On August 10, 1996, a diverse group of nine endangered their lives by entering the federal closure area surrounding the Horse Byars salvage sale near Breitenbush, Oregon. According to the US Forest Service (USFS), the 800-acre closure surrounding the 140-acre sale was necessary to protect the public's safety. Coincidentally, this danger to public safety was only fully realized after a blockade had occurred on the same logging road four days earlier. Activists at the later protest were politely asked to wait in the road for an hour or so while the USFS dealt with a small arson fire up the road. They politely did so, though not without fears that rogue logs might come crashing down the two miles from the site and kill them all. After arrest, they were driven to another closed area and waited for over an hour beneath the deadly trees, at which point their shoe soles were photographed and they were driven to the Marion County jail.

Their trial occurred on the February 26. After several hours' wait and a brief in-flight movie, Judge Ochoa of the Marion County District Court ruled that the federal closure order implemented to keep the public over two miles from the actual logging site was "unconstitutionally broad," and therefore was a "prior restraint" of the public's First Amendment right to gather and protest. Among the reasons he cited for the finding of unconstitutionality were preferential issuing of permits and the USFS's own statements that the primary purpose of the closure was to prevent interference with logging.

The Judge also "reluctantly" denied the defenses motion to dismiss charges based on the state court's lack of jurisdiction over federal public lands. The Judge clearly stated that, had additional evidence been introduced, he could have found grounds to grant such a motion. The implications of such a ruling are that future closure violations could be routed to federal court, where judges are more willing to dismiss such petty charges and more likely to fully consider constitutional issues. This could be devastating for the Freddies, should it be pursued by other trespassing defendants. It is already rumored that the Marion County Sheriff will "opt out" of enforcing closure orders in 1997.

The most bizarre comment of the trial came from a sympathetic USFS law enforcement officer who congratulated the activists on their victory "working within the system." Apparently under the Salvage Rider civil disobedience was considered "the system."

It was an exciting victory, but a Pyrrhic one, since Horse Byars has already been logged by Freres Lumber. They can't take any of the logs out, though, since there is now an injunction on the sale. The closure has been lifted and the public is free to come visit the horizontal forest.

The fight may continue as the defendants have tentatively agreed to file a civil suit for false arrest and other damages. The prospect of losses from such suits is said to be the reason behind the rumored decision of the Marion County Sheriff to sit out this season of forest protests: so EF!ers, even if we don't want the money from damages, civil suits can still be an effective tool for forest defenders.