June 23, 2021--Caspar, CA
Myles Anderson is the owner of Anderson Logging, the logging company working on the controversial Timber Harvest Plan in Jackson State Forest known as Caspar 500. Anderson’s crews began cutting in the area on June 10, but they have been slowed or stopped every day by protestors.
On Saturday, June 19, the logging company owner decided to take a page from the forest activists, calling for his own protest in Jackson State Forest. He and several dozen of his employees and supporters gathered at the entrance to Jackson State in Caspar, and held their own blockade.
The pro-logging protestors held signs with slogans like “loggers helped build America,” “Log it Graze it or watch it burn,’ and “no logging; no recreating.” They are frustrated by environmentalists criticisms of the Caspar 500 logging plan, but they were even more upset that Cal Fire, which manages Jackson State Forest, has not been there to help them deal with the ongoing daily protests in the woods, creating a dangerous situation for the activists and Timber Workers alike.
Environmental protestors have accused CalFire of increasing the risk of fire in the area by cutting the biggest and most fire resistant redwoods in the Caspar 500 plan. But Myles Anderson and his supporters believe that if the forest here isn’t logged it is more susceptible to burning. They argue that the big trees need to be cut in order to pay for the work that needs to be done in the woods.
Late last week, Myles Anderson temporarily halted his company’s operations in the Caspar 500 until safety concerns can be addressed. In the meantime, on Monday Forest Protestors shut down operations in another logging plan on Jackson State Forest called Camp 1.