elections in the fall. If you would like further information . or would like to get involved, contact the Cascadia Green Alliance, 6518. Fremont Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103;206/789-7336. Cathedral f·orest National 'Monument Petition Less than·200 years ago the Oregon forest stretched unbroken-20 million acres of it-from the crest of the - Cascades to the ocean. Another 11 million acres spread eastward through the mountains. The remains of this forest, once one of the greatest forests on earth, now lie scattered in hundreds of small, isolated patches throughout the state. To rekindle public consciousness of old growth fore~t and to preserve what is left of it, Friends of the Cathedral Forest (FCF) has begun a campaign to create the Cathedral Forest National Monument. The group is circulating.an informal petition proposing that all old growth forest remaining on Oregon public land be declared a national monument, · making it an inviolable wilderness forever. The monument could be . administered by either the U.S. National Parks Service or the U.S. Forest Service. Whereas an area with roads cannot receive protection as a "wilderness area," monument status would enable environmentalists to prote1;t old growth stands with roads throug~ 'them or immediately adjacent to them, because a national monument may contain roads. The monument campaign proposes a practical solution to the problem of preserving wilderness. It is hoped that the campaign will initiate discussions of how people and old growth can live together. The petition, directed to the President, Congress, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land . Management, pr"ovides for a peri_od of public hearings and study to identify all the remains of the original old growth ecosystem. During the period of study, no logging would occur in the old growth forests. FCF is currently addressing community group meetings and conducting public town meetings throughout Oregon. A central part of the'town meetings is getting citizens' testimony · to identify local old growth ar~as. The . meetings are thus community selfeducatipn sessions, where people share their knowledge ,of their local forests.·Citizen input will help in mapping·proposal boundaries. . Petitions are circulating through the Ea:r;th First! newsletter thr,oughout the United States. They will be presented to the President and to the Oregon congressional delegation in the late summer or fall, with as much fanfare as possible. FCF is a nonprofit group formed by participants in Cathedral Forest Action Group direct actions for wilderness. Last year 38 people were arrested near Pyramid Creek in the Middle Santiam drainage of the Willamette National Forest during peaceful blockades of logging activities in the largest reinaining old growth Douglas Fir forest in Qregon (see RAIN X:6; page 32, and RAIN XI:l, page 30). More blockades are planned for this spring. The Cathedral Forest Action Group invites anyone interested in helping ii1 this effort in any way to contact them. Formore information about the monum.ent'petition, contact Friends of the Cathedral Forest, 430 SW 8th, Corvallis, OR 97333. For information about the blockades and other actions, contact the Cathedral Forest Action Group, 824SW10th Street, Corvalli~, OR 97333; 503/754-9151. -Cecilia Ostrow - Cecilia Ostrow works with the Friends of Cathet;lral Forest. Columbia Willamette F.utures Forum Last November more than 200 people from the Portland four-county area filled the ballroom at Portland · State University for CriticalChoices '84, a conference sponsored by the Columbia Willamette Futures Forum (CWFF). Conference organizers had wisely chosen a manageable focus for the conference-instead of discussing "How tl;le World Should Be in 100 Years," they narrowed their concerns March/April 1985 RAIN Page 33 to the future of libraries, parks, and transportation in ~he Portland area. This specificity may enable Critical Choices '84 to be one of those rare conferences that.not only generate good ideas but actually lead to tangible consequences. CWFF was established in the fall of 1982 to develop a regional approach to issues critical to the future of Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah, and Wash·- ington counties. The idea of creating such a,forum for ongoing, broadbased discussion of these issues grew out of the preparations for a City Club of Portland report, "A Vision for ·Portland's Future." CWFF organized a successful conference in 1983 to begin this dialogue. Feedback from that conference shm"Jed that many people were concerned with the future of regional services, hence the focus of the 1984 conference. Three citizen committees (one each for libraries, parks, and fransportation) were selected well in advance of CriticafChoices '84 so that they could collect background materials and "develop visionary options for the delivery of the service in the first decade of the next century." This work provided a firm foundation for the conference attendees to build on. In · addition to the work done before and .during the conference,·considerable follow-up work is being done to bring ·some of the ideas into being. A report summarizing the conference and follow-up efforts is available for $2.50. Individual-memberships to CWFF cost $15; organizational memberships are $25 (non-profit) and $50 (forprofit). People interested in memberships, the post-conference document, or other information about CWFF should write to Columbia Willamette Futures Forum, Center for Urban · Education, 0245 SW Bancroft, Portland, OR .97201. --........ .,., . I
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