Environmentalists gathering on the Willamette National Forest this weekend hope to build a national backlash against Congress for suspending environmental laws that regulate logging.

“In order for us to save the forests, we have to make this an issue that mainstream America can identify with,” said Susan Prince, spokeswoman for Citizens Against Lawless Logging, which is sponsoring the gathering near Oakridge. “We have to show America this is not just about forests, but about civil rights. The whole progressive movement is being attacked here, not just environmentalists.”

Protests have been growing in Oregon since logging in old-growth timber on federal lands was made possible by legislation known as the salvage rider. It was attached to a budget-cutting bill that President Clinton signed in July, pledging the U.S. Forest Service would continue to follow environmental laws.

The rider suspended environmental laws through 1996 to speed logging of national forest timber that has been killed by forest fires and insects.

In the Northwest, it also released green timber sales that had been held up by environmental concerns since the battle over the northern spotted owl. It also suspended environmental laws on all new timber sales coming off national forests in Oregon, Washington and some of northern California.

The salvage rider has been denounced by environmentalists as logging without laws.

The industry has responded that environmental laws have become so complex that they need to be suspended to overcome the gridlock caused by environmentalists who don’t want to see any logging on public lands.