Forest activists gather at Green Bridge

Green Bridges

The campaign to stop the largest logging project in modern history is entering a critical new phase- and Southern Oregon forest defenders are calling on all allies who are able to gather for a camp out at the Green Bridge on the Illinois River. The Green Bridge is a symbolic and literal gateway to the expansive roadless wildlands of the Siskiyou Mountains beyond. This is an inclusive and ongoing encampment ready to receive helpful people now. Specifically, folks are asked to sleep by the river Sunday March 6th and attend a mass demonstration Monday morning, March 7th, the day the first-ever logging within designated old growth reserves is set to begin.

The Green Bridge is a rallying point for those who wish to show their opposition to the so-called Biscuit Fire Recovery Project, an extreme logging scheme that would remove tens of thousands of log trucks from remote regions of unmanaged native forest. A small group of local organizers are camping beneath the bridge on the bank of the picturesque Illinois River. The camp is becoming the public face of a growing campaign that is increasingly supported by old timers and locals who bring food, warm clothes and camp fire songs to share with those gathered.

This serpentine wonderland surrounding the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area is ground zero in the Bush Administration’s aggressive attempts to gut hard fought legal protections for old growth reserves, inventoried roadless areas and salmon-bearing streams. This is a crucial moment in an historic campaign that will set precedent for forest policy for decades to come, and we need your help now.

The Green Bridge is located a few miles up the Eight Dollar Road which leads into the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead entrance to the Siskiyou Wildlands, also known as the Fiddler Late Successional Reserve Timber Sale. From Grants Pass in Southern Oregon, take highway 199 west about 25 miles between Selma and Kerby, then turn onto Eight Dollar Road. Go until you see the green bridge. There will be caravans leaving the ELAW conference in Eugene on Sunday the 6th. Please organize ride shares from your area.

For more background on this issue and the campaign see http://www.o2collective.org.
Laurel [at] o2collective.org (541) 301-8963