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Ashlanders join in LNG pipeline protest Paula Sohl, assistant minister at Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ, takes part in an anti-pipeline protest Monday in Salem. Photo by John Darling Tuesday Nov 15, 2016 at 3:33 PM Nov 15, 2016 at 3:33 PM John Darling for the Mail Tribune About 35 Rogue Valley residents joined several hundred people Monday in a protest on the steps of Oregon State Capitol, chanting, “Governor Brown, shut it down!” and giving speeches before marching in the drizzling rain to the Department of State Lands for a sit-in against the liquified natural gas pipeline proposed to be cut across southwest Oregon from the Klamath Falls area to Jordan Cove in Coos Bay. Landowner Deb Evans of the Greensprings southeast of Ashland said, “I’m here because the LNG pipeline is wrong. FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) already said no and Oregon’s leaders and agencies are hanging back, doing nothing. DSL (Department of State Lands) and DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) both just issued extensions of a re-hearing permit, giving them four more months, then five months of public comment.” Paula Sohl of Ashland said, “We need our Oregon leaders to lead so this state can stand strongly in the face of climate change by denying permits for the pipeline. The young and the indigenous people are the ones who will be doing this work and helping get the permits denied.” Melissa Starr of the Yurok Tribe on the Klamath River said to the crowd, “Let’s stay on top of this! We’re not going to ignore this! I love my river!” In an interview, she said, “We’re here at the Capitol to try to get to the Man. We asked the governor to come out here, but she hasn’t responded. We’re asking for a government-to-government (meaning tribal government) talk to stop the re-permitting.” “The whole thing stinks," said Allen Hallmark of Talent, "a Canadian company sending fossil fuels to Japan and using eminent domain for corporate gain. They’re tearing up innumerable homes of southwestern Oregonians and doing this rotten thing to our rivers and forests.” Molli Myers, a Karuk with Klamath Riverkeepers, said, “We’re here just like the people you see in Standing Rock. We are water protectors. We refuse to sit aside. We’re worried about them getting a new permit (after the first was denied by FERC several months ago). The election has made us a lot more worried than ever. Tribes will be more under attack than ever.” The group of about 300 marched chanting to occupy the lobby at the Department of State Lands. When asked to leave, all did so except for five who had volunteered to be handcuffed and jailed briefly for trespassing, said organizers. — John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].