O.R.C.

Eco-activist Tre Arrow was sentenced yesterday to 78 months. Since his time served in Canada counts towards his total, he is actually facing between two years and thirty months more, depending on which corporate media outlet you listen to. Note that The Vancouver Sun, a Canadian paper, calls him an environmental activist, while The Portland Tribune calls him an eco-arsonist. Of obvious note is that the Tribune is owned by Dr. Robert Pamplin, the third richest man in Oregon (net worth in 1998: $560 million), who also owns Ross Island Sand & Gravel, the company whose earth-exploiting trucks were lit aflame.

Finally, some local news. It sounds like the fine folk of The Pitchfork Rebellion are coming to Portland to try and draw attention to the horrendous WOPR (no, not that WOPR, but the Western Oregon Plan Revision: a complete trashing of environmental protections that apply to the BLM and their land-use which will increase logging by some many hundred percent). From forestcouncil.org:

Speakers include ecological forester Roy Keene; Tim Hermach, executive director of Native Forest Council; Bill Barton, private forestland owner; Lauren Regan, executive director of Civil Liberties Defense Center; and testimonials from forest-dwellers whose families have been poisoned by backward timber industry clearcutting and herbicide practices.

Musical performers include reggae superstars Jah Levi and Evan Belize; Freebo, former bass-player for Bonnie Raitt; political folk musician David Rovics; the Daveys and Alternative Reality; Native American and African drumming and other musical acts.

Pitchfork Rebellion will also share the findings of its report which reveals how high-level positions in State and Federal Agencies that have legal stewardship over our soil, water, air, and natural wealth are staffed by current and former employees of multinational corporations (i.e. EPA’s Elin Miller, former Dow chemical executive).

40 miles east of Portland, Oregon, Bonneville Dam blocks the Columbia River. Bonneville Dam is maintained by The US Army Corp of Engineers and serves the Bonneville Power Adminstration (located in Portland). The dam has had a devastating effect on Columbia River’s salmon population, only a minority of which is able to make it up the fish-ladders to spawn. California sea lions have discovered the gathering of endangered fish at the base of the dam and have begun to eat them, naturally enough. But rather than remove the dam and restore the Columbia River to its natural balance, the government has decided to kill the protected (but not “endangered”) california sea lions, at the same time that fishing quotas are expected to go up 33%, proving that the government respects human, but not non-human, fishing.

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On April 21st, ALF Cascadia, of the decentralized, leaderless Animal Liberation Front, took credit for liberating mink from Jefferson Fur Farm in Jefferson, Oregon. According to the industry group Fur Commission USA (contact information here), 53 mink were released, but all were later recovered. Economic damages from destroyed records are estimated at around $5000. Below is the press release from the ALF:

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The food-chain is critical to bio-diversity. Big predators keep the populations of smaller predators in line, helping keep small animals alive. Big predators keep populations of large herbivores in line, helping keep grasslands and forests intact. But here in Cascadia, the powers-that-ought-not-be are reinstituting a massive cougar hunting campaign, citing an increased number of human-cougar interactions (despite the remarkably few number of fatal attacks). According to numerous sources, there has never been a fatal cougar attack in Oregon.

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(reposted from Bark.)

The Hood River Ranger Station will be hosting an open house through the Blossom Festival. The public is welcome to stop by and “Chat with your local Forest Service employees and learn about our current projects, including stream restoration, trail conditions, interpretive events, volunteer opportunities, forest health, Highway 35 improvements.”

Hood River Ranger Station
6780 Hwy 35
Mt. Hood, OR

by Arnica
Much has been made of Tre Arrow, and his case will soon stand the test of the American Justice system. The case is as much a test of the draconian punitive nature of post 9-11 America as it is anything else. To date there is no forensic or physical evidence linking Tre to the crime, and all indications suggest that three college students who knew Tre implicated him in their sloppy firebombing, thus guaranteeing reduced sentences. People know this: they also know that the corporate media has labeled Tre as everything from a “trippy hippie” to an “eco-terrorist”. But psychologically, people know very little. It’s the purpose of this article to shed some light on his psyche.

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Eight miles southwest of Oakridge Oregon, on Jan 19th, Coyote Mountain took a swipe at the Union Pacific Railroad Company. As the U.P. mainline switchbacks up Coyote Mountain, a major landslide 20 acres wide and 200 feet deep plunged down the mountain. It took with it 1,500 ft. of upper track and another 150 ft of the lower track and buried 60 acres. One 3,000-foot segment was covered in mud and logs 20 feet deep. Read more

Welcome to the website of ORC. Over the next few years (until the inevitable collapse of the internet) we intend to bring you up-to-date news of importance, allowing you to keep track of what’s happening in Cascadia and around the world.