Contact: Demis Foster, 360. 739.8816 dfoster@ecosystem.org
Coleman Smith, 828.301.6683 www.amuseproject.org
Joshua Martin, 828.242.4238 joshua@americanlands.org

Web: http://www.forestroadshow.org

Giant Old Growth Tree Rolls into Asheville

Asheville, NC - The Ancient Forest Roadshow and “the Doug,” a 420 year-old Douglas fir tree slice will arrive in Asheville on Saturday, July 10 for display on Pack Square from 4-9pm during the Shindig-On-The-Green event downtown. On Sunday, July 11th, there is a Benefit Musical Dinner at Rosetta’s Kitchen, 116 N. Lexington Avenue, from 7:30 pm-until. The public is invited and a $5-15 donation is requested to help keep the show on the road. The Roadshow is traveling across the USA to show Americans a symbol of our national heritage and the impacts of our current timber policies on our public lands in the Pacific Northwest, in the Carolinas, and nationwide.

“The public is encouraged to come down and see for themselves a vivid, on-the-ground example of what the Bush Administration has in store for our ancient forests,” said Demis Foster, Director of the Ancient Forest Roadshow. “The Bush Administration is also logging our national forests right here in North Carolina, including several old growth logging projects in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests,” said Ben Prater of Asheville, Ecologist for the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project . “National forests belong to all Americans, not just the Bush Administration and the logging industry, and we’re bringing the Ancient Forest Roadshow to the residents of Boone and Asheville because they too have a stake in the public’s forests.”

“A former timber industry lobbyist, Mark Rey, is overseeing the management of our National Forests as the Undersecretary of Agriculture for Environment and Natural Resources. A fox now guards the henhouse,” said Demis Foster, Project Director for the Ancient Forest Roadshow in Seattle. “Therefore, it’s no surprise that over the past three years the Bush Administration has crippled protections for ancient forests, roadless wildlands, and wildlife habitat at every turn.”

The activists point to numerous new policies and changes in environmental rules that have opened the door to more logging, including

· Easing rules protecting wildlife and clean water to allow for more logging in the Pacific Northwest
· Cutting funds for community fire protection programs while increasing subsidies for logging
· Announcing plans to write new forest planning rules that weaken wildlife protections and to rewrite the hugely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule

Since leaving Portland, the Ancient Forest Roadshow has given thousands of Americans the chance to see and touch a piece of what was once America’s living history. The massive 6.5 foot diameter Doug was 25 years old in 1607 when the first English colony was settled in what later became Jamestown, Virginia. The Doug was already almost 40 years old in 1620 when the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the tree was a venerable 195 years old.

The Doug was cut down in 2002, as part of the Berry Patch timber sale on the Willamette National Forest in western Oregon. Ninety-nine acres of majestic old growth forest were logged. “The Berry Patch timber sale is just one example of more than 150 planned timber sales that target nearly 80,000 acres of mature and old-growth forest in western Oregon and Washington,” said Foster. “These logging plans clearly show that the Bush Administration is ignoring the public’s desire to protect America’s ancient forests.”

“We also want people to know that trees as old as ‘the Doug’ typically survive numerous fires over centuries,” said Foster. “This administration is calling for the logging of ancient forests in the backcountry and ignoring the real fuel hazards that exist near homes and communities. Their fire rhetoric is nothing more than a smokescreen for dramatically increasing old growth logging in our forests.”

Since the Roadshow began in April, hundreds of “Doug Huggers” making light of the “tree hugger” label have come out in force to have their photo taken with the Doug and voice their support. Photos can be seen on the Ancient Forest Roadshow web site: http://www.forestroadshow.org/huggers.html.

THE TOURS:
The educational tour is organized by the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance and is supported by many organizations including: Heartwood, The Wilderness Society, American Lands Alliance, AMUSE, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, National Environmental Trust, Alaska Rainforest Campaign, National Forest Protection Alliance, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Center for Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Northwest Old Growth Campaign, Greenpeace, Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Native Forest Network, Dogwood Alliance, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information visit the Ancient Forest Roadshow website at http://www.forestroadshow.org or The Northwest Old Growth Campaign website at http://www.nwoldgrowth.org/.
High-resolution photo of the Doug is available for download at http://www.forestroadshow.org/press.html.
B-roll of ancient forests and old-growth logging is also available.

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