A Documentary Film by Cade Bursell

During the late 1980s and the 1990s, a small, dedicated group of activists fought on the ground and in the courts to stop clear-cutting, oil and gas drilling, and ATV use in the Shawnee National Forest located in Southern Illinois. They won the support of their community and the struggle in a landmark court case. 

Seventeen years later, the court lifted the injunction, and the Forest Service resumed logging. Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forest Standing portrays the struggle to protect the forest through interviews, photographs, and archival news footage. The film examines how the past struggle can serve to inform the public and activists today in responding to current Forest Service management projects. 

These activists are once again asking hard questions about public land use. Should our public land be degraded to generate commercial profit for a few? With the effects of climate change intensifying and the knowledge that mature forests sequester more carbon, why not keep the Shawnee National Forest standing as a regional carbon sink? How can the forest remain a healthy habitat for struggling forest species like forest interior and migratory songbirds? Will our Illinois treasure be despoiled? How do we keep the forest standing?

John Wallace, one of the activists who fought in the ground over thirty years ago in the Shawnee Forest said, “When governments and legal means fail, sometimes humans of conscience must take a stand and sacrifice their freedoms for the greater good!”

This film is their story.

Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forests Standing recently screened at Webster University in St. Louis, MO and just received first fest selection for Environmental Film Festival at Yale University in New Haven, CT. The Film Festival runs from March 31- April 2, 2022.

Cade Bursell, the film’s editor received the following from Yale’s Film Festival: 

“Shawnee Showdown has been selected for screening under the panel Coming Together: Citizen Activists and Communities Working for the Planet along with the films Island Naturalist, Pantanal: a Charred Wetland, and Rebirth of a Reef.  We were delighted to watch your film and loved it. The film’s editing/visuals captured us from the very first minute, and we are honored to screen your film in our festival.” 

GJEP’s Orin Langelle and Steve Taylor both participated in the Shawnee Forest actions in the 90s and Langelle’s photos from the actions were used in illustrating the film. Additionally Taylor helped edit the sound for Shawnee Showdown and both are doing media work for the film.  

Watch the trailer for Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forests Standing https://vimeo.com/619337732.  Please contact cb******@si*.edu for further information.

Compiled by GJEP Staff

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