Earth First! Northwest Regional Rendezvous

In Southern Oregon

Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26

In the last year, eco-activists have seen a rapid increase in forest destruction and government repression. While Bush II and his cronies organize to continue profiting from injustice and exploitation, Earth First! is organizing to defend what remains of the Earth’s living systems.

The Rendezvous will be a weekend of education, action, and fun in preparation for a heated summer of defense in the Pacific Northwest. The weekend will be full of workshops, skill sharing and strategy sessions on topics that include climbing & ropes, natural medicine & birth control, global justice, coalition building, prison support, primitive skills, Siskiyou geobiology, wilderness/city medic, legal, corporate campaigning, non-violence and so on, amidst the extraordinary mountains of the Klamath Siskiyou bioregion, one of the most biologically diverse and geologically complex regions in the world.

Straddling the border of northern California and southern Oregon, the Klamath Siskiyou is home to the largest intact blocks of roadless wildlands remaining on the West Coast. Ancient forests and wild rivers, rare plant species and large carnivores, craggy peaks and fertile valleys: this is the Klamath-Siskiyou, from the Trinity Alps in the south to the Siskiyou Crest in the north, from the Cascade Range in the east to the ocean in the west.

When gold was discovered in the hills above Jacksonville, Oregon, waves of desperate miners flooded into the region. What followed was one of the worst chapters of genocide and ecocide in North America. In the name of Manifest Destiny, miners denuded the hillsides, slaughtered the native population, fouled the rivers, and began a cycle of destruction that continues today. Industrial logging, mining, and grazing threaten the remaining integrity of the Klamath-Siskiyou.

Despite 130 years of exploitation, much is left to defend. Whether it is native communities protecting sacred sites or forest activists defending ancient forests, resistance is on the rise in the Klamath-Siskiyou. The weekend will mark the beginning of a full season with activists engaging in a wide range of tactics that include civil disobedience, tree-sits, lawsuits, political pressure, and public outreach in rural and urban areas.



For more information, contact Mazama Forest Defense

1257 Siskiyou Blvd #1158

Ashland, OR 97520.

Phone: 541-482-2640

E-mail: nwregional@mazamaforestdefense.org

Homepage: http://mazamaforestdefense.org