Four women hold a topless prayer vigil against clear cut logging

WESTPORT, Calif. - Four women held a topless prayer vigil against clear cut logging in the small north coast town of Westport Sunday.

Standing on a remote roadside on the north-facing slope of DeHaven Valley, the women hoped to call attention to logging they say will create debris and wash into DeHaven Creek below.

Westport is 180 miles north of San Francisco.

Led by Dona Nieto, who goes by her performance art moniker ''La Tigresa,'' the women braved the chilly north coast breeze as logging was scheduled to continue around them.

''The loggers will have to drive through a gauntlet of bare-breasted women,'' said activist Daryl Cherney who helped coordinate the protest.

''They are burning sage, saying prayers and invoking the name of the goddess and reminding the men of the god within each one of them,'' Cherney said.

The decision to partially disrobe for the sake of trees actually began Thursday when Nieto stood on a roadside by herself with some flowers, chanting poetry to any of the loggers who would listen and occasionally screaming ''rape'' when she heard the sound of falling trees in the background.

Stunned loggers brought a sheriff's deputy to the site Friday, only to find two topless women burning smudge sticks and holding crystals. Dismayed loggers halted operations for the day, Cherney said.

Logging continued Saturday, so Nieto put out the call and four protesters showed up on the roadside Sunday. They promised to return Monday and have been given permission by the land owner to stand on the road to bring attention to the trees falling around them.

Calls placed by The Associated Press to the company that partially owns the Hawthorne Timber Co. were not immediately returned.