Reigning in a dark new era of wilderness destruction, the logging of "protected" old-growth reserves has begun at the Biscuit timber sale, atop Fiddler Mountain. 11 people, including a 72-year old womyn from rural Selma, Oregon was arrested on Monday. Another 11 were arrested on Wednesday, including one man who locked down to the rear axle of a police vehicle with a steel lockbox.

The logging takes place on areas set aside for protection of the northern spotted owl during the Clinton administration, and is directly adacent to a pristine, roadless area. This is the latest and most egregious logging yet in Southern Oregon, which has become test site for the Bush administrations worst environmental policies. Logging of so-called "killer trees" along roadsides in the Biscuit timber sale began early in 2004 under the farce of public safety concerns. Despite successful summer efforts preventing logging, cutting on unprotected ancient forests began again in the fall. Although stalled by roadblockades (1, 2), the destruction has continued unceasingly over the past months. Ultimately, this logging project is is slated to log 19,500 acres (30.41 sq. miles) of public National Forest land, or roughly 70,000 truck-loads of logs. This logging includes 8,173 acres (12.77 sq. miles) in the Pacific Northwest's largest untouched, unroaded area and 6,303 acres (9.85 miles) of logging on these "protected" old-growth reserves.

The logging is happening in advance of a March 22nd lawsuit, that is likely to rule the logging operations are illegal. The goal of the timber companies is to have this forest logged before that can happen. Forest defenders have vowed to everything in their power to stop them.

Photos: 1, 2 Videos: 1, 2, 3 Logging Photos: 1, 2

related: Rogue imc (Southern Oregon) | Portland imc forest defense page | Oxygen Collective | Siskiyou Project | Cascadia Rising EcoDefense

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