Logging Opponents Vow To Carry On

Members of the Cove-Mallard Coalition say they have encountered many obstacles in their four-year battle to halt logging in a roadless portion of the Nez Perce National Forest.

But members say they will continue to demonstrate next year if logging does not stop.

Activist Sarah (Seeds) Willner said authorities have been slow to intercede when demonstrators are confronted by loggers, contributing to an increasingly hostile atmosphere.

U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho County sheriff’s office officials deny that law enforcement officers have intentionally been slow in responding to demonstrations by the Cove-Mallard Coalition.

“We’re not in a position to provide bodyguards for these people,” said Elayne Murphy of the Nezperce National Forest supervisors office at Grangeville.

But she said logistics make in impossible to respond immediately, especially when there is no advance warning of a pending demonstration.

Murphy and Undersheriff John Stroop said authorities were slow in responding to a recent demonstration because it was staged when both agencies were short of law enforcement officers.

An estimated 30 to 40 activists were trying to stop road construction. When authorities were alerted, only one officer was available, Stroop said.

“I didn’t want to send one person into that,” said Stroop.