The effort by environmentalists to continue protesting Cripps Bend sends a clear message that this is an area too precious to those who chained themselves to trees in the face of chainsaws. Protester Jan Wilder-Thomas paralleled the cutting of trees and their removal to a murder trail where they drag out the dead bodies. The DE agrees with her.

Since 15,000 acres of the 253,000- acre Shawnee National Forest have already been lost to logging, individuals have to stand in the way of the chainsaws to protect what they hope to share with future generations. What product made from this wood is going to match the untouched forest in terms of beauty and serenity? Who individually is going to appreciate this wood as much as the countless numbers of recreational users of this forest ? The answers are nothing, and no one. To tell any one anything else about this seven-acre area of contiguous forest is a lie.

Economic gains made by the local logging efforts are mere short-run pacifiers to a region that is in dire need of long range economic development. The efforts to remove the revenue (trees) from Cripps Bend will not be an easy one for Carbondale Veneer as protesters have vowed to camp in and around the logging area.

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Protester Kristin Kordecki said she will be prepared to stay as long as it takes to preserve the area’s aesthetic qualities. Bill Cronin, who initiated the lawsuit that temporarily halted logging efforts, claiming it would pose a potential threat to the habitat of the Indiana bat, also declared the battle was lost but the war is not over. Cronin said, We still have an opening with the Fish and Wildlife Services for 60 days to notify with the intent to sue. These are the leaders of the effort to preserve a national and state treasure. Other people concerned with the removal of trees from the Cripps Bend area should make their presence known as well.

For all of the time and effort put in by these individuals camping out at Cripps Bend risking their very existence for the good of the forest concerned community members should go the extra step and write a letter to representatives, Congress or the president. Gilbert’s decision, as permanent as it may seem at this point, is far from concrete.

To centralize the enjoyment of this land into someone’s pocketbook should be treated as a crime against citizens who cherish the forest for what it really is . The DE hopes the war against logging continues and picks up steam along the way, because it’s not over until it’s all cut.