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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Protesters Suspend Themselves On Oregon's Capitol Dome

Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network

Oregon State Police have removed a huge banner from the Oregon state capitol and detained five environmental protesters. 

The activists created a spectacle Thursday when two of them rappelled down the outside of the dome. The banner they unfurled protested logging policies on state forest land.

The display attracted a crowd of onlookers. Dane Rowinski said he doesn't know much about the issue, but he admired the protesters' technique.

"It's kind of cool, really, to have the guts to go for it like that, for something you believe in. I kind of want to support them," Rowinski said.

The protest lasted nearly two hours. A spokesman for Cascadia Forest Defenders said the demonstration was meant to draw attention to an upcoming decision about whether to increase logging on the Elliott State Forest in southern Oregon.

On the web:

Cascadia Forest Defenders
Elliott State Forest- Oregon Department of Forestry