Cove-Mallard Protesters Arraigned In Cda Scolded By Judge For Chatting In The Face Of Federal Charges
Karen Zelch wasn’t surprised when the loggers refused to accept the coffee and doughnuts she offered.
The 26-year-old Cove-Mallard protester also wasn’t surprised when officers arrested her for chaining herself to a buffet table in the forest.
“I’m glad I did it,” the Ohio resident said after being arraigned on federal charges in Coeur d’Alene on Friday. “After I decided this is what I wanted to do, I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Zelch was one of 12 environmentalists arrested Thursday during a protest over logging the Cove-Mallard area in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest. On Friday, they were arraigned at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.
It is the largest group of protesters to be arrested this year in connection with the Cove-Mallard logging conflict. Each was charged with two federal misdemeanors: for being in an area closed to the public and for placing their bodies “in a manner that was an impediment or hazard to other persons.”
The Cove-Mallard area is an island of forest between the Frank Church, Selway Bitterroot and Gospel Hump wilderness areas southeast of Grangeville, Idaho.
The Cove-Mallard Coalition, a group that includes Earth First! activists, is spending its fourth summer protesting logging and road building in the area.
Coalition members fear timber harvests will harm the largest wilderness complex in the continental United States, and that the U.S. Forest Service is trying to hide violations of environmental laws. Forest Service officials say they have complied with all laws and the logging plans have been upheld in federal court.
At 4 a.m. Thursday, the 12 environmentalists crossed into a part of the forest closed to the public since June.
The protesters set up two tripods made of logs blocking a road into the Jack timber sale area. They then perched 35 feet above the ground, atop each tripod.
Others chained themselves to a table where they offered loggers and construction workers free breakfast food.
“We were being very friendly,” said A. Mark Liiv, 23, of San Francisco.
Still, a security officer confronted the group. “I don’t know whether I should shoot you or not,” Liiv said the man told them.
The group heard several gunshots coming from the logging area, Liiv said.
By 12:30 p.m., forest officials and Idaho County Sheriff’s deputies had arrested the group.
Typically, the protesters would have been sent to Boise for arraignment. But because both of Idaho’s federal magistrates were unavailable, the protesters were bused to Coeur d’Alene to appear before a Spokane magistrate.
Incarceration didn’t seem to faze the protesters, who sat laughing and talking with each other before their court hearing.
Their demeanor irritated Federal Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno.
“There is nothing funny going on here,” she snapped at one giggling protester. “This is very serious to me and this should be serious to you.”
All 12 protesters pleaded not guilty.
Imbrogno released them, but ordered them to appear for a trial in Moscow, Idaho, on Oct. 18.
Both Liiv and Zelch hope the trial will give them a chance to expose wrongdoing by the Forest Service. If found guilty of both charges, they could each face up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
“I’m satisfied that things will be heard in court,” Liiv said, lounging on the courthouse steps. But after a long night behind bars he added, “I’m glad to be out of jail now.”
Also arrested were: Adams Wood of New York, Zachary Griefen of Missoula; Michael Bowersox of Flagstaff, Ariz.; Otis Wright of Moscow; Rein Attemann of San Francisco; Gregory Mack of Port Washington, Md.; Gary Macfarland; Troy Jones of Wis.; Jill Ondrey of Blodgett, Ore.; and Sarah Willner of Oakland, Calif.
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