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An unidentified environmental activist, left, is taken into custody by two unidentified Oregon State Police officers in this file photo taken in July at the scene of a protest in Elliott State Forest.
Preliminary costs for the state's multiagency response to protesters in the Elliott State Forest in July is nearing $100,000.
In early July, protesters from hard-line environmentalist groups such as Earth First! and Cascadia Rising Tide set up a blockade to stop logging at the UmpCoos Ridge No. 2 harvest, a site sold in the fall of 2008. The standoff lasted four days.
Loggers from the Scott Timber Company, an affiliate of Roseburg Forest Products, had been working at the site since May.
On Tuesday, Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Kevin Weeks said final numbers on what the state racked up in law enforcement and other agency costs will be out later this month as receipts continue to come in. Currently, the number stands at $93,000.
The department was one of four public agencies that responded to the standoff.
ODF, acting with the Department of State Lands, calculated both of those department's costs at more than $25,000. The Oregon State Police response, which included about 50 officers in the Mobile Response Team on July 8 and July 9, cost about $50,000.
Douglas County Sheriff's Office was the first law enforcement agency to respond to the site, where protesters had set up platforms and locked themselves into some of the blockade devices. Later the Sheriff's Office supported state police during the arrests and transported the 27 arrested protesters to the Douglas County Jail.
DCSO Lt. Brian Sanders estimated the effort cost the local agency $18,000 for overtime, wages and other costs.
“We wasted four days on this, and a huge amount of money that we don't have, so these kids can play their little games,” Sanders said in mid-July.
Protesters said they took their endeavor seriously.
“We are looking at 5 percent of our native forest remaining in the continental U.S., so the money spent removing people from the forest pales in comparison to explaining to our children ... why we're in a climate crisis,” said Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, a protester who acted as media liaison in July. “We must consider the future impact of the environmental destruction today.”
Zimmer-Stucky said the Elliott has become a focal point for herself and others who demonstrated at a recent auction in Coos Bay. They plan a public hike through three sale sites Friday and have an auction later this month to earn funds for further campaigns for ESF.
Law enforcement officials told The News-Review protesters had been overheard discussing a $4,000 pot of money for the last person arrested in the July protest. Zimmer-Stucky and the person in question said that wasn't the case and that all protesters spent their time in the forest voluntarily.
Eugene resident, Naomi Halpern, 19, was the last person arrested on July 9 and said officers had overheard a joke. When officers questioned them after reading the Miranda rights, they chose to stay silent.
“It was more fun to stay quiet and let them think what they wanted to,” she said. “Apparently they all thought that I was rich, and that's not true. I'm very far from that.”
Halpern spent the protest suspended in the air on a platform called a “sky pod.”
“I was out there because I disagree with current logging practice ... it's really hard to introduce new ideas and practices when old infrastructure is supported by these unsustainable practices,” she said.
E-mails, comments and phone calls from citizens of Douglas County in June, showed local residents largely disapproved of the protesters' tactics.
Bob Ragon, executive director of the Douglas Timber Operators, said taxpayers would carry the burden for the protest.
“It's not a cheap way for them to make a statement and I hope they realize that.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
In early July, protesters from hard-line environmentalist groups such as Earth First! and Cascadia Rising Tide set up a blockade to stop logging at the UmpCoos Ridge No. 2 harvest, a site sold in the fall of 2008. The standoff lasted four days.
Loggers from the Scott Timber Company, an affiliate of Roseburg Forest Products, had been working at the site since May.
On Tuesday, Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Kevin Weeks said final numbers on what the state racked up in law enforcement and other agency costs will be out later this month as receipts continue to come in. Currently, the number stands at $93,000.
The department was one of four public agencies that responded to the standoff.
ODF, acting with the Department of State Lands, calculated both of those department's costs at more than $25,000. The Oregon State Police response, which included about 50 officers in the Mobile Response Team on July 8 and July 9, cost about $50,000.
Douglas County Sheriff's Office was the first law enforcement agency to respond to the site, where protesters had set up platforms and locked themselves into some of the blockade devices. Later the Sheriff's Office supported state police during the arrests and transported the 27 arrested protesters to the Douglas County Jail.
DCSO Lt. Brian Sanders estimated the effort cost the local agency $18,000 for overtime, wages and other costs.
“We wasted four days on this, and a huge amount of money that we don't have, so these kids can play their little games,” Sanders said in mid-July.
Protesters said they took their endeavor seriously.
“We are looking at 5 percent of our native forest remaining in the continental U.S., so the money spent removing people from the forest pales in comparison to explaining to our children ... why we're in a climate crisis,” said Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, a protester who acted as media liaison in July. “We must consider the future impact of the environmental destruction today.”
Zimmer-Stucky said the Elliott has become a focal point for herself and others who demonstrated at a recent auction in Coos Bay. They plan a public hike through three sale sites Friday and have an auction later this month to earn funds for further campaigns for ESF.
Law enforcement officials told The News-Review protesters had been overheard discussing a $4,000 pot of money for the last person arrested in the July protest. Zimmer-Stucky and the person in question said that wasn't the case and that all protesters spent their time in the forest voluntarily.
Eugene resident, Naomi Halpern, 19, was the last person arrested on July 9 and said officers had overheard a joke. When officers questioned them after reading the Miranda rights, they chose to stay silent.
“It was more fun to stay quiet and let them think what they wanted to,” she said. “Apparently they all thought that I was rich, and that's not true. I'm very far from that.”
Halpern spent the protest suspended in the air on a platform called a “sky pod.”
“I was out there because I disagree with current logging practice ... it's really hard to introduce new ideas and practices when old infrastructure is supported by these unsustainable practices,” she said.
E-mails, comments and phone calls from citizens of Douglas County in June, showed local residents largely disapproved of the protesters' tactics.
Bob Ragon, executive director of the Douglas Timber Operators, said taxpayers would carry the burden for the protest.
“It's not a cheap way for them to make a statement and I hope they realize that.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
