Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging

Knotahippie · 14th November 2008, 06:11 AM

???

Quote:

Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALEM, Ore. -- A University of Oregon student plans to spend the rest of the week in a pine tree at the state Capitol to protest a Bush administration plan to increase logging on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky clambered about 50 feet up the pine tree on Tuesday and plans to stay until Friday.

Zimmer-Stucky is a member of the Eugene chapter of the environmental group Rising Tide, based in Britain.

The group draws attention to climate-change issues, including public transportation and cap-and-trade permits.

A Rising Tide spokeswoman in Oregon said the plan provides a short-term gain for a few companies at the expense of long-term environmental and economic sustainability.

Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging

Eric Frei · 14th November 2008, 08:02 AM

Increased logging, but what are the parameters?

Sometimes there's adequate provisions, we'd need to see the plan.

People protest on all sorts of issues, however there should be more data from them so us readers get the full picture.

Gunns here wants to log Tasmania big time, seems both the people and govt approved it. Not saying right or wrong but there's a process. If they want support for their cause then people like us need to know what the underlying facts are and perhaps options.

Knotahippie · 14th November 2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Bush Administration Pushes Forward With Unpopular, Controversial Logging Plan
Plan Targets Last Remaining Old Growth Forests in Oregon
The Bureau of Land Management releases its Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Western Oregon Plan Revisions. Conservationists call the plan a dangerous turn backwards toward conflict.

Portland, Ore Oct 09, 2008
In a last ditch effort to ramp up old-growth logging in western Oregon forests before they leave office, the Bush administration released today the final version of the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR, pronounced: “whopper”). The plan covers 2.6 million acres of forest in Oregon administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The WOPR would eliminate current protections for thousands of acres of Oregon’s last remaining old-growth forests

"At a time when we have more consensus than ever on a positive vision for the future of our forests, the Bush administration is attempting to ram home a controversial, unscientific, last minute, old-growth logging plan," said Jonathan Jelen with the conservation organization Oregon Wild. "This plan brings us back to the controversy of the 1980s and ignores the science of why we need to protect the last of our old-growth forests."

The draft WOPR plan released last August generated almost 30,000 public comments, the majority of which opposed the plan. Despite the great public interest, the BLM is not inviting comments on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the WOPR released today.

Instead, the WOPR has been sent to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s office for a 60-day consistency review period. Governor Kulongoski is charged with ensuring that the WOPR corresponds with pre-existing state plans and laws, including initiatives for salmon recovery, wildlife conservation, land use goals, clean air and water, and global warming emissions reduction.

"Clearly this plan doesn’t match up with Oregon’s goals for the future," added Sean Stevens, a spokesman for Oregon Wild. "The WOPR would pump millions of tons of additional carbon into the atmosphere, make it harder for salmon to find suitable habitat, and rob future generations of Oregonians of their natural forest heritage. The Governor needs to reject this plan to protect the interest of our state’s citizens."

The 2,000-page plan calls for tripling the current harvest levels established under the Northwest Forest Plan. Written in 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan sought to find a sustainable balance between timber harvest and forest conservation after decades of devastating logging on federal lands. Specifically, the FEIS WOPR would allow nearly a third of BLM’s remaining old-growth forest to be clear-cut, slash streamside buffers critical to healthy salmon runs in half, and drastically reduce the capacity of our forests to store global warming pollution.

The WOPR is the offspring of a backroom settlement between the Bush administration and the logging industry. The Bush-led Justice Department cut a deal before the judge ever had a chance to rule on the merits of the timber industry’s specious claims. The proposed plan comes at a time when forest stakeholders are increasingly turning to common sense restoration-based thinning projects on publicly-owned land.

"We have seen the success of projects that focus on restoration," Jelen adds. "If we continue this common sense approach we can restore and protect old growth, salmon, and clean water while also getting wood to local mills and producing jobs. With the WOPR, we’re heading down the same dead-end road towards more conflict over logging, while producing little in the way of real economic benefit."

Pretty basic.

pcarborist · 14th November 2008, 10:38 AM

Quote:

The 2,000-page plan calls for tripling the current harvest levels established under the Northwest Forest Plan. Written in 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan sought to find a sustainable balance between timber harvest and forest conservation after decades of devastating logging on federal lands. Specifically, the FEIS WOPR would allow nearly a third of BLM’s remaining old-growth forest to be clear-cut, slash streamside buffers critical to healthy salmon runs in half, and drastically reduce the capacity of our forests to store global warming pollution.

Knot, what's the species? Douglas-fir & western hemlock? What type of harvest? Clearcut? Shelterwood? Salvage? A couple other T&E species affected besides salmon would be steelhead, marbled murrelet and spotted owl. If an EIS was done, I'm sure these species were considered.

Knotahippie · 14th November 2008, 11:31 AM

One plan calls for 75% clearcut and 50% reduction in stream buffers.

An EIS was done and claims an increase in species habitat.

Not quite sure how that works.

I guess they take a percentage of the harvest and build little lakeside owl condos for all the refugees.

newguy18 · 14th November 2008, 12:06 PM

or they leave a certain percentage of snags and trees for wildlife habitat.after seeing jerry's summary of the old growth redwoods,i agree a second growth forest is better.

Knotahippie · 14th November 2008, 02:28 PM

True NG,

That's the plan, and the forestry loggers do an excellent job at leaving
habitat that they can.

By the way, Jerry is a True legend and his works are very informative.

I seriously doubt that a second growth forest is doing the work of a second growth forest based on what I've seen.

Live crown ratio, O layer, carbon uptake, snags...

Talk to an arborist an ecologist or a biologist.

These are things that I look for in a mature stand of trees.

newguy18 · 14th November 2008, 02:31 PM

Dude haveyou watched the 3 part summary?Just in case thats a no i'm posting it here.

part 1

YouTube - A Summary Of Our Old Growth Redwoods

part 2

YouTube - Part two of "A Summary"

part 3

YouTube - A Summary... Part 3

Knotahippie · 14th November 2008, 03:27 PM

Dude, Yes.

I think this is about to be a recap of an earlier post.

Xcept I ain't drinkin beer this time.

I'll say it again. LCR, O layer, Carbon sequestration.

These are the things to look for in a stand that has an increasingly important job to do.

When you look up, how thick is the foliage?

How close are the annual rings?

pcarborist · 15th November 2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knotahippie

One plan calls for 75% clearcut and 50% reduction in stream buffers.

An EIS was done and claims an increase in species habitat.

Not quite sure how that works.

Where conifers like spruce closes in and shades streams on the greenline, you lose sedges and deciduous vegetaton. Upland vegetation like currants can increase in the understory. It's possible you can have too much shade. You may want to partial cut or thin conifers on greenline but this should never be done on a "C" type stream! The objective for potential natural community is for 40% canopy cover. Openings will favor species like willows and sedges.

Knotahippie · 18th November 2008, 03:35 PM

I know some folks that log and from what they say I'm not sure the WOPR tastes so good.

Many in the industry find this plan to be deeply flawed and a throwback to boom and bust logging.

What happened to the Northwest Forest Plan?

Quote:

Timber industry asks court to enforce Species Act

11/7/2008, 5:33 p.m. PST
By JEFF BARNARD
The Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The timber industry and environmental groups find themselves in the strange position of agreeing that the Bush administration failed to follow the Endangered Species Act when it developed a plan to boost logging on federal lands in Western Oregon.

The American Forest Resource Council is afraid that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's failure to go through formal consultation with federal scientists over the potential harm to northern spotted owls and salmon will "derail" the Western Oregon Plan Revision, said Tom Partin, president of the timber industry group.

The industry group filed a recent motion asking the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to uphold a 2003 agreement with the Bush administration that calls for increasing logging on 2.6 million acres of BLM lands in Western Oregon

Deadline for the plan is Dec. 31, just weeks before the Bush administration leaves office.

The motion argues that failing to do the formal consultation will ultimately lead to a court ruling blocking the plan, making it unlikely for BLM to meet the deadline for completion set in the 2003 agreement.

"We think there are going to be efforts (by conservation groups) to derail it," Partin said. "We want to make sure we are operating in a positive manner so they don't get derailed. It might look like we are working in a way to show it isn't going to get implemented, but that certainly isn't our bottom line."

Kristen Boyles, an attorney for the conservation public interest law firm Earthjustice, said the cases cited in the timber industry motion are the same cases conservation groups would be citing to make the same argument.

"I think it's an indication that Whopper is flawed — legally and scientifically — when groups as usually opposed as the environmental community and the timber industry are asking for the same thing," she said, using the nickname giving to the Western Oregon Plan Revision.

The Endangered Species Act requires that federal projects like timber sales be formally reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries Service for whether they will harm threatened and endangered species.

Conservation groups have long argued that logging levels are so high that they will jeopardize the survival of salmon and spotted owls. With the Whopper still awaiting a final record of decision, they have yet to file a lawsuit.

BLM spokesman Michael Campbell said they would have no formal response to the timber industry motion, because they feel they are on firm legal ground with their decision to hold off formal consultations until specific timber sales hit the ground.

Meanwhile, BLM changed its mind on fast-tracking the final decision on Whopper.

Faced with a lawsuit from conservation groups, the agency has decided to allow the public 30 days to comment. That will push it very close to the Dec. 31 deadline for a final decision. Boyles said it would be fine if the bureau left the decision to the incoming Obama administration.

Campbell said the agency is confident it can meet the deadline.

© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Timber industry asks court to enforce Species Act - NewsFlash - OregonLive.com

I think the part I don't agree with most is the loss of original trees and habitat.

There's been alot of progress in forestry managment in recent years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcarborist

Where conifers like spruce closes in and shades streams on the greenline, you lose sedges and deciduous vegetaton.

These plants, animals and organisms (some of which are undiscovered) are already present in many of these habitats. A sudden light change will damage and dry existing ancient forest floor making it more succeptable to fire.

At this point roughly 82% of the forest in question and it's carbon resource has been removed.

Sudden and repeated changing environmental conditions damage existing native forests systems that have adapted to over a very long period of time.

Many of these unique old growth habitats are areas are isolated from similar habitats increasing pressure on endangered plants, animals and organisms.

Clearcutting just doesn't make long term economic sense.

Thinning still removes important carbon resource, can increase temp. erosion and decrease habitat for endangered species of plants, animals and organisms.

Many mosses and lichens are lost when old growth are removed. There can be 20-50 species of crustose lichens present per acre. Some of these long lived organisms are an important nutrient source for many plants leaching N into the soil over a long period of time.

Epiphytes are a big part of old growth habitat. The number of species of epiphytic bryophytes and macrolichens is typically 40-75 species in an acre plot. This often exceeds the number of flowering plant species in the same forest.

IMO one of the biggest problems is a lack of standing deadwood and deadwood on the forest floor created by old growth trees. Deadwood is a slope stabilizer, it holds and cleans water, and releases nutrients. Deadwood is a home for animals and other organisms. Plants in the forest have very little N to begin with. Depletion of fixed nitrogen due to soil loss and a lack of deadwood can be a factor for all life in the forest, especially endangered plants.

The facts?

High canopy nutrient cycling is severely intrupted when old growth is removed due to increased exposure to light and wind.

Another important point is that soil is not a renewable resource.

It can take hundreds of years to create 1" of soil in these areas. Much of this is lost due to rain and snowmelt when trees and living roots are lost. Many fine absorbing roots are as small as 1mm and highly succeptable to sudden enviro. changes.

Logging equipment and roads damage large structural roots and compacts soil causing erosion and mudslides not to mention making it difficult for any plants fine absorbing roots to regrow.

This new plan will release millions of tons of extra carbon into the atmosphere.

Thinning near a waterway will increase some understory plants but is that the best idea for the waterway? Many of OR. endangered plants and animals prefer ample shade, organic matter and moisture to thrive.

I'm starting to think cutting more trees (an increase of 400%) and throwing away the NWFP sounds backwards.

The Northwest Forest Plan was an admission that past logging was unsustainable. Seems pretty important to protect what little old forest remains and try to repair what has been destroyed.

Quote:

BLM Set to Release Old-Growth Logging Plan

"Western Oregon Plan Revisions" could put some of Oregon's last old-growth forests at risk.
On Thursday, August 9th, the BLM is set to release a draft plan for the Western Oregon Plan Revisions, a Bush administration program aimed at re-opening millions of acres of BLM land to old-growth logging.

Portland Aug 08, 2007 Click here to read the Oregonian story on the Bush administration's plan to return to clear cut logging of old-growth forests.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Friday, August 10th is expected to release a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR). The WOPR is a key part of a 2003 legal settlement between the timber industry and Bush Administration to do away with old growth forest reserves, clean water safeguards and other land protections established by the Northwest Forest Plan, the 1994 landmark agreement that largely ended the Northwest timber wars.

