17 September 2003

Environmental activists who had camped 80 feet up a pair of red oaks for more than a month climbed down early yesterday as workers began removing trees to make way for a ski area.

David Crowley, an owner of the Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, victoriously pronounced that "They have vacated their nests."

The two protesters had been in the trees since 1 Aug to try to block development of the ski area. Jason Kotoch, a spokesman for the environmental activist group EarthFirst!, said they abandoned their platforms when workers began tree removal.

"We said we would be there until our presence was effective in preventing any cutting," Kotoch said. "As long as they were cutting the trees down it was not effective."

One of the activists said workers from the ski area cut down their food and water supplies they had hung from ropes. She also said police officers patrolling the area began intimidating them, but she would not elaborate.

"It became a dangerous situation for us to be in," said the activist, a 21-year-old who has chosen the name Dandi Lyon.

The activists were concerned that the ski area cuts too close to a buffer zone that protects an old-growth forest already bordered by a road and bisected by hiking trails.

The edge of the proposed cutting area is about 200m from the old-growth forest - a distance that state environmental agencies and the state's highest court have said is sufficient to keep the 300-year-old trees protected.

[Source: AP/HoumaToday.com]

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