Road to Biscuit Salvage Logging Now Blocked

Using an intricate web of ropes and clips, a young woman is putting her body in the way of logging ancient forests in the Biscuit burn. She is suspended on a platform 75 feet above US Forest Service road 2308-150 to stop the logging of the Indi timber sale.

The Indi timber sale area in Curry County, is a healthy ancient forest inside the Biscuit fire perimeter. The sale include 5' diameter green trees and 7' diameter snags. Many units include more green than burned trees, despite a promise by the US Forest Service that only dead trees would be salvaged. Where burned, conifer seedlings are now in their third year of natural recovery.

East Fork Lumber Company paid nearly $2 million to log this ancient forest above Indigo Creek. East Fork intends to sell half the logs to the highest bidder and mill the rest for import to Asian markets like Japan and Taiwan.

"Logging is not restoration," said Kay Pittwald from her hanging platform. "The future of this remote area is healthy salmon, clean water and a thriving tourist economy. It is not a place for an out-of-country timber grab to ship wood products to Asia."

The blockade is located on Forest Service road 2308-150, 12 miles east of Agness.

The Wild Siskiyou Action Team adheres to a strict non-violence code:

"We apply great effort to stop any harm to all living beings, in the mountains and in the towns. We will not harm any living beings, nor use the language of violence or intimidation. While we act in this area, we will prevent the destruction of any private property."

Posted by Forrest at July 26, 2004 12:58 PM | Category(s): Forest Defense/Environmental Activism