Three Tims and a forest: Remembering the Warner Creek blockade, 30 years later

It was 30 years ago this August that three young eco-activists from Eugene changed history forever by winning the battle to oppose salvage logging on a 14-acre section of the Willamette National Forest near Oakridge.

The 343-day blockade of Forest Service Road 2408 at Warner Creek became legendary, making national headlines and becoming the longest continuous blockade of a forest road in U.S. history. The activists won. Salvage logging was blocked. And that time and place has been documented, forever becoming inspiration for grassroots activists the world over.

Tim Ream was a major figure throughout the blockade. He was the voice and handsome face of the movement, speaking at countless rallies and holding a 75-day hunger strike on the steps of the federal courthouse in downtown Eugene. Tim Ingalsbee was a wildland firefighter and University of Oregon doctoral student who gave hard science and factual credentials to the cause. Tim Lewis was a burgeoning gonzo cinema vérité director who documented it all with co-director Ream in the legendary 1999 film “Pickaxe.”

Though it’s been 30 years, all three Tims are still very much active today. Ream became an environmental attorney and eco-dharma author. He continues to write letters to the editor in support of saving Oregon wildlands. Ingalsbee is the cofounder and executive director of FUSEE (Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology). He and 118 wildland firefighters recently sent a letter to Congress outlining the dangers to wildland firefighters should the Roadless Rule be rescinded.

Lewis still documents the injustice he sees in our world. Most recently he was arrested for protecting protesters outside the Eugene federal building. He then released body-camera footage given to him by his lawyer showing the shocking racist remarks made by a Eugene police officer.

The three Tims were not alone in the success of Warner Creek, but they were certainly the most recognizable. There were numerous other eco-activists involved as well, many of them fearless young women with such fanciful names as Lupin, Raven, Hemlock and Madrone, who were shockingly dragged out of their tents at Warner Creek and arrested, then later released in Eugene when Warner Creek activists marched downtown and directly into the courthouse in protest. All of this is dramatically documented in the “Pickaxe” film.

One Warner Creek activist, Jake Ferguson, took a darker turn after the peaceful blockade when he joined the infamous Earth Liberation Front, an eco-saboteur group known as ELF. Ferguson was involved in two dozen arsons and acts of vandalism between 1996 and 2001. He then notoriously ratted on his ELF comrades by becoming an FBI informant in 2004. The story is well documented in the 2011 Academy Award-nominated documentary “If a Tree Falls.”

The success of the Warner Creek blockade and the efforts of its indefatigable activists involved also inspired the New York Times bestselling book “The Overstory,” by Richard Powers. Many of the characters and storyline in the book are based on real Warner Creek activists.

On Aug. 24, Cascadia Wildlands will host a Warner Creek 30th Anniversary Victory Celebration and FUSEE fundraiser at the WOW Hall with an evening of live music with Peter Wilde and Casey Neill.

The show will feature storytelling and curated archival materials from the blockade, also a panel discussion on bringing lessons learned from the Warner Creek campaign into current conservation efforts. Many of the original Warner Creek activists are certain to attend, including all three Tims.

In the midst of a dangerous fire season, and a climate of uncertain federal environmental protection, this WOW Hall event should certainly inspire a new generation of public concerned about our richly treasured — yet highly threatened — Cascadian biosphere.

The event celebrates the heroic success of a small group of small-town activists who braved a dangerous year during a snowy blockade in the mountains for a cause they believed in. And they ultimately and steadfastly won.