There is much at stake for Oregonians’ outdoor, clean water and wildlife heritage. The 2.5 million acres covered by the WOPR encompass much of Oregon’s last, remaining old growth forests, Wild and Scenic rivers, municipal drinking water supplies for cities and towns, some of the state’s most prized fishing and hunting grounds and habitat for myriad rare and imperiled species, including all five species of Pacific salmon.

It won’t be known exactly what BLM will decide until Friday’s announcement, but according to a preliminary analysis of existing information by the Conservation Biology Institute, forest lands currently protected in old growth reserves would be reduced from 739,000 acres to zero under Alternative 3, and current protections for forests along rivers and streams would be reduced from 474,048 acres to 34,287 acres under Alternative 2. (analysis available upon request). Streamside and watershed protections are vital for salmon and other fish and wildlife, including deer and elk.

WOPR part of broader strategy to roll back forest protections

The Bush Administration is working to dismantle longstanding forest protections in other ways, including rolling back Critical Habitat protection for the Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet and producing a draft recovery plan for the spotted owl that rejects the body of scientific knowledge demonstrating that the survival of the owl depends on old-growth forests protected in reserves established by the Northwest Forest Plan.

The New York Times last Sunday editorialized saying “The Bush administration — overriding, once again, the advice of its scientists — is trying to shrink the land set aside for the owl’s recovery to free up more of the forest for logging.” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/opinion/05sun3.html

What’s in the WOPR

The alternatives for revising current forest management practices vary significantly, but a preliminary look, based on the BLM’s April 2007 WOPR newsletter, indicate that the WOPR could remove some or all of current protections for old growth forests and weaken protection for water quality and fish and wildlife habitat by allowing logging closer to rivers and streams.

All of the alternatives would create new Timber Management Areas (TMA), designated for “intensive management” including “regeneration harvest in most areas.” Regeneration harvest is also known as clearcut logging. The new TMAs would represent a significant boost in the amount of BLM land, including old growth, designated for logging in the Pacific Northwest.

Following are some of the other changes being considered under the WOPR alternatives:

Alternative 1 would reduce by half the width of buffers along rivers and streams where logging is closely regulated. “In general, the riparian management areas under this alternative are one-half the width of the current riparian reserves.”

Sub Alternative 1 would consider not harvesting mature and old-growth forests, specifically “No harvest of forest stands over 80 years of age,” and “No harvest of forest stands over 200 years of age.” Most public comments made during the comment period according to BLM said “Preserve old-growth stands and focus on small-diameter trees.”

Alternative 2 would weaken protections for water quality in rivers and streams by reducing the size of buffers. Under the Northwest Forest Plan fish-bearing streams and lakes have 100-meter (approx. 300 feet) wide buffers. Under WOPR’s alternative 2 “Perennial and fish-bearing streams would receive protection with a 25-foot no-cut zone on either side of the stream.”

Sub Alternative 2 would substantially increase logging by emulating management practices on timber industry land that seek to maximize timber production. This alternative would “change the rotation age to the short rotations currently used by the timber industry in the area.”

Alternative 3 would open up currently protected old growth forests to logging by eliminating old growth reserves. This alternative would use logging to emulate “catastrophic events” scientifically referred to as natural disturbances. Old growth stands would be logged when they approach the age of 360 years in the north and 240 years in the south.

A better way forward

Oregonians don’t have to choose between a healthy timber industry and their old-growth forest heritage. Oregon’s timber industry has adapted away from cutting old growth, since federal logging was curtailed in the mid-90s. The Western Wood Products Association reports that production in the 13-state Western region in 2005 was its highest since 1990, paced by increased output from mills in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Oregon’s mills don't need old growth to be viable.

Many Oregon forest managers are already moving beyond the conflicts of the past. By focusing on previously logged public forestlands - many of which are now overgrown and in need of thinning - they are providing wood to local mills while actually improving conditions for fish and wildlife and keeping saws out of old growth forests.

Collaborative groups like those on the Siuslaw National Forest bring together loggers, local governments, conservation groups and to design projects with broad community support. The Siuslaw is consistently among the largest timber producers of any national forest in Oregon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcarborist

Upland vegetation like currants can increase in the understory. It's possible you can have too much shade. You may want to partial cut or thin conifers on greenline but this should never be done on a "C" type stream! The objective for potential natural community is for 40% canopy cover. Openings will favor species like willows and sedges.

