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Hani Naser, Pedro
Ricardo Mino, Jackson Browne,
and Of course John
Densmore. |
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John Densmore (w/
Keith Secola in background)
accepting Black Eagle
Native American Music Award
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BOISE CASCADE
PROTEST
By Patrick Orr and Ken Dey
The Idaho
Statesman
Photos by Chris Butler / The Idaho
Statesman
July 26, 2001 Protesters
target Boise Cascade 1 arrested in Boise; Bonnie Raitt among
20 charged in Illinois
 Tate Valle is taken into custody by Boise Police
officers after he chained himself to the axle of a Boise
Cascade Corp. delivery van for an hour and a half to protest
the company's logging practices. Valle came out from under the
vehicle voluntarily. The incident began about 8 a.m.
Wednesday.
Amanne Hays of Boise holds a sign in front
of the Boise Cascade Corp. headquarters Wednesday morning.
Hays, with Wild Rockies Earth First, was joined by about 40
others in protesting the company's logging practices.
Two major environmental groups targeted Boise Cascade
on Wednesday morning with protests at its offices in Boise and
suburban Chicago.
At company headquarters in Boise,
the protest was led by about 40 members of Earth First, while
more than 60 supporters and members of the Rainforest Action
Network protested at Boise Cascade's office-products division
headquarters in Itasca, Ill.
At both locations,
environmentalists criticized Boise Cascade policies, most
notably the cutting and purchase of timber from old growth
forests. And in both instances, the protests led to arrests --
including musicians Bonnie Raitt and John Densmore in Itasca.
In Boise, Tate Valle, 20, a member of the Wild Rockies
Earth First, was arrested for attaching himself to the axle of
a company delivery truck.
It took police and fire
officials about an hour to persuade Valle to remove himself
from the truck.
Valle was charged with solicitation to
halt or impede lawful forestry, mining, or agricultural
practices, a felony.
He will be arraigned in 4th
District Magistrate Court at 1:30 p.m. today.
He could
face a penalty of up to five years in prison and up to a
$5,000 fine if convicted.
Valle was the only one
arrested in Boise, but in Itasca 20 protesters with the San
Francisco-based environmental group -- including Raitt and
Densmore -- were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct
for trespassing on Boise Cascade property, according to Itasca
Police Department Deputy Chief Rusty Votava.
 The Rainforest Action Network
launched its campaign against Boise Cascade in October.
Michael Brune, a spokesman from the group, said Wednesday
members will increase pressure on the company until it changes
its policies.
Brune said those policies make the
Boise-based timber company a "dinosaur" in an industry that is
moving away from its dependence on old growth timber.
Earth First, which has often targeted Boise Cascade,
took its protest one step further Wednesday, criticizing Boise
Cascade for the use of genetic engineering to create
faster-growing trees and for moving logging jobs to other
countries, at the expense of local workers.
Boise
Cascade spokesman Doug Bartels said the protesters are
ill-informed because the company isn't involved in genetic
engineering.
Bartels also defended his company's
environmental record.
"We're very proud of the work
our foresters have done over the years," he said.
Bartels also said Boise Cascade's harvest of old
growth timber only amounted to 3 percent of all harvests last
year.
But despite the low percentage, Brune said it's
still too much.
"How many species need to go extinct
before they make a change?" he asked.
Brune also
contends that Boise Cascade frequently purchases timber from
countries that log from old growth stands.
Bartels,
however, said old growth harvests are only done within the
guidelines of government harvest plans, and timber purchased
from other countries is only from responsibly managed forests.
"We do not purchase wood products from threatened or
endangered forests," he said.
Another Boise Cascade
spokesman, Mike Moser, said the company anticipates the
percentage of its old growth harvests will continue to
decline, but he said harvests from old growth stands will
continue when appropriate and when needed to protect the
health of the forest. | |
