Copyright 2001 Associated Press
June 22, 2001
By TYPHANNY TUCKER, Associated Press Writer

LOWELL, Ore. (AP) - High in the treetops of the Willamette National Forest, a dozen protesters are waging a silent battle against the logging industry.

They maneuver among tarp-covered plywood shelters along networks of ropes, occasionally dropping by rope harness to the forest floor 200 feet below to restock, pick up mail or change places with volunteers drawn to their cause.

Their weapon is passive resistance - the threat of their presence just about anywhere in the 96 acres of trees the Zip-O-Log Co. bought from the U.S. Forest Service three years ago.

Activists contend the tactic has kept the chain saws away, though the Forest Service says the area hasn't been logged because it is low on Zip-O-Log's list of priorities. James Hallstrom, Zip-O-Log's chief executive, refused to discuss the matter.

Some Forest Service officials say the tree-sitters' presence is growing.

``When I first started my career, there was some tree-spiking. Tree-sitting didn't seem to start until the mid to late '80s. Now it has really taken off,'' said Rex Holloway, a Forest Service spokesman.

According to many environmentalists, Oregon is the epicenter of the tree-sitting movement, attracting volunteers from all over the world. Most of the protests are organized by Internet-savvy ecology action groups that also press their causes by urging mass lobbying campaigns.

Scores of activists are tree-sitting in Oregon: at the 96-acre tract in the Willamette forest, near Eugene; the 309-acre Winberry timber tract; and the 1,030-acre Eagle Creek timber sale, just west of Mount Hood. Two other tree-sits are taking place in California, and activists are threatening more in British Columbia, Washington and Idaho this summer.

Julia ``Butterfly'' Hill, who spent more than two years living in a California redwood to save it from being cut down, said the growing number of tree-sitters is a reflection of people's anger about what's happening to the environment.

``The passion for this type of direct action is growing because other methods are failing us,'' Hill said.

According to Hill, the tree-sitting movement is driven by the same distaste for globalization and concern for the environment that has sent thousands of activists onto the streets of Seattle, Quebec City and other protest sites in the past two years.

``Tree-sitters are doing these things because it is from the gut,'' Hill said.

For the Forest Service, the Eagle Creek sale in Oregon has been the site of the most recent conflict. The company that owns the timber, Vanport Manufacturing Co., planned to harvest trees there on June 1, but activists blocked an access road with boulders. When the Forest Service sent in a bulldozer to clear the way, protesters formed a human chain across the road, preventing it from reaching the blockade.

Earlier that day, a logging truck was burned at Eagle Creek and two others were damaged. Activists camping at Eagle Creek condemned the arson attack. Federal agents are investigating.

The office of Sen. Ron Wyden (news - bio - voting record), D-Ore., is negotiating with the Forest Service to suspend logging at Eagle Creek until an independent environmental review of the site is finished, said Josh Kardon, Wyden's chief of staff. Environmentalists say the trees protect a watershed that supplies some of Portland's drinking water.

The Canopy Action Network, which organizes tree-sits and recruits volunteers via the Internet, says tree-sits give people an opportunity ``to connect radically with the earth, to create community and break many of the conditionings of consumer culture.''

But Patti Rodgers, a spokeswoman for Willamette National Forest, argues some activists are living in trees not for environmental reasons, but because they are wayward youths with nothing better to do.

``We have had a lot of trouble with runaway kids, throwaway kids. We have had a lot of trouble with felony warrants served out there,'' Rodgers said.

Though she added, ``there are definitely folks who have done this because that is what they believe.''

Erin Volheim, a volunteer with the nonprofit group Cascadia Forest Defenders, said the tree-sitters come from all walks of life and all ages.

Out in the forests, they communicate using bird calls and frog croaks to hide their positions, and many use aliases, like Butterfly, to protect themselves from authorities. Some stay in the trees for a weekend adventure, others have made the tree villages their home for years.

``We have had 45-year-old men, 15-year-old girls, everyone as far as age range,'' Volheim said. ``They are people who care about the forests.'' Error: Unable to read footer file.