Works In Progress - June 2003 - Call To Action: Cascadia Summer 2003: For the Forrests

CASCADIA is the land influenced by the majestic Cascade Mountain Range and the Colombia River, from British Columbia to Northern California. Our region is home to some of the last great wild forests in the world, only a tiny percentage of what once existed in this country.

THE PROBLEM

Over half of Cascadia is federal public land. It is managed by the Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and exploited as if it were an endless resource solely for private profit. Anyone who has driven through the nearby Gifford Pinchot National Forest or any of our other National Forests in the area has witnessed the catastrophic consequences of this approach. The effects of logging on our land go far beyond the loss of trees. We need healthy forests to hold soil in place preserving fertility and preventing floods, landslides, and the harmful siltation of streams and rivers. Intact forests are critical to ensuring clean water, pure air, abundant wildlife, and ultimately the diversity of species on which all life depends.

This destruction for the sole benefit of the timber industry is massively subsidized by your tax dollars, which pays for the maintenance and expansion of the extraordinary road system which allows access to the timber (it's dozens of times longer than the Insterstate highway system), surveying of new sites for timber sales, and the entire bureaucratic apparatus to administer this destruction of the wild.

The forests are currently facing their greatest challenge in decades. The Bush administration has launched a three-prong assault on the forests of the Northwest, designed to eliminate the meager environmental protections which have slowed - but by no means stopped - the logging of our last ancient forests in the past 10 years. First, Bush's "Healthy Forests Initiative" aims at removing all environmental review for tens of thousands of acres of timber sales designated as fire risks. The logic is simply Orwellian: we can only save the environment from fire by removing all environmental protection.

Second, Bush has announced his intention to do away with the Survey and Manage protocols created by Clinton under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). This means the USFS will no longer have to check for the presence of hundreds of threatened animals and plants before tearing a forest to the ground. Third, Bush is planning on drastically scaling back the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the NWFP, the most fundamental protections for our endangered salmon and watersheds. Without Survey and Manage and the Aquatic Conservation Strategy, the few environmental standards for the Northwest created during the Clinton administration will for all practical purposes cease to exist.

THE SOLUTION

We are facing a summer of Lawless Logging, a marathon run for the quick buck while Bush is in the White House. We're going to need your help: all that remains between the chainsaws and our last ancient forests is going to be us, our allies, and the growing roar of active resistance. Cascadia Summer is shaping up to be the greatest mobilization of direct action since the World Trade Organization protests in 1999; the forests are going to need it.

Cascadia Summer is an invitation to help defend our forests and to create a revolution in the way we live our lives. If you long to do more than write a congressperson or appeal to some far off bureaucratic agency, this is your chance to get involved. We will be engaging in a wide range of tactics from civil disobedience (tree-sits, road blockades, occupations of corporate and government offices, etc.), public outreach in urban and rural areas, lawsuits and political pressure.

Throughout the summer trainings will continually be offered in the skills necessary to be an activist: whether you're an experienced politico looking to expand your toolkit or a newcomer to activism wanting to learn the basics, Cascadia Summer is an amazing opportunity to learn, network, and share ideas. We run on a non-hierarchical, directly democratic decision-making structure - if you've ever wanted the experience of working with others on something truly important, this is a great chance. And if you're looking to get involved in direct action, there's going to be plenty of that too.

One last thing: Cascadia Summer's mission includes a broader vision of a world free from all forms of oppression. We stand firmly against the corporate governance system controlling our country, patriarchy in all its forms, racism, war, the attack on civil liberties, etc., etc. and will be working all summer in solidarity and supportive roles with our comrades within the broader social movement.

This is our home. This is public land. As the jaws of the corporate industrial complex clamp tighter around all that is vibrant, all that is wild, all that resists being tamed, we invite you to share in our part of the struggle. Your support is needed-now more than ever. Join us for a day, a week, a month, or the season!

Cascadia Summer's website is cascadiasummer.org; there you'll find dozens of pages featuring events calendars, a review of forest issues, photo galleries, ways you can get involved, and lots more.

Locally, Olympia Earth First! is here to answer your questions and help you get plugged in. Contact us anytime for more info: (360) 870-1219,

olympiaef@ziplip.com, or

http://olynetwork.com/olympiaef

Local and Regional

Events Calendar:

Friday May 30th - June 2nd Mt. Hood National Forest Action Camp in the Solo Timber Sale. A weekend of trainings and preparation for direct action in Northern Oregon. Contact Cascadia Forest Alliance for more info (503) 241-4879 and directions. Contact us for carpool info!

Friday June 6th 7pm 116 N. Perry St. The Gourmet Secret Café! A benefit for Cascadia Summer.

Saturday June 7th All Afternoon @ Heritage Park: In-depth all levels tree climbing trainings!

Saturday - Thursday, June 7th - 12th Northern California: Salmon River Action Camp. Trainings and preparations for actions in Northern California and Southern Oregon. For more info call (503) 957-5572 or email bwsisq@yahoo.com

Sunday June 8th 4pm @ 101 N. Rogers: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) / Olympia Earth First! BBQ!! Labor and enviros together - bring food to grill! Climbing trainings all day too!