John West of Silver Creek Logging Co. anticipated a fight over Fiddler Mountain. With 85 loggers ready to go, he expressed his intent to begin logging once a court mandate allowed controversial old growth reserve timber sales in the Biscuit Fire area to proceed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued that mandate this morning, opening the fight West promised.

As dawn broke on the Green Bridge over the Illinois River near Selma this morning, 75 people gathered to block old growth reserve logging at the Fiddler Timber Sale. Forest Service law enforcement officers and Josephine County Sherrifs escorted loggers to the site at 6:30 am where they encountered a large crowd effectively blocking all access to the sale units.

After issuing an order to disperse, 72-year-old Selma resident Joan Norman sat in the middle of the bridge, refusing to move. "We have no laws in our forest so we will be the law," said Norman, before law enforcement officers carried her off to be arrested, charging her with interfering with an agricultural operation. Two other individuals were arrested at the Green Bridge.