I've always wondered about too much shade.

Plants have the ability to respond to low light conditions especially over a long period of time.

Growth of some endangered ferns exposed to increased light are stunted, have less leaf area and a vertical growth habit. If I remember correctly this may affect reproduction.

IMO even 40% still seems hard to agree with because because of the lack of research on endangered plants and light conditions. Some reports I've read state no difference in biomass with light exposure rates of 19-42%. Higher percentages of light can reduce biomass and adversely alter plant life cycles.
Anyone got more info on this topic?

I'll say it again, 82% of the PNW forests are gone...

Some say 97% in CA.

pcarborist · 19th November 2008, 02:16 AM

Quote:

the Bush administration that calls for increasing logging on 2.6 million acres of BLM lands in Western Oregon

It sounds like Bush and Co. really want to "get the cut out".
According to some old forestry notes, Old-growth characteristics are as follows:

1)Closed canopy

2)Very old trees*

3)Large snags and downed wood

4)A mosaic of vegetation types. Mosaic should mimic historical distribution of vegetation, resulting from frequent, low intensity fires prevalent before European settlement. This should include bona fide old growth, secondary growth as well as openings.

*This classification can be a double-edge sword. Mgmt agencies' definition of old-growth may not be bona fide "old-growth".

I think for the most part an absence of fire has created many of the problems land managers are facing today e.g. stepladder fuels, lack of nutrient cycling,canopy closure, build-up of fuels resulting in catastrophic fires etc. Man has done such a good job putting out fires, when in fact fire is an integral part of nature. Land managers will tell you that "clearcutting mimics fire" especially with shade intolerant species like Douglas Fir. Clearcut harvesting and fire are not the same. In addition to fire suppression, land managers should be prescribing fire. This amounts to 1-3% of the geographical area per year to mimic natural fire cycles.

Quote:

IMO one of the biggest problems is a lack of standing deadwood and deadwood on the forest floor created by old growth trees.

If you're not seeing this, something is out of whack.

Quote:

The Bush Administration is working to dismantle longstanding forest protections in other ways, including rolling back Critical Habitat protection for the Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet and producing a draft recovery plan for the spotted owl that rejects the body of scientific knowledge demonstrating that the survival of the owl depends on old-growth forests protected in reserves established by the Northwest Forest Plan.

It's like my mentor, Dr Winward once said "you always manage for the most sensitive type".

Knotahippie · 23rd November 2008, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Remote sits prove to be less effective

by Larry Bingham, The Oregonian

Saturday November 22, 2008, 10:06 AM

Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky spent 81 hours 50 feet up in a white pine on the east lawn of the state Capitol in Salem. Oregon State Police cited her for trespassing when she came down.
Where have all the tree-sitters gone?

The acts of civil disobedience that were such a publicized part of the Northwest "timber wars" of the 1980s and '90s have tapered off. There are still tree sits every now and then, but they are not as frequent as they were.

It's been six years, in fact, since a group made front-page news when they camped 30 miles from Portland in the Mount Hood National Forest to protest the Eagle Creek timber sale. The U.S. Forest Service eventually canceled the disputed logging contract, but not because of the protest, and one of the sitters, a 22-year-old woman, fell 150 feet from a tree perch soon after the cancellation and died.

If a recent event in Salem is any indication, tree-sitting might be staging a comeback, albeit in a form tweaked to address a new mind-set and a never-ending news cycle.

Who sits in a tree these days, and why do it?

To find out, come to the steps of the state Capitol, where 200 people gathered for a Nov. 14 rally carrying signs that said "We Speak for the Trees" and "Don't Underestimate Heat."

Tree-sitters still protest logging, as they did in years past, though global warming has replaced the spotted owl. The most recent sit aimed to stir opposition to the Bureau of Land Management's "Western Oregon Plan Revisions," an increase in logging proposal that opponents have nicknamed "The WOPR."

Tree-sitters still represent radical environmental groups and tend to be young people in their 20s. They still face trespassing charges and are still glorified by some people and scorned by others.

