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Annual conference inspires love for the forest By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings Two days into the 12th Annual Forest Conference, activists from the forest, and peace and justice communities are sharing notes with others concerned with public lands and environmental issues. "Peace begins with the environment," conference participant Sophia Harrington said. A volunteer for Ashland's Peace House, Harrington symbolizes one of the primary virtues of the conference: Fostering connection between various groups. "I'm here volunteering for Peace House, and I just joined Mazama Forest Defense," Harrington said. "I was inspired." Laurel Sutherlin (left) of Headwaters ponders a question during conference activities Friday. Ashland Daily Tidings/CHRIS MILLER Peace House, a social justice organization, is one of many groups represented at the conference. The majority are more environmentally linked, such as the Mazama Forest Defense, which recently staged a tree-sits in a large fir adjacent to the Umpqua Bank parking lot in Ashland. The three-day event is co-hosted by Ashland-based group Headwaters and Southern Oregon University's Ecology Center of the Siskiyous. The word "activist" has been taken out of the conference name this year in an effort to be more inclusive. For many conference-goers, activism is still at the heart of things. "I'm waiting to see Julia Butterfly Hill," Ashlander Margie Sollinger said Friday afternoon as she wandered about conference area examining information tables from different groups. "I'm pretty excited about that." Julia Butterfly Hill has become a forest activist icon, following a well-publicized tree sit and a successful book. She was scheduled to give a keynote address for the conference Friday night, along with Paul Hawken, founder of the Natural Step method for businesses to develop environmentally sound practices. In between keynote addresses, and breakfast buffets, conference participants Friday were immersed in a wide variety of seminars and strategy sessions dealing with a wide range of forest protection and restoration activities, legal action updates and political discussion. Saturday's events in the SOU Stevenson Union building include sessions on fire science and policy, Klamath Basin water solutions, wolf recovery in Oregon, genetically engineered trees and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Children can take part in free activities and learn more about the local environment. Darryl Cherney - who won a $4.4 million lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Oakland Police Department after the agencies accused him and Judi Bari of an attempted car bombing - was scheduled to deliver the lunch keynote address. A Saturday night benefit concert with Darryl Cherney and the Chernobles at Q's Bar & Grill in Ashland will follow. The cost for Saturday's events, excluding the free children's activities, is $20. All of Sunday's events are free, starting with a 10 a.m. community forest rally at Triangle Park and ending on the downtown Ashland plaza for an 11:30 a.m. conference closing. Participants in local hikes and a restoration field trip will leave at noon from the entrance to Lithia Park. For a complete list of events see the Web site www.headwaters.org LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -