CNN.com April 13, 2002

LINK

Tree protester dies in fall

)

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- A tree sitter fell 150 feet from a platform in the Mount Hood National Forest, was badly injured and died before rescue crews could reach the remote site.

The timber sale she apparently was protesting had been canceled three days before her death, and the protesters expected to leave the area within a week.

It took rescue crews over two hours struggling up snow-clogged dirt roads to reach the tree-sitters' camp after fellow activists called 9-1-1 on a cell phone at about 7 p.m., Clackamas County Sheriff's spokeswoman Angela Blanchard said.

The caller said the woman, who the medical examiner was trying to identify Saturday, was unconscious but still breathing, Blanchard said.

By the time rescue crews arrived at about 9:30 p.m., the woman was dead, she said.

Ivan Maluski, a spokesman for the American Lands Alliance, a group involved in protesting the Eagle Creek timber sale, said tree sitters were days away from leaving the site after a three-year vigil.

About four people take turns living year-round in tree platforms in the area where the protester fell, Maluski said.

"People literally are waiting for the ink to dry (on the cancellation deal). Probably we're going to be packing up and leaving this week, assuming it is signed," Maluski said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, an opponent of the timber sale, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service had reached an agreement to cancel the logging contract after an independent review determined the deal required significant modifications to prevent environmental harm.

At issue was the problem of blowdown, or trees not intended for logging being felled by winds on the edge of areas wh ere cutting was planned. The Forest Service said tree sitters didn't influence the decision.

The Forest Service and the timber company, Vanport Manufacturing, agreed to cancel the deal, but tree sitters said they would remain in the woods until the final paperwork was signed.

Tree sitters live in plywood platforms attached to the upper limbs of trees slated for logging.

-- (lars@indy.net), April 13, 2002

Answers

Talk about "being out of her tree".

-- (death@lost.causes), April 13, 2002.

I know a little about this tree sitting deal. It all started with Newt Gringrich and the so-called Timber Salvage Rider. This rider was part of Newt's strategy of rolling back all environmental laws and restoring the good old days when real men smoked and real rivers burned.

Anyway, the rider blocked all public comments or legal challenges to this particular timber sale. It also so happens that this logging was a big stand in a very important watershed that about 150,000 people use for their drinking water. Since, thanks to Newt and his gang, there was no legitimate channel left for political action against the sale, there wasn't a hell of a lot of choice given the people who thought it shouldn't happen. Thus, people started using their bodies as weapons to block the logging. That was roughly the last five or six years. The sale was cancelled only a few days ago.

Now someone is dead. Thank Newt and the Republicans for robbing people with legitimate grievances from using legitimate channels to express them. On second thought, sh*t on Newt and the Republicans. It's this kind of scum sucking, underhanded, scofflaw, democracy-hating tricks that make them detested as the semi-criminal assholes they undoubtedly are.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), April 13, 2002.

LN:

On second thought, sh*t on Newt and the Republicans. It's this kind of scum sucking, underhanded, scofflaw, democracy-hating tricks that make them detested as the semi-criminal assholes they undoubtedly are.

As you know, we depend on your learned opinions. Now you are getting a wishy-washy on us.

Of course you could do what I did; I am upstream from everyone. If they cut trees upstream from my water supply it would be in my back field. ;<))

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), April 13, 2002.

We're...we're all drinking downstream from Z! >;)

-- helen (tasty@water.anyone?), April 13, 2002.

Z, I am so glad to hear of your good fortune in this respect. Perhaps you should bestir yourself and find out how to say "I got mine" in Latin. It would make a wonderful motto on a coat of arms, don't you think?

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), April 13, 2002.

LN:

We already have a family motto. I am told it means "this far and no further". Since it is in Gaelic, I can't confirm that. Apparently we also have a family castle. Someone sent me a picture; I wasn't all that impressed. My ancestors moved to what is now New York when it was a Dutch colony. So for me, New York is the old country. :<)))

Some of them did live around Palmyra [Wayne and Ontario counties as I recall]. They have handed down stories about Joe Smith that would probably raise the hackles on the Dennis neck. I don't repeat them since they are hearsay. I try not to irritate without purpose. After all I have a number of good friends who are Mormons.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), April 14, 2002.

What the hell was this stupid bitch doing there in the first place? Who is paying these assholes to trespass on the property of others and build platforms up in the trees?

Maybe the rest of these lazy, unemployed idiots will think twice about playing Tarzan and Jane.

-- Send (mo@money.please), April 14, 2002.

Send,

Well done, sir! Now if you will only address the small issue of denying US citizens an appropriate channel in which they may express their legitimate opinions upon public matters that directly bear upon their lives, homes and well-being, I would be most appreciative. Until then, stuff it where the sun don't shine.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), April 14, 2002.

