In August 2002, President George W. Bush proposed changes to environmental laws that would make it easier for timber companies to thin federal forests and to remove fire-prone dead trees and undergrowth. In response, the Northwest Old-Growth Campaign, a coalition of 13 environmental groups from Bellingham to southern Oregon, began campaigning to ban cutting of timber in old-growth and other mature forests in the Northwest.
On September 29th, 2002, the Northwest Old-Growth Campaign held a rally at Victor Steinbrueck Park in Seattle, with about 1000 people attending to protest clearcutting on federal land. Dave Matthews, Washington resident and frontman for the Dave Matthews Band, gave a free concert at the rally to show his support for Seattle Initiative 80, which would require that developers allow salmon-bearing streams to flow naturally. U.S. Representative Jay Inslee and Seattle Councilperson Heidi Wills spoke at the event.
This image shows Dave Matthews listening to speakers while awaiting his turn to perform for the crowd at the Northwest Old-Growth Campaign rally.
Caption information source: "Hundreds make some noise to save the trees - Activists rally against clearcutting," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 30, 2002, page 9, 11. Caption information source: "Economists urge protection of old-growth forests," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 28, 2002, retrieved from https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/economists-urge-protection-of-old-growth-forests-1081867.php
Additional Information: Metadata created as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.20020929.CD03.01.003, photo by Renee C. Byer
