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NewsAugust 28, 1991

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. - A smaller and better-behaved crowd gathered inside the Shawnee National Forest Tuesday to protest logging there, far different from a day before when 17 people were arrested and one person was injured. The objectors are opposed to East Perry Lumber Co.'s cut of 141 acres of the forest at a spot seven miles south of Murphysboro, near the Fairview Church...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. - A smaller and better-behaved crowd gathered inside the Shawnee National Forest Tuesday to protest logging there, far different from a day before when 17 people were arrested and one person was injured.

The objectors are opposed to East Perry Lumber Co.'s cut of 141 acres of the forest at a spot seven miles south of Murphysboro, near the Fairview Church.

After years of legal wrangling, the timber firm began cutting Monday afternoon and the felling continued Tuesday.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mary Mumford said aside from one incident early Tuesday morning the day was very peaceful.

She explained that as East Perry's logging trucks were coming to the forest Tuesday, three protesters stood in the road, blocking the trucks for about 30 minutes.

Jackson County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene and when they arrived the protesters let the trucks continue.

"In the fell area about 20 people were there protesting," Mumford said. "They were very peaceable,

IP0,0holding up their signs."

IP1,0The situation was in contrast to Monday's protests, when about 100 demonstrators carried signs that read: "Ecoterrorists" and "Forest Service KGB Go Home Now." Most of the arrests were for trespassing but one woman was charged with striking a police officer.

Another man, Chris van Daalan of Washington, D.C., injured his hand when he said he was hit by a pickup truck operated by East Perry. However, an East Perry official disputed the man's account of the incident, and said he was probably struck by a log that was placed under the truck.

The man was transported by ambulance to a Jackson County hospital, where he was treated and released.

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The log trucks left at 11 a.m. Mumford said when the trucks left, eight people were still at the gate. Late Tuesday afternoon, she said just two protesters remained at the site.

While the number of protesters dropped dramatically Tuesday, Doug McLura of the Shawnee Defense Fund said dwindling numbers didn't mean the effort was fizzling out.

"For saving these particular trees, the situation is hopeless," said McLura. "They have enough cops with enough guns and enough handcuffs to arrest all the protesters.

"Maybe they can take these trees, but they are going to have to go through this every time they want to cut here," McLura said.

"We expect to win the war, but we are in the position of losing a battle. I would call this an orderly retreat," McLura said. "But I wouldn't exactly say that the protest has fizzled out."

In fact, McLura said protesters are planning another show of support on Saturday.

"There will probably be some sort of major demonstration Saturday," he said. "We expect them to be in cutting this weekend. Loggers usually work on weekends, and I think they really want to get this over as quickly as possible."

He said protests are unpredictable. "Nothing is formally planned, but you never know what might crop up."

East Perry won the right to cut 141 acres of land in the northwestern part of the Southern Illinois forest after several years of legal battles that went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. The hardwoods will be felled in up to two-acre parcels.

Environmentalists have said the trees must stand to provide nesting sanctuary for migratory songbirds that are on the decline.

(Some information for this story was provided by United Press International.)

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