At the Salem rally, "radical cheerleaders," young women in neon-pink satin jackets, rainbow-striped knee socks and zebra-print miniskirts, shouted chants like this one to whip up the crowd: "If you think our trees are neat, let us hear you stomp your feet."

The cheerleaders then led the protesters across the grounds to the base of a towering pine. Everyone looked up at a wooden platform 50 feet above, and when a face appeared from under a vinyl tarp, the crowd cheered.

"Give that woman a medal, not a ticket!" someone shouted.

The tree-sitter, a University of Oregon senior who had lived on the 5-by 10- foot platform for the past 81 hours, began her descent. She rappelled down a rope, a 22-year-old with a Pippi Longstocking braid, as the crowd moved to congratulate her.

Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

Supporters and curious passersby watch the descent of a tree sitter who camped out on state Capitol grounds to draw attention to a Bureau of Land Management's proposal to increase logging on national forest lands. Organizers call the act of camping in a city tree, as opposed to one in the woods, "an urban sit."

Someone on the ground smoked a clove cigarette. Someone else banged a drum. Oregon State Police stood nearby in case trouble erupted. One trooper removed a folded citation from his pocket to hand the tree-sitter as soon as her feet touched the ground.

Such a scene used to be more commonplace, when tree-sitters were cause celebres, heroes or hippies depending on your views. Julia "Butterfly" Hill lived in a California redwood she named "Luna" for two years. Convicted arsonist Michael Scarpitti, who called himself Tre Arrow, climbed onto a ledge at the U.S. Forest Service headquarters in Portland in 2000 and is now serving prison time for two fire bombings.

The only sitters you hear about with any regularity are the ones on the University of California campus at Berkeley. And even the tree-sitters there, four young men trying to save an oak grove from becoming a sports training facility for student athletes, came down in September.

When the radical advocacy group Cascadia Rising Tide decided two months ago to stage a tree-sit, it turned to one of its own for advice -- The Lorax.

Anthony Villagomez, 28, a part-time arborist who also works in a used bookstore, borrowed the name from Dr. Seuss during an urban sit in Hood River, where he lives. One of the goals was to draw the attention of children.

As a veteran, Villagomez has organized and participated in a dozen Northwest sits and says they fell off after Sept. 11, when anyone who climbed a tree was labeled an "eco-terrorist."

He told the group that remote sits are no longer effective: The media today is too busy feeding an insatiable Internet appetite to trek deep into a forest for a single story.

Successful contemporary sits take place in urban settings, where the media is near and the sitter can cut out the middle man and take the message directly to passersby. Another advantage of the urban sit is that it puts a face on the issue, he says, and it's safer than sitting in a tree marked to be chopped down.

Villagomez offered practical advice, too, explaining the three kinds of platforms: the standard one used in Salem; the kind that circles a tree so loggers or police can't climb up and extract the sitter; and the most dangerous, the "dunk 'em" platform, where supports can't be disabled without putting the sitter at risk.

Despite the risks, or because of the risks, Villagomez thinks sits will never go away. "As a tactic in the toolbox ... it shows the public you are willing to step outside your comfort zone for something you believe in," he says. "You are willing to risk your life for it."

One reason sits may have declined is that the U.S. Forest Service manages in a "more ecosystem-frame of mind" these days, says Rick Acosta, spokesman for the Mount Hood National Forest. "We still harvest timber in the national forest, but we do it in a collaborative way, whether it's reducing fuels or improving aquatic habitat, and still produce some boards."

Collaboration has brought about some unusual partnerships, like one in the Clackamas County River district, where the environmental group BARK is working alongside county leaders, the forest service and loggers during a thinning project.

At the American Forest Resource Council, president Tom Partin says he thinks the number of sits may have dropped because the industry evolved. Though logging is still controversial, fewer acres are being logged and new logging techniques "leave a lighter touch" on the land. "Some of their concerns," he says, "are just not out there anymore."

Partin also thinks the issue itself isn't viewed the way it once was. "With what's happening to the economy and with energy, it's not a top-tier issue anymore," he says. "I don't remember having a tree-sitter for a couple of years. The people who were doing it 15 years ago understand that moderation is better. You still have a few young zealots out there who were born 15 or 20 years too late."

Dark, rainy, no one around. It was 3:30 Tuesday morning when Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky pulled up behind the Capitol.

She had gone on a scouting mission days earlier and chosen a western white pine that offered high visibility and low branches for easy climbing.

