On the second day of a protest against
roadbuilding and industrial logging in endangered forests,
Greenpeace activists are holding their ground at the Tonka
Log
Transfer facility and the Finger Point Timber Sale on
Kupreanof
Island. This morning more than a dozen law enforcement
officers
from the Forest Service and Alaska State Troopers arrived on
the
scene and ordered the protesters to leave. The activists are
solid in
their commitment to maintain the blockade and are refusing to
leave
the Forest Rescue Station. Media wishing to visit the site
can
request a permit from the Forest Service to enter a
“designated
media location” near the protest.
“This Forest Rescue Station is highlighting a national crisis –
the loss
of treasures like the Alaskan rainforest” said Jeremy
Paster,
Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. “For the sake of future
generations, we will not leave.”
The order, signed by Tongass National Forest Supervisor
Forrest
Cole, reads in part, “To ensure the safety of the protestors
[sic], the
general public and road construction personnel, the road
systems
and associated timber sale units will be closed until further
notice.”
Paster dismissed the idea that the Forest Rescue Station
threatened
the safety of anyone.
“It is ridiculous for the Forest Service to close this area
under the
guise of ‘safety’,” he said. “Safety is the paramount concern in
any
Greenpeace protest and we would never do anything to place
others
in jeopardy. Our peaceful protest is directed solely at
logging
operations and is not interfering with those who want to use the
area
for recreational purposes. Yesterday, hunters passed in and out
of
this area without any problems, and this morning some local
residents visited us to show their support. This move to close
the
area to the public is clearly a ploy by authorities to distract
from the
real issue: the decimation of our endangered forests.”
The activists, including seven Alaskans, launched the Forest
Rescue Station yesterday by blocking logging roads near the
Finger
Point Timber Sale. They are demanding an end to industrial
logging
in public forests across the country. The protest is the first
forest
occupation in the Tongass.
Contact: Nancy Hwa, Greenpeace Media
Officer currently in
Southeast Alaska, (907) 209-7580.
