'Direct action' class prepares people for Mt. A protest
In the bottom floor of the Ashland Library Wednesday night, a small group of people began to sew seeds of civil disobedience.
Anna Boyd, former director of Peace House and one of the organizers of "Watershed Week," said the threat of logging old-growth Engelmann Spruce on Mount Ashland could be real in coming weeks, and people need to be ready to stand as a last line of defense.
"You're trying to use all the tools you have while living in a country where you're not going to get shot for standing up for what you believe in," Boyd said.
Eighteen people gathered to learn about "direct action" and nonviolent communication, motivated by a proposed 71-acre ski area expansion at the top of the Ashland Watershed. A federal district court judge has yet to file an opinion in a lawsuit where he ruled in favor of the Forest Service in its approval of the expansion in 2004. The City of Ashland holds a special-use permit through the U.S. Forest Service to operate the ski area. The city revoked the permit to the Mt. Ashland Association — the non-profit entity that operates the ski area — until it offers a detailed business plan to prove that the city will not be responsible if the ski area fails.
For those gathered Wednesday, however, the judicial process may not be enough to stop a logging project. Direct action could be a last resort.
"Ideally, we're not going to get to a point where we say we've exhausted all our resources," Boyd said.
But just in case, people practiced building consensus and mock planning for a protest. They discussed planning for how far each person is willing to go to get arrested or help people who would try to stop a logging operation.
The training Wednesday night was a brief entry into possible further discussions about the possibility of nonviolent protest against logging on Mount Ashland. The expansion project will probably not incite action from larger environmental groups, Boyd said, so Ashland residents could be the only ones to step in to disrupt possible logging.
"This is it," she said. "It's us."
Beyond the philosophy of nonviolent disobedience, people talked about more concrete issues like who feeds a protestor's dog or other logistics.
One man, who preferred not to be identified for this story, said he wanted to know what support he might get if arrested.
"I want to know who pays my fine if I go to jail. Is anyone going to pay my medical bills if I get injured," he said. "I'm a realist."
Nick Frost, a candidate for Ashland City Council, showed up to learn about direct action. However, he hopes the council will take steps to stop the expansion before a protest takes place.
Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.