As she walked across the grounds, she heard weird noises -- phantom cell phone rings, police sirens and church bells -- that turned out to be her imagination.

She threw ropes into the tree and pulleyed up the platform. Then came supplies: food and water, sleeping bag and pillow, a 5-gallon bucket to act as a toilet and a 5-gallon bucket of sawdust to compost the waste.

The first thing she did when daylight arrived was call her parents and tell them what she'd done. She grew up in Salem, in a house of liberal Democrats, and both parents served on the Salem City Council. Her mom lobbied for seniors and people with disabilities in the state Capitol for years, and Zimmer-Stucky participates in the abortion rights movement at the University of Oregon campus.

But she knew she was breaking the law when she climbed the tree.

Her dad sighed that "Oh-Jasmine-what-have-you-done" sigh when she told him, she would say later.

Then he asked: Do you need anything?

From Tuesday morning until Friday afternoon, she stayed on the platform. She slept under a waterproof bag, wrote in her journal, doodled, napped and talked to people who stopped below, calling, "Hello, down there!"

The cops came by. So did old friends, her seventh-grade teacher with a card signed by the class, even a girl she used to baby-sit. Zimmer-Stucky wrote down the name of everyone who visited so she could send a thank-you note later.

She waved to honking cars, did radio interviews with conservative talk-show hosts who mocked her, read Marc Acito's "How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater," awoke when the wind whipped the tarp and endured a group of detractors throwing water balloons.

What went through her mind was the message she wanted to convey. "My main concern is we would go out there and be misunderstood," she would say later. "People would think we were just angry crazy radicals -- far, far left -- and punks, which is not the case at all. We are very dedicated and very educated people who care very much about this issue."

When she came down at last, she gave a short speech on the steps of the Capitol. She told the crowd she would always remember "the trains running along 12th Street all hours of the night, the feeling of the wet tarp that occasionally dropped water on my face when I was sleeping, the feel of the bark with the bright-green lichen, and the soft five-needle bundles that helped protect me from the wind."

After the rally, she walked inside and delivered to the governor's office a stack of postcards in opposition to the BLM's logging plan. Only time will tell if the proposal becomes practice.

Even if it does, she will never know with any real certainty if sitting in the tree for a few days had an effect one way or the other. She thinks it did. She hopes so.

-- Larry Bingham; larrybingham@news.oregonian.com

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14th November 2008, 08:02 AM	#2
Eric Frei Admin - Owner Palm & Tree Services in Brisbane Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,996	Re: Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging Increased logging, but what are the parameters? Sometimes there's adequate provisions, we'd need to see the plan. People protest on all sorts of issues, however there should be more data from them so us readers get the full picture. Gunns here wants to log Tasmania big time, seems both the people and govt approved it. Not saying right or wrong but there's a process. If they want support for their cause then people like us need to know what the underlying facts are and perhaps options. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Palm and Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

14th November 2008, 11:31 AM	#5
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 355	Re: Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging One plan calls for 75% clearcut and 50% reduction in stream buffers. An EIS was done and claims an increase in species habitat. Not quite sure how that works. I guess they take a percentage of the harvest and build little lakeside owl condos for all the refugees.

14th November 2008, 12:06 PM	#6
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 4,948	Re: Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging or they leave a certain percentage of snags and trees for wildlife habitat.after seeing jerry's summary of the old growth redwoods,i agree a second growth forest is better. __________________ Have your say join us today. old schooler

14th November 2008, 02:28 PM	#7
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 355	Re: Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging True NG, That's the plan, and the forestry loggers do an excellent job at leaving habitat that they can. By the way, Jerry is a True legend and his works are very informative. I seriously doubt that a second growth forest is doing the work of a second growth forest based on what I've seen. Live crown ratio, O layer, carbon uptake, snags... Talk to an arborist an ecologist or a biologist. These are things that I look for in a mature stand of trees.

14th November 2008, 03:27 PM	#9
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 355	Re: Student in Oregon Capitol tree to protest logging Dude, Yes. I think this is about to be a recap of an earlier post. Xcept I ain't drinkin beer this time. I'll say it again. LCR, O layer, Carbon sequestration. These are the things to look for in a stand that has an increasingly important job to do. When you look up, how thick is the foliage? How close are the annual rings?

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