Earth First! takes direct action against highway expansion

By Brendan Conley

June 27— Environmental activists from the Earth First! movement locked themselves to construction equipment on Monday to protest the widening of Tennessee highway 321.

“We want to stop the expansion of 321,” said Jason Joye, a participant in the action. “They want to turn a beautiful natural area into golf courses and strip malls.”

The activists claim that the widening of 321, between Gatlinburg and Cosby, is illegal, because no environmental impact statement (EIS) has been done. The highway borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which Earth First! said is “the most endangered park in the country.” The group said that 13,000 citizens have demanded an EIS, but the National Park Service has not acted.

“Since the Park Service has failed to do their job in protecting our national treasure, it is up to citizens like us to block this illegal construction and demand a legal EIS,” Earth First! said in a statement.

Joye and another Earth First! activist locked themselves to a crane and a bulldozer, equipment that is being used by the Blalock corporation to do the road-widening work. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) intends to widen the road to five lanes from its current two lanes. Earth First! proposes to make 321 part of the Foothills Parkway, a scenic highway designation that would keep the road to two lanes.

The two protesters remained locked down from 6:30am until about 9am. According to Earth First!, the two were threatened and ridiculed by Tennessee state troopers and TDOT workers. About 20 demonstrators lined the road with protest signs until they were forced to leave by state troopers. According to Joye, the activists ended the lockdown voluntarily when “we felt unsafe.” Joye said that in attempting to unlock the activists, the authorities threatened to injure them.

This is the second wave of nonviolent civil disobedience directed at stopping the expansion of Highway 321. A similar protest took place on April 13 of this year.

“Earth First! will continue to protest this project until federal law is followed,” the group said in a statement. “No more exploitation. No more blind building.”

Hendersonville citizens will present alternative to Charles Taylor fundraiser

By Brendan Conley

Asheville, June 27— Local citizens will gather in Hendersonville to discuss community issues as an alternative to a fundraising event for US Representative Charles Taylor.

“We want to provide a balance to the Republican agenda,” said Lisa Thurman, the event organizer. Thurman is an organizer with the WNC Greens. She said the event will feature speakers from a variety of environmental and “sustainable community” organizations.

Taylor’s fundraising reception is at the Kenmure Country Club in Hendersonville, at 5:30pm on Saturday, June 30. Taylor has drawn ire from local environmentalists for his pro-industry agenda. The featured speaker at the event is US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson.

Thompson has come under fire for his extreme right-wing views. As governor of Wisconsin, he met resistance in his attempts to establish state welfare policies more restrictive than the federal norm, but Wisconsin ultimately served as the model for Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform.

Thompson, entrusted with policy decisions affecting the health of the nation, has deep ties to the tobacco industry. He is also an outspoken opponent of abortion, and as governor of Wisconsin, he signed legislation restricting abortion rights.

These extreme views are what led Thurman to organize the alternative event, she said. “At the same time Charles Taylor receives his guests, we’ll be gathering with a different agenda,” said Thurman. She said that rather than “shadowing” Taylor’s fundraiser, she thinks of the gathering as a “sunshine event.”

The gathering will be held in Hendersonville on Saturday, June 30, at 5:30pm. Guests are encouraged to bring a potluck dish and a lawn chair. Call 697-4254 for directions.

SABP halts timber sale

New Castle, Virginia, June 25— In response to a motion filed in Federal District Court in Atlanta, GA, Judge Willis Hunt granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the US Forest Service, preventing the initiation of logging on the Cuba timber sale on the New Castle Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest. The TRO is designed to maintain the status quo while the Court decides the merits of SABP’s lawsuit challenging four timber sales in Virginia and North Carolina.

Last August, SABP filed a lawsuit in Atlanta, challenging the Forest Service’s approval of four timber sales for failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires Federal agencies to consider a range of alternatives to any proposal that affects the environment. For two of the sales, the Forest Service claimed to have valid contracts for the Cuba and Taylor Branch sales which would allow logging to begin any time (a claim which SABP rejects), but agreed to give two weeks notice if they planned to initiate logging. SABP received notice on June 11th for the Cuba sale, and asked the court to prevent logging until a more complete consideration of the merits could be undertaken. The court granted SABP’s TRO motion on Friday, June 22.

“The Forest Service continues to break any law that stands in the way of logging. SABP is alarmed by this wanton disregard for environmental laws by an agency whose mission is to protect public lands, which benefit all citizens. We will continue to oppose timber sales and other industrial extraction on National Forests, and urge an end to logging, mining and other corporate welfare that occurs on lands owned by us all,” said SABP campaign coordinator Marty Bergoffen.

For more information, contact Marty Bergoffen at (828)258-2667 or Marty@sabp.net