Two SIUC students protesting logging at the Cripps Bend area of the Shawnee National Forest were arrested Friday while trying to hinder progress of the Carbondale Veneer logging company.

Holly Harris and Eileen Jiskra, both members of the SIUC Student Environmental Center who are also affiliated with Shawnee Earth First, an environmental movement, were charged with violating a closure order and resisting and interfering with officers.

Brian Kennedy, a protester at Cripps Bend, said the two women buried their arms in concrete within an area which has been closed by a Forest Service order.

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Kennedy said the women were blocking a section of road which logging trucks must use to drive back to the logging site.

Judge Philip Frazier released the women each on a $1,000 recognizance bond. Their trial date has been set for Nov. 21.

Despite a possible six-moth jail sentence and a possible $500 fine for each of the women, Harris and Jiskra said their actions were worth the legal trouble.

It was worth it, Jiskra said while awaiting logging trucks early Saturday morning. It’s not over, but it was worth it.

Both women said blocking the logging trucks was an act of civil disobedience.

Nothing ever happened in this country without people standing up for what they believe in, Harris said. People have got to take a stand.

Our country was founded on civil disobedience or uncivil disobedience, Jiskra said.

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Neither woman would comment on the specifics of their arrests or their cases.

Forest Service officials said the women did not stop the commencement of logging Friday. The officials said logging trucks just drove around the women, and loggers were able to continue the cut on schedule.

Another protester, Joe Glisson, was arrested Thursday in connection with the demonstration against the Cripps Bend logging.

No injuries to protesters or loggers have been reported.

Loggers did not work Saturday or Sunday, but protesters said they will demonstrate against the cutting on Monday if and when the logging trucks return to the area.