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--> --> Peak Timber Sale activists off the hook; charges dropped by DA By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings Three activists arrested in connection with the protests at the Peak timber sale in Prospect have had their charges dropped by the Jackson County District Attorney's office. The activists include city council candidate Eric Navickas, his brother Ryan, and Brenna Bell, an attorney at the Williams office of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. The three were arrested September 28 for second-degree criminal trespass after violating a Forest Service closure order that blocked public access and the media to areas within the Rogue River National Forest. According to Rachel Bridges, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case, recent court decisions made in Oregon this year make it more difficult to prosecute cases of criminal trespass. "When criminal trespass (II) comes up, our ability to prosecute these cases is limited. It used to be you only had to enter and remain on a property. Now, someone has to say `get off,' and then the person has to refuse to leave," Bridges said. Bridges also acknowledged that she didn't feel she had sufficient facts to support the charges against Bell and the Navickas brothers. Bell said she purposely crossed the closure line to test it, because she believed the closure to be illegal. "I think that this closure is over-broad ... " Bell said, "and I think the public has every right to be on our public lands observing the logging that's being done on our public lands. We intend to fight this closure to show that the public has a right to bear witness to the logging and the devastation done on our public lands." Forest Service officials have stated the closure was for the safety of the public and the loggers working in the forest. Because the forest is on federal land, the activists could face future federal charges, should the Forest Service wish to pursue the matter. "It took place on federal land, so federal authorities may charge them in court at a future date," Bridges said. Eric Navickas, who is running in the Ashland City Council race, was jubilant, and said he didn't expect that the Forest Service would press the case at the federal level. "I really don't see it going anywhere. I didn't purposely break the closure. I stepped on the road after I swam across the river to keep an eye on the arrest of Brenna. They had taken her out of public view to arrest her, so we crossed the river to videotape the arrest, and we stepped on the road while hiking back up. And that's when they got us," he said Wednesday. "What we're seeing at a lot of these protests is that the Forest Service and the Forest Service law enforcement officers are acting too aggressively, intimidating activists, and limiting citizens rights of assembly and free speech," Navickas said. Calls made to Forest Service officials and law enforcement to determine whether they intended to pursue federal charges against Bell and the Navickas brothers were not returned by presstime. Joel King, district ranger for the Rogue River National Forest, said he was unaware of any such pursuit. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing