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Forest activist conference set Friday at SOU By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND -- Environmental activists from throughout the region will gather to discuss strategy in the ninth annual Western Forest Activist Conference beginning Friday at Southern Oregon University. Sponsored by the Headwaters environmental coalition, the conference will run Friday morning through noon Sunday in the Stevenson Union. More than 100 presentations will be given by speakers representing a broad spectrum of society, from environmental activists to mayors and union leaders, said conference coordinator Chant Thomas. "Instead of just having environmentalists sit and talk to each other, we try to get a variety of different people together to talk about the issues," Thomas said. It's having an impact, he said, noting that an offshoot of last year's conference is a growing level of interaction between environmental activists and organized labor. Speakers this year, in addition to environmental activists, include Salem Mayor Michael Swaim; Arcata (Calif.) Mayor Connie Stewart; and Martha McClure, a member of the Del Norte County board of supervisors, he said. Others will be Don Kegley, representing the United Steel Workers of America Local 329 in Spokane, and Brian Derdowski, former councilor for King County in Washington. Keynote speaker is Andy Kerr, former head of the Oregon Natural Resources Council. He will discuss conserving and restoring wildlands through legislative action at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. "A lot of the conference activities will also be looking at this year's election, trying to put forest and environmental issues on the political map," Thomas said. For instance, the full session from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday focuses on organizing around key federal issues and opportunities for election 2000, Thomas said. During that session, eight speakers will address such diverse topics as the Endangered Species Act, climate change, world trade, forest restoration and decoupling county timber payments. The session begins Friday morning with a review of the state of the environmental movement, including successes in forest protection in 1999. Other issues addressed during the conference will be water, growth, jobs, biodiversity, rural communities, forest restoration and the drive to make the Soda Mountain area into a national monument. About 400 people are expected to attend this year's conference. The registration fee is on a sliding scale of $100 to $175, and includes lunch on Friday and Saturday and breakfast Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The student fee is $75. For additional information, call Headwaters at 482-4459. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA