BRIDGE PROTEST RECEIVES MIXED REVIEWS.

Byline: Mark Evans Associated Press 

The weekend protest that led to an hours-long traffic tie-up on the Golden Gate Bridge left a trail of muttered obscenities and a question: Why?

Did environmental activists prove their point Saturday in scaling the bridge's north tower and unfurling a banner critical of a recent federal government deal to buy a grove of ancient redwood trees?

Or did the activists' efforts backfire, succeeding only in riling up a medley of tourists, joggers and bicyclists who were stranded when the famed span was all but shut down for five hours?

``When the chips are down, you play a trump card,'' said Jim Ace, an organizer of the protest that led to the arrests of nine people, including actor Woody Harrelson. All were released from jail late Saturday, but face misdemeanor charges of trespassing and creating a public nuisance, and possible fines of up to $10,000.

``I think it was a huge success,'' Ace said Sunday, ``and we'll see this in the next week. There will be a ripple effect. We've sent a clear message not only to (Charles) Hurwitz and (U.S. Sen.) Dianne Feinstein, but to people all over the country. The message is: Redwoods are still falling, and something needs to be done, and it needs to be done now.''

Ace, and other activists, contend that a deal brokered by Feinstein, D-Calif., to save 7,500 acres of Northern California's Headwaters Forest is a sham laced with loopholes. It allows Pacific Lumber Co., which owns the forest and is headed by Hurwitz, to back out if and when it wants, they claim, and also leaves thousands of acres of redwoods unprotected.

A banner unfurled on the bridge Saturday read: ``Hurwitz, aren't redwoods more precious than gold?''

But that message wasn't legible to Scott Warwick. The 80-year-old man was halted by bridge guards while trying to take his morning walk across the Golden Gate. Citing safety worries, bridge officials decided to block the bridge to all walkers, joggers and bicyclists, most of whom were irate.

``It doesn't do a nickel's worth of good,'' Warwick said. ``I think the lumber company probably made a few friends today.''

A few feet from Warwick, strain was evident on the faces of motorists, who endured a miles-long traffic backup and crawled over the bridge at about 10 mph. Many shouted obscenities as they passed beneath Harrelson and eight others dangling from the bridge tower with rock-climbing gear.

Tourists peering from any number of buses offered mostly baffled looks.

While many sympathized with protesters' concerns, they disagreed with the way they chose to spread it.

``Why not the Internet? Why don't they use graffiti, post brochures in the neighborhoods where people can see their concerns every day?,'' asked Michael Luke, 32, a San Francisco architect. ``This kind of protest is outdated. It doesn't work.''