Ah, for the good old days when all tree-houses had signs "no gurls allowed"

-- (lars@indy.net), April 15, 2002.

I got your ‘appropriate channel’ right here, Little Thing. You fucking liberal pukes always seem to excuse unlawful protests as an acceptable avenue for change. That’s why this country is turning into an unruly sewer for every whacko bitch group that gets bored sitting around watching Springer.

It’s called the LAW asshole…..respect it or change it within the structure of our system.

Or, you could always relocate to a country that embraces your values, whatever the hell they might be.

-- Send (mo@money.please), April 15, 2002.

Send, if there is a law that lets someone else take your property and another law that says you have no legal channel to appeal the decision to take your property, what do you have left to do?

If there is a law that says you may be imprisoned without legal counsel, and you find yourself locked up, what do you have left to do?

The law is not a thing set in stone. The right to challenge the law is more important. If there is no legal way to challenge the law itself, what do you have left to do?

-- helen (law@school.calls), April 15, 2002.

go helen go

-- (cin@cin.cin), April 15, 2002.

Right On, Helen!!

-- Send (mo@money.please), April 16, 2002.

" if there is a law that lets someone else take your property "

Helen, you DO NOT own your property. You pay property taxes; the gov owns land and allows you to use that land only as they see fit. Some land is zoned commercial or residential, further residential can be single or multiple or zone for animals or not. The law IS that they chose how to use what you've purchased. That's the law. I don't see you changing that anytime soon no matter how many times you sit in a tree. (I've used the 'you' here but I really mean 'one'.)

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), April 16, 2002.

Maria, would you really be in favor of letting people use their property any way they wanted, with no restrictions whatsoever? How would you like a fast food joint right next to your home, as one example.

-- Peter Errington (petere7@starpower.net), April 16, 2002.

To heck with a fast food joint, try having a chicken factory parked next door to your local school. The kids can hardly breath outside on the playground.

-- helen (do@you.want.flies.with.that?), April 16, 2002.

Who was there first, the school or the chicken abattoir? Sounds like a strange situation either way.

-- (lars@indy.net), April 16, 2002.

The school was there first. But the land under the chicken factory is privately owned. No one here is telling the owners they can't have a chicken factory next to a school. I just meant there are worse things to have next door than a fast food joint.

-- helen (hold@yer.nose), April 16, 2002.

Well someone should have said they can't have a chicken factory next to a school.

Is there a work-study program?

-- (lars@indy.net), April 16, 2002.

Would the fast-food joint serve fresh hot fried zucchini with ranch dressing at any time of the day or night? Hmmmm let me think about that. ;o)

-- (cin@cin.cin), April 16, 2002.

It's totally beside the point what the fast food place would serve, cin. The chicken place serves 24/7 hot, stinky poop.

-- helen (learning@about.stinky.life.at.school), April 16, 2002.

We gotta go visit helen. Who's up for a trip this summer?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), April 17, 2002.

A field trip? To tick infested hell? Carlos, summer might not be a good time, maybe in the fall.

And as long as I dropped into this thread, I think that the world is better off by having one less nut case around. I mean, my god, to risk losing your life over a tree? There has to be a Darwin award in the offing.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), April 17, 2002.

ME! I wanna go on the field trip. : )

-- Pammy (waving@hand.in the air), April 17, 2002.

Peter, I agree the government should control land usage. It's the law that we only occupy our own land. Just pointing it out.

Jack, I also thought of Darwin after reading this. LOL

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), April 17, 2002.

JBT,

Are people who skydive, vertical rock climb, ski, or a number of other inherently dangerous sports, considered nuts in your book too? In anything, even driving, there is a chance of dying.

This girl was doing something that she passionately believed was right. I think it's great that she was getting actively involved for her cause, and not just all talk like so many others, including myself.

-- (cin@cin.cin), April 17, 2002.

Cin,

Well now that you mention it, I do think that people who sky dive are a little loony and the same with rock climbers. Both of these are "recreational" activities that have a potentially fatal outcome. These people are doing this for fun and risking their lives more than someone playing golf.

I would suppose that some people consider Russian Roulette a hobby or recreational activity. Would you then support them as pursuing a little harmless fun and being perfectly sane or would you think that they might be a little unbalanced?

You are right in that driving also poses a threat to your life but I do that because of necessity not for fun. You don't see me driving in a stock car race which would be a more likely comparison here.

"This girl was doing something that she passionately believed was right."

I think that it is nice that people can really get involved in causes that they believe in. However, there are causes and then there are causes. Putting your life on the line for a tree seems to be a little out of kilter when you look at the potential cost/benefit ratio.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), April 17, 2002.

“This girl was doing something that she passionately believed was right.”

Just wonderful.

Here’s a short list of others that ‘passionately believed’ that what they were doing was right:

· Attila the Hun

· Hitler

· Stalin

· Mohammed Atta

· Osama Bin Laden

Get the drift?

-- Free (head@case.analysis), April 17, 2002.

I’ve watched this thread progress for quite a while now, and I’ve got to say, I’m amazed. I’m always disheartened by intolerance, but has our forum really sunk to this level? I mean, here we have a young woman who died doing a brave and dangerous protest. She was one of us; an American. With American rights that we all cherish, including the right to be heard. Her actions were passive; she didn’t hijack a plane or blow up a Federal building. And her actions were legitimate enough to make the authorities rethink and reverse their position. Yet, here, amoung us, she has become a criminal; in league with Stalin and Hitler.

But more than American, much more, she was a person. Someone’s daughter; perhaps someone’s wife or mother, and she is dead. And all we can say is good riddance? A casualty of the Darwin Effect? I never knew her, but I wish I had. I feel that I would have been enriched by her passion, and humbled by her sacrifice. I’ve never seen the grove that she helped to save but because of her and others like her, I still have the chance. And I have the chance to see Yosemite, and the redwoods, and the canyon lands. Just because someone else had the nerve and the intelligence to speak up or climb a tree, or stand in front of a bulldozer, or whatever it took to say, “Enough! Let’s save this for future generations”.

Do you really think we would have left the ancient forests or the wild rivers or the coastal wetlands if someone had not opposed the forces of development? Would not the Grand Canyon have gone the way of Glen Canyon, for the same meaningless reasons? Would we have Yellowstone, or the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, or the Everglades? Perhaps, but perhaps not.

I’ve never sat in a tree to protest logging. I’ve never stopped a bulldozer, or fought a dam project. But because someone did, my children will inherit a world very different than one that could have been.

As I said, I did not know this young woman. But I will mourn her passing.

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), April 17, 2002.

I agree with what Lon has just said.

-- Peter Errington (petere7@starpower.net), April 17, 2002.

Um...sorry for the thread drift, Lon.

But you're all invited to a field trip at my place. If you want serious skin infections, parasitic worms, and diarrhea, come out in hot weather. If you want a good time that, alas, does not involved water sports, come out in the fall/winter. Your choice.

-- helen (gotta@paint.the.house.now), April 17, 2002.

I wonder what caused her to fall. Was there a storm? Was she sick? Did the platform have a design/workmanship fault? Was she alone? Was she acting safely?

The young woman obviously had passionate views. But did she knowlingly risk her life to express them by tree-sitting? Are her parents (probably wealthy whites---the environment is not often a cause-celebe for poor and working-class people) proud of their daughter and pleased as a Palestinian Papa that she gave her life for the cause?

If she was my daughter I'd be heartsick and maybe a little pissed at the American Lands Alliance.

-- (lars@indy.net), April 17, 2002.

Free, how on earth can you equate this woman's intentions with those on your list? She wasn't harming anyone(except for herself, but unintentionally). In fact she was trying to save lives, be it a tree or wildlife, etc.

Time for a self-analysis?

-- (cin@cin.cin), April 17, 2002.

Here’s a short list of others that ‘passionately believed’ that what they were doing was right:

· Attila the Hun

· Hitler

· Stalin

· Mohammed Atta

· Osama Bin Laden

Get the drift?

Yeah, I do.

Here's another list of folks who passionately believed what they were doing was right WHILE THEY BROKE THE LAW!!

George Washington

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

All the signers of the Declaration of Independance

Those guys who threw the tea into Boston Harbor...

Get the drift?

-- I got your analysis RIGHT HERE (unkeeD@yahoo.com), April 17, 2002.

woohoo Unk! I got chills when I read that

-- go unk go (cin@cin.cin), April 17, 2002.

JBT:

These people are doing this for fun and risking their lives more than someone playing golf. You obviously have never played golf with me.

As a former climber [in my wasted youth], we used a variety of safety devices. They were available on this tree. The young lady was not using them. That is why she died; not for a cause, not for a belief; just because of carelessness [or some may say stupidity]. Careless climbers are generally peeled from the base of the face for burial. Mistakes have consequences. They teach you that in the first day of climbing school.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), April 17, 2002.

Rural America declares war on "green fascists"

-- (Joyce Kilmer@tree.nursury), April 19, 2002.

Lon Frank is right. Clearly though, the scumbag extreme conservatives like "Send Mo Money" and "Nut Case" are programmed to attack anyone who has more balls than them (including girls, LOL!). You scumbags are just afraid to die because you live such shitty lives that you fear you will go straight to Hell. Grow up, you spineless pissant whiners.

-- lol (girls have @ more balls. than you), April 20, 2002.