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Activists aim to revive forest focus Terrorist attacks caused many to step back, but conference will seek rededication to issues By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Moving the conservation community forward in the aftermath of last fall's terrorist attack will be the focus of the 11th annual Western Forest Activist Conference, which begins Friday morning. "September 11 has had an impact," acknowledged conference coordinator Darcy Davis. "When people are basically wrapped up in new social issues, worried about war, environmental concerns are dropped." As a result, many in the environmental community, like most Americans, stepped back to take a deep breath, she said. "But there are a lot of issues, like drilling for oil in the Arctic (wildlife refuge), that need our attention," she said. "We need to get rolling again." "Moving the Movement - Connecting People and the Planet," is theme of the three-day conference at Southern Oregon University. Sponsored by the Ashland-based Headwaters environmental coalition and SOU's Ecology Center of the Siskiyous, the conference will run all day Friday and Saturday and through 3 p.m. Sunday at the Stevenson Union. Up to 400 environmental activists from throughout the West Coast are expected to gather to discuss issues and strategy. More than 100 presentations will be given, covering everything from the ecology to the restoration economy, from wilderness to wild salmon. Kicking off Friday events at 9:30 a.m. is a presentation on activism in times of international turmoil. Former Ashland resident Winona LaDuke, a longtime environmental and indigenous rights activist, will give the keynote address at 8 p.m. Friday. She was Green Party candidate Ralph Nader's vice presidential running mate during the 2000 presidential campaign. Tickets for her presentation are $5 for conference participants and $10 for others. The SOU's Women's Resource Center is co-sponsoring her presentation. Paul Ray, a social anthropologist and co-author of "Cultural Creatives - How 50 Million People are Changing the World," will give Saturday's keynote address beginning at 12:30 p.m. The talk is free with conference registration. "We have so many issues we're covering at the conference this year - we have more than 50 breakout sessions," Davis said. "These are by experts dedicating a huge chunk of their lives to environmental issues. "There are a lot of people working on a whole variety of issues," she added. "There is a real urgency out there." Some sessions will focus on regional issues, such as the Klamath Basin, the proposed ski operation expansion on Mount Ashland and the newly established Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, she said. "There are a lot of different issues," she said. "We are in a different time and phase than last year. President Bush is not the same for conservation that Clinton was. There are new challenges in that." Conference registration fee is on a sliding scale of $100 to $175. The student fee is $65. For additional information, contact Davis at the Headwaters office at 482-4459. A conference schedule is online at www.headwaters.org. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.