Beneath Big Trees: A Night With an Oregon Conservation Legend

What: Oregon Wild Wednesday – hear veteran forest and Wilderness advocate Andy Kerr speak, see big old trees from across Oregon and find out what you can do to protect them. Enter a free raffle! This event is free and open to all-ages, but space is limited, so be sure to arrive early.

When: Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 6-7 pm

Who: Andy Kerr, veteran forest and Wilderness advocate and the man The Oregonian named one of the 150 most interesting Oregonians in the newspaper’s 150-year history and a presentation on old-growth protection by Jonathan Jelen, Oregon Wild’s Old Growth Campaign Coordinator.

Where: Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
             915 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
             Portland, OR  97214
             www.luckylab.com
WIN!: Every person who attends this free event will be entered into our raffle! Drawing to take place evening of event; you must be present to win.

Background:
In 1974, a group of friends sat around a campfire, lamenting the fact that much of the Oregon they loved was disappearing. Together, they decided to take action and formed the organization now known as Oregon Wild. One of the first hires of this young organization was Andy Kerr. Since that time Kerr has worked for over three decades to protect the wildlands that make Oregon a special place to live.

Among his many accomplishments, Kerr was an integral player in the late 1980s and early 1990s timber battles in Oregon. Timothy Egan of the New York Times once wrote, “if Andy Kerr did not exist, someone would have to invent him...(Kerr) forced some of the most powerful timber companies to retreat from a binge of clear-cutting that had left large sections of the Oregon Cascades naked of forest cover.”

Today, along with Oregon Wild, Kerr is back in the forest spotlight. New threats to old-growth forests have led to the re-emergence of a statewide old-growth campaign aimed at permanently protecting the giant forests that make Oregon what it is. On April 23rd at the Hawthorne Lucky Lab, Kerr will talk about the past, present and future of Oregon’s ancient forests.