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Police take down a protest sign from the fence on the Edenbower overpass over Insterstate 5 on Monday. The sign was put into place during an Earth First! event at the Roseburg Home Depot store. The sign read "Dam Home Depot, Save Chile's Rivers."
Earth First! and Cascadia Rising Tide environmental activists staged demonstrations in two locations in Douglas County today — one in the Elliott State Forest near Reedsport and one at the Home Depot store in north Roseburg.
Currently, protesters are blocking operations at the UmpCoos Ridge No. 2 timber sale site in the Northeast corner of Elliott State Forest Northeast near Loon Lake.
A large vehicle has been tipped over on the road leading to the timber site and some aerial devices are in place to halt further logging operations. Activists said they will be sitting on platforms in the trees to disrupt access.
Representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry are in meetings this afternoon to decide how they will handle the situation.
Kevin Weeks, a public affairs spokesperson for ODF, said this morning that protesters had not contacted them prior to the demonstration and they only learned of the standoff at about 8:30 a.m. when the private timber operator went to work this morning.
Karen Pickett from the Bay Area in California was at groups' Home Depot protest mid-morning and guessed that about 50 people were gathered at the forest site, but said more would be filtering in as the day continued.
Douglas County Sheriff deputies had also been dispatched to the area.
Weeks said the ODF's primary concern was for individuals camped out in the area and management agencies were not looking to rush into a confrontation.
A press release from Jasmine Zimmer-Stuckey of Cascadia Rising Tide said the group planned to camp out and block logging of the area until the sale is canceled and “a more progressive management system can be put into place.”
Zimmer-Stucky said the protesters are trying to protect native forests that help prevent global warming by storing carbon, as well as providing habitat for northern spotted owls and salmon.
The News-Review attempted to reach Zimmer-Stuckey, but cell reception to her phone in the area of the protest was bad.
The timber sale site was opened in September 2008 and was awarded to the Scott Timber Company of Roseburg for the price of $389 per 1000-board feet of Douglas fir harvested, Weeks said.
He said the department estimated the value of the harvest site to be about $1.2 million and that timber operations have been actively ongoing at the site for the last month.
The activists, who also protested some lumber purchases Home Depot makes during a short demonstration in north Roseburg this morning, are capping off their annual retreat. This year they gathered in the Huckleberry Cap of the Tiller Ranger District in South County. The retreat ended today.
Pickett said about 300 people from across the United States and other countries were in attendance.
Police officers were called to the Home Depot demonstration but no citations were issued and most of the 50 protesters had dispersed by the time Roseburg City Police and Douglas County Sheriff's deputies arrived around noon.
More information on the protests will be available in Tuesday's News-Review.
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
Currently, protesters are blocking operations at the UmpCoos Ridge No. 2 timber sale site in the Northeast corner of Elliott State Forest Northeast near Loon Lake.
A large vehicle has been tipped over on the road leading to the timber site and some aerial devices are in place to halt further logging operations. Activists said they will be sitting on platforms in the trees to disrupt access.
Representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry are in meetings this afternoon to decide how they will handle the situation.
Kevin Weeks, a public affairs spokesperson for ODF, said this morning that protesters had not contacted them prior to the demonstration and they only learned of the standoff at about 8:30 a.m. when the private timber operator went to work this morning.
Karen Pickett from the Bay Area in California was at groups' Home Depot protest mid-morning and guessed that about 50 people were gathered at the forest site, but said more would be filtering in as the day continued.
Douglas County Sheriff deputies had also been dispatched to the area.
Weeks said the ODF's primary concern was for individuals camped out in the area and management agencies were not looking to rush into a confrontation.
A press release from Jasmine Zimmer-Stuckey of Cascadia Rising Tide said the group planned to camp out and block logging of the area until the sale is canceled and “a more progressive management system can be put into place.”
Zimmer-Stucky said the protesters are trying to protect native forests that help prevent global warming by storing carbon, as well as providing habitat for northern spotted owls and salmon.
The News-Review attempted to reach Zimmer-Stuckey, but cell reception to her phone in the area of the protest was bad.
The timber sale site was opened in September 2008 and was awarded to the Scott Timber Company of Roseburg for the price of $389 per 1000-board feet of Douglas fir harvested, Weeks said.
He said the department estimated the value of the harvest site to be about $1.2 million and that timber operations have been actively ongoing at the site for the last month.
The activists, who also protested some lumber purchases Home Depot makes during a short demonstration in north Roseburg this morning, are capping off their annual retreat. This year they gathered in the Huckleberry Cap of the Tiller Ranger District in South County. The retreat ended today.
Pickett said about 300 people from across the United States and other countries were in attendance.
Police officers were called to the Home Depot demonstration but no citations were issued and most of the 50 protesters had dispersed by the time Roseburg City Police and Douglas County Sheriff's deputies arrived around noon.
More information on the protests will be available in Tuesday's News-Review.
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
