Cal Fire Playing Dangerous Game- Pitting Loggers vs. Protestors
June 16th, 2021 – Tensions escalated today as logging continued despite close proximity of protestors to falling trees in the Caspar 500 THP- a beloved section of forest that has become pivotal in the movement to save Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). At 3:45am, a convoy of three CalFire Vehicles, followed by five loggers in trucks entered the plan only to find activists locked down to a gate at the far end of Road 500.
Loggers entered through an alternate route and began to fall big trees, first in one area, then in another, followed by activists who stopped them each time.
“It was chaotic and terrifying”, said one activist who was on scene, with trees being felled “willy-nilly all over the place” despite loggers’ clear awareness of the public’s presence. Protestors used loud bull horns and air horns to announce themselves. Logging was interrupted and finally stopped for the day by 10:30 a.m.
A single CHP officer arrived about 10:00 a.m., cruised the entry road and left without addressing protestors concerns about the unsafe practices occurring in the woods. Neither CalFire nor County Sheriff Matt Kendall responded to the dangerously escalating scenes on public property.
“They declined to arrest and remove protestors and allowed logging to proceed, creating a chaotic situation that leaves both protestors and loggers unprotected”, said Linda Perkins, Albion resident and citizen forestry advocate, acting as the protestors’ liaison.
