Holding their ground

Protests against a megaload on its way across Idaho continued Tuesday night as the big rig made its journey along U.S. Highway 12.

Tribal leaders pledged during a nearly two-hour blockade of the highway early Tuesday morning that there would be more protests. They held their ground again Tuesday night, blocking the thoroughfare before being moved out of the way by law enforcement officers who shepherded the load through the split of U.S. Highway 95 and U.S. Highway 12 toward Orofino. At least three people were detained.

Protesters numbered in the hundreds. At one point, some threw softball- to basketball-sized rocks in the road in front of the megaload to create obstacles. Police and shipping company employees quickly removed the rocks.

Protesters Tuesday night took issue with Nez Perce Tribal Police for the agency's role in trying to keep the megaload moving, rather than protecting the tribe and its homeland.

"We have the right to assemble, we have the right to protest. It's in the Constitution," said Del Rae Kipp of Lapwai, one of the protesters facing charges from a blockade early Tuesday morning near the Clearwater River Casino.

"That megaload is violating a court order. Make it stop," Lana Rickman of Lapwai shouted at police and employees of Omega Morgan, the company shipping the equipment to the Canadian tar sands, as the cargo moved at a snail's pace along the highway.

Tribal member Gaylen Broncheau Sr. of Lapwai said to the tribal police: "You are being paid by the tribe. Where's our protection?"

Protesters ranged in age from children to elderly tribal members.

Althea Ellenwood, 11, said she was there to "represent our tribe and not let them come out here and destroy our land."

Tribal member Rebecca Miles said she was pleased to see the women and young people holding firm in their commitment - both nights of the protest.

"What I saw last night was just so moving, to see the young people and the women standing their ground," she said. "There was just a bunch of new leaders born last night."

Traffic behind the megaload was at a near-standstill.

"I think it's ridiculous," said motorist Lorie McNeil of Lewiston, who was held up behind the megaload from about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday until after midnight.

"Let the guy go through and do his job," she said. "He's just a driver."

Efforts to stop the load might soon include legal proceedings.

As protests continued into a second night, the tribe and Idaho Rivers United both said they would explore legal avenues as soon as today to stop shipment of the massive evaporator owned by General Electric Co. to the tar sands of Alberta, Canada. The environmental group previously won a lawsuit it filed against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to assert any jurisdiction over megaload shipments through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest and its Middle Fork of the Clearwater/Lochsa Wild and Scenic River Corridor.

In that case, Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled the agency has authority to review Idaho Transportation Department permits for megaloads. The Forest Service announced Monday it is starting a study that will seek to identify and define the intrinsic values associated with the river corridor and the potential effects of the megaload shipments upon them.

During the study, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell said the agency would not support any megaload shipments through the corridor without first consulting with the tribe. The agency and tribe are scheduled to begin consultation Aug. 20.

Brazell is defining megaloads as those that are more than 16 feet wide or 150 feet long, those that require more than 12 hours to pass through the forest or those that require the roadway or adjacent vegetation to be modified.

The GE evaporator is 21 feet wide and 255 feet long. According to a traffic control plan associated with Omega Morgan's Idaho Transportation Department permit, the load will take two days to cross the forest. On Monday night and Tuesday morning, the shipment only progressed about 11 miles and stopped near Hog Island, just before the split between U.S. Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 95. Transportation department spokesman Adam Rush said that was the plan all along. However, the traffic control plan filed with the state indicates the load was to travel 38 miles and stop near Peck after its first night of travel.

The environmental group Friends of the Clearwater called on the Obama Administration to step in and stop the shipment.

"It is time someone from the Obama administration show the leadership and courage exemplified by the Nez Perce people last night," said Brett Haverstick, education and outreach director for Friends of the Clearwater.

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Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.