January 3, 2004

Author to discuss book on forestry

Activist and award-winning author and Derrick Jensen will visit Ashland Monday to discuss his new book, "Strangely Like War: The Global Assault on Forests," at a benefit for KS Wild.

The event will take place at Carpenter Hall, 44 S. Pioneer St. in Ashland, and will begin at 7 p.m. with music from the Indonesian gong ensemble Rogue Gamelan Orchestra. There will be desserts and beverages available.

"Strangely Like War" is the second book that Jensen has co-authored with corporate researcher George Draffan. Their first book, "Railroads and Clearcuts," explores the link between the federal railroad land grant policy many prevailing economic, political, and environmental problems, including deforestation, toxic waste, and taxpayer subsidies.

"Strangely Like War," which features a preface by environmentalist Vandana Shiva, exposes the impact of industrial forestry. In this short expose, the authors detail the activities of an industrial forestry system increasingly globalized, operating outside of any local or even national controls, which some believe threatens the basic life support systems of the planet itself, according to event organizers. The book is expected to have global implications and to appeal to readers internationally who are concerned about unchecked corporate power and the fate of the planet.

Derrick Jensen is the author of "The Culture of Make Believe, A Language Older than Words," "Listening to the Land: Conversations about Nature, Culture, and Eros," a USA Today Critics Choice for one of the best nature books of 1995, and "Railroads and Clearcuts." He writes for The New York Times Magazine, Audubon, and The Sun Magazine, among many others.

Event charge is a sliding scale $3-$30 to benefit KS Wild.

The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) works to protect and restore the biological diversity of the Klamath-Siskiyou and south Cascadian Ecoregions of southwest Oregon and northwest California.