For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2023
Press Contact: Donald Weston, forest.wrench@protonmail.com, (541) 972 3008
UPDATE: Activists continue to disrupt events as industrial timber conference wears on
Activists block doors and stop attendees from entering for second day of contentious conference
Portland, OR – This morning, a dozen activists joined arms and blocked the entrance to the “Who Will Own the Forest Conference,” in the second disruption of the conference in two days. Protestors harangued conference goers with chants of “shame” and “clean water, clean air, not another billionaire”.
The protest comes hours before a major rally planned to protest the conference, and immediately on the heels of a similar disruption yesterday evening, where dozens of activists blocked the entrance to the opening reception the conference while a banner reading, “Land Back: You Will Never Own The Forest” was hung above the entrance of the World Forestry Center.
This “signature timberland investment conference” brings together some of the biggest climate polluters, corporate forest clear-cutters, and false climate solutions peddlers.
HAPPENING NOW: Local activists are joined by organizers from across the region blocking the gates to the @World_Forestry Center's "Who Will Own the Forest?" conference for a second day.
The police have arrived but we are feeling strong and resilient. #ForestsOverProfiit pic.twitter.com/TsZ478iAsH
— Cascadia Forest Defenders (@CascadiaFD) September 27, 2023
“This is Indigenous land. It is despicable that these out of touch timber barons and Wall Street investors gather annually to scheme about the continued destruction of these ecosystems and the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people of their ancestral lands,” said Riley Fields, an Indigenous organizer with WRENCH. “Forests will never be private property.”
The action comes as the Who Will Own The Forest Conference has attracted considerable opposition from organizations across the region.
Dozens of organizations from across the region, including the Indigenous Environmental Network, are converging today for a major rally planned to protest the conference and confront the Wall St. profiteers leveling forests across the region, and the country. The rally will include speakers, music, theatrical performances, art & creative resistance, and more.
On Thursday, September 28 communities and activists will host the Forests Over Profits conference. In contrast to the corporate “Who Will Own the Forest?” conference, Forests Over Profits will elevate truly sustainable forest management and the need for fundamental systems change in the face of capitalist exploitation and the climate and biodiversity crises.
Find free to use photos of the action in this folder, which will be updated as the conference goes on. Please attribute the photos to WRENCH, unless otherwise stated.
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