Conservationists and ACLU of Oregon urge reconsideration, highlight freedom of speech protections under Oregon Constitution
UPDATE: September 26, 2013 – The ACLU Foundation of Oregon has filed a lawsuit against the Port of Portland for refusing to allow Oregon Wild to run an advertisement at the Portland Airport. The lawsuit, filed in state court, says the Port’s refusal to accept the ad because of it is political violates the right to free expression under the Oregon Constitution.
September 19, 2013 - The Port of Portland, which manages the Portland Airport, has refused to allow a coalition of conservation organizations to run advertising in the Portland Airport that opposes destructive clear-cut logging on public “O&C” lands in Western Oregon. Oregon Wild and the ACLU Foundation of Oregon submitted a letter today notifying the Port of its legal obligation as a government agency to abide by the Oregon Constitution and its safeguards for freedom of speech.
“The Portland airport routinely takes advertising from corporations of all stripes,” observed Sean Stevens, Executive Director of the conservation group Oregon Wild. “It cannot play favorites by rejecting advertising from conservationists who oppose clearcutting simply because it makes the logging industry and some politicians uncomfortable.”
“The ACLU has no position on forest practices, but an important part of our mission is to prevent government censorship of expression,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. “The Port of Portland refuses to allow advertising they conclude is too controversial or political and that is exactly the type of content-based restriction our constitutional free speech protections are designed to prevent.”
The ad is part of a state-wide campaign being funded by Oregon Wild, The Sierra Club, Audubon Society of Portland, and Center for Biological Diversity. It features a post-card like design and a photograph of a clearcut in Oregon’s Coast Range, with the tag line “Welcome to Oregon, Home of the Clearcut!” Ads will also appear online and on roadside billboards, and are accompanied by a new website, ClearCutOregon.com.
A version of the ad is already up in the Eugene Airport. Conservationists launched the campaign to increase public awareness of a proposal by Reps. Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden, and Kurt Schrader to effectively privatize 1.5 million acres of publicly-owned land in western Oregon, turning it over to a private logging “trust” to be managed under the weak Oregon Forest Practices Act, where clearcutting is rampant. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is currently developing his own plan for expanded logging of public lands in western Oregon, and conservationists are urging him to reject destructive practices such as clearcutting.
“Every year, tens of thousands of people travel through the Portland Airport on their way to hike, fish, raft, and camp on Oregon’s public lands,” observed Bob Sallinger, Conservation Director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “No one comes to Oregon to go hiking in a clearcut, or fishing in a river that has been buried by a mudslide, and our ads are aimed at starting a public debate over the gap between our green reputation and the reality of what some politicians are proposing.”
Copies of the ad, as well as more information about proposals to expand clearcutting in western Oregon, can be found at ClearCutOregon.com.