber sale on the Bureau of Land Management's Medford District until after noon.
"These people have put themselves between the chain saws and the trees," Bill Richardson, Greenpeace campaigns director, said at the site Tuesday.
He said the protest kicks off a national campaign to protect federal old-growth forests from commercial logging and raise awareness about Bush administration policies that the group says have put federal forests on the chopping block.
The timber sale is representative of destructive logging on federal lands, he said.
The three protesters -- Jennifer Kirby, 26, of Washington, D.C.; Kingman Lim, 23, of Berkeley, Calif.; and Anthony Villagomez, 22, of Troutlake, Wash. -- were arrested for disorderly conduct and interference with agricultural operations and are lodged in the Douglas County Jail.
Greenpeace representatives hauled the box to the site and the three chained themselves to it at 5 a.m. The container was equipped with solar panels to power a laptop computer, a speaker to communicate with the outside and an air vent to keep the inside cool.
The bright yellow container was painted with the words "Ancient Forest Protection Starts Here" in green letters. Twenty feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet tall, it blocked Perkins Creek Road, about six miles west of Glendale, and kept loggers from the 236-acre Soukow timber sale on the Bureau of Land Management's Medford District until after noon.
"These people have put themselves between the chain saws and the trees," Bill Richardson, Greenpeace campaigns director, said at the site Tuesday.
He said the protest kicks off a national campaign to protect federal old-growth forests from commercial logging and raise awareness about Bush administration policies that the group says have put federal forests on the chopping block.
The timber sale is representative of destructive logging on federal lands, he said.
The three protesters -- Jennifer Kirby, 26, of Washington, D.C.; Kingman Lim, 23, of Berkeley, Calif.; and Anthony Villagomez, 22, of Troutlake, Wash. -- were arrested for disorderly conduct and interference with agricultural operations and are lodged in the Douglas County Jail.
Greenpeace representatives hauled the box to the site and the three chained themselves to it at 5 a.m. The container was equipped with solar panels to power a laptop computer, a speaker to communicate with the outside and an air vent to keep the inside cool.
By 11 a.m. sheriff's vehicles lined the road and six Douglas County sheriff's deputies, an Oregon State Police trooper and two Bureau of Land Management law enforcement officers were at the scene.
"We asked them what they hoped to accomplish and if it included someone going to jail," said sheriff's Deputy Dave Bartley.
The two men inside locked themselves in by each placing one of their arms in steel tubes and cementing them in the ground. Laptop computers allowed them to post weblogs and photographs on Greenpeace's Web site.
Kirby sat outside the container with her arm also inside a steel tube that was wedged through a hole in the side of the container and buried under cement.
When the protesters wouldn't voluntarily release themselves, several deputies went inside the container and began breaking up the cement.
After escorting them to a police car, officials moved the container out of the way with a truck.
The logging crew, with H & W Logging out of Medford, stood on the sidelines watching the scene.
Jack Higgins, one of the six crew members, said when they drove up at about 5:30 a.m., they called the police and waited the rest of the morning for the road to be cleared.
He said they started logging the sale, which was purchased by Swanson Group in 2001, about a month ago. Tuesday they planned to yard the already cut timber to take to the mill.
"We asked them what they hoped to accomplish and if it included someone going to jail," said sheriff's Deputy Dave Bartley.
The two men inside locked themselves in by each placing one of their arms in steel tubes and cementing them in the ground. Laptop computers allowed them to post weblogs and photographs on Greenpeace's Web site.
Kirby sat outside the container with her arm also inside a steel tube that was wedged through a hole in the side of the container and buried under cement.
When the protesters wouldn't voluntarily release themselves, several deputies went inside the container and began breaking up the cement.
After escorting them to a police car, officials moved the container out of the way with a truck.
The logging crew, with H & W Logging out of Medford, stood on the sidelines watching the scene.
Jack Higgins, one of the six crew members, said when they drove up at about 5:30 a.m., they called the police and waited the rest of the morning for the road to be cleared.
He said they started logging the sale, which was purchased by Swanson Group in 2001, about a month ago. Tuesday they planned to yard the already cut timber to take to the mill.
After 14 years working in logging, protests like this have become commonplace, he said.
He said he was frustrated because the crew won't be paid for the hours spent waiting for police to clear the container.
"I think it's ridiculous. They tell you one thing ... that their deal is with big corporations . ... but it's always the little guy that gets (hurt)."
Earlier this month, Greenpeace opened an encampment that they call a Forest Rescue Station outside of Glendale to serve as a base of operations for public education and protests against old-growth logging. They were in the process of getting a permit from the BLM to remain several weeks.
Joan Resnick, BLM Glendale Resource Area acting manager, said she met with some Greenpeace representatives Monday, and she believed each party had been open about their intentions. Plans for a protest weren't mentioned, which Resnick views as a breach of trust.
"It was a complete surprise," she said.
She said the sale was legal under the Northwest Forest Plan, which designates about 20 percent of public lands for logging.
Within the sale, 175 acres are dedicated to thinning and restoration projects. Clearcut logging is occurring on another 60 acres, which will yield 2 million board feet of timber.
Richardson said the protest was a success overall.
"We have succeeded in getting the message across that we don't want logging any more on our ancient lands," he said.
<i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.</i>
He said he was frustrated because the crew won't be paid for the hours spent waiting for police to clear the container.
"I think it's ridiculous. They tell you one thing ... that their deal is with big corporations . ... but it's always the little guy that gets (hurt)."
Earlier this month, Greenpeace opened an encampment that they call a Forest Rescue Station outside of Glendale to serve as a base of operations for public education and protests against old-growth logging. They were in the process of getting a permit from the BLM to remain several weeks.
Joan Resnick, BLM Glendale Resource Area acting manager, said she met with some Greenpeace representatives Monday, and she believed each party had been open about their intentions. Plans for a protest weren't mentioned, which Resnick views as a breach of trust.
"It was a complete surprise," she said.
She said the sale was legal under the Northwest Forest Plan, which designates about 20 percent of public lands for logging.
Within the sale, 175 acres are dedicated to thinning and restoration projects. Clearcut logging is occurring on another 60 acres, which will yield 2 million board feet of timber.
Richardson said the protest was a success overall.
"We have succeeded in getting the message across that we don't want logging any more on our ancient lands," he said.
<i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.</i>
