by Anthony Violanti (page: G18)

She can write hits, make videos and sell out concert halls. But can Natalie Merchant save the trees?

That's the challenge now facing the most politically active performer in contemporary music. Merchant, who plays Shea's Performing Arts Center tonight at 8, has joined the battle against logging in Allegany State Park.

No one should be surprised.

"I have personal convictions and I feel a responsibility to speak out," said Merchant, 32, a former Jamestown resident and ex-lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. Last year Merchant released her first solo album, Tigerlily, and it has sold more than 2 million copies.

That means squat to the forces battling against proposed logging in Allegany State Park. "I had never really heard Natalie Merchant's music," said Neil Woodworth, deputy executive director and counsel for the Adirondack Mountain Club. The club has 22,000 members and leads the fight against logging interests. Woodworth, 42, met with Merchant in December to discuss strategy. "I'm more of a Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt fan, but I figured I better learn about Natalie's music," he said.

"So I listened to a couple of her albums, Tigerlily and Unplugged. I was very impressed. It's good music."

Woodworth was equally impressed with Merchant's knowledge of and interest in Allegany State Park. Last year she met with him, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, and other officials about the park for nearly three hours.

"I've worked with other celebrities, but Natalie was different," Woodworth said. "She did research, asked questions and was very serious about the whole thing. She is incredibly intelligent and she really cares."

Allegany State Park is a personal issue for Merchant.>

"That's the place I spent much of my childhood with my family," she said. "My mother grew up three miles away from the park. We used to go there to hike, swim and just spend time there when I was a kid. Now I still go back there to do the same things.

"The idea of one-quarter of the park being rezoned for logging is a terrible mistake. If we don't raise our voices and let Gov. Pataki know we don't want that to happen, then it will happen. I'm going to do whatever I can to help. That's why I'm working with Sam Hoyt."

At issue is the Master Plan for Allegany State Park, a proposal being considered by the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The Master Plan has been under discussion for nearly 15 years. Among its options are allowing logging in up to 50 percent of the park. Bernadette Castro, state commissioner of parks, has considered another option that would open 23 percent of the park to logging. It would clear old trees and make room for growing new trees in a portion of the park. Such action would be the first time logging has been allowed in any state park.

Hoyt introduced legislation in the state Assembly that would ban commercial logging in Allegany. It passed in the Assembly, but probably never would be considered in the Republican-controlled state Senate, Hoyt said. So it appears Pataki and Castro will play the major roles in the final decision.

Hoyt wrote Merchant in November seeking her support. "I didn't even know if she would get back to me, but she did and she sounded enthusiastic," Hoyt said. Merchant wrote an impassioned letter to him that included these words:

"I was privileged to have lived my entire childhood within a short distance of Allegany State Park. My weekends and large portions of my summers were spent in the very forests that you have told me are now threatened. My feelings for the park run deep. The nearest analogy would be that of a sacred sanctuary, one that I could not bear to see desecrated."

Hoyt was impressed. "This isn't some phony gesture by a rock star. Natalie is totally committed to preserving the park."

Such activism is nothing new for Merchant -- or in rock music. Back in the '60s, artists such as John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez spoke out against the Vietnam War and in support of civil rights.

Music activism waned during the late '70s but was reborn in the '80s with Live Aid and other benefits. Contemporary acts such as R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Melissa Etheridge and Merchant are politically active.

Merchant has been a leader on a variety of social issues. She has worked and campaigned for such causes as abortion rights, the environment, ending the death penalty, world peace and women's rights. Merchant was a staunch supporter of President Clinton during the last election and is unafraid to make political waves.

"The Republicans . . . don't see how vulnerable poor women and children are," Merchant once said. "I can't stand to see people blamed for their poverty and punished for it."

Merchant has her share of critics, including conservative columnist L. Brent Bozell III, who called her "the popular-music queen of political correctness."

Bozell added: "Natalie Merchant is aware of many things but painfully ignorant of one truth: She is an ingrate. The free-enterprise system that she condemns has made her rich and famous. . . . Merchant is unaware of just how boorish her type has become."

Such biting remarks fail to deter the singer, who is unafraid of mixing social commentary with music at her shows. It happened a few years ago when she appeared with 10,000 Maniacs at Canisius College. The band finished its set, and Merchant came out and walked to the front of the stage for an encore. She seemed like Phil Donahue that night, starting a discussion on abortion.

"This is the time to defend the reproductive rights of women," Merchant said. "We're going to do it here because there's no place like home."

The statement drew mostly cheers from the students at Buffalo's Jesuit college. Merchant took everything in stride and then welcomed comments from the audience.

"If you make a child, do you have the right to kill that child?" a young woman asked. That started the audience yelling and screaming with both boos and cheers.

"One moment, please," Merchant said, pleading for order. "Whatever my personal views are, many women's lives will be in danger if abortion is not legal."

A young man yelled out to Merchant: "Hey, Natalie, I like listening to your views and everything, but I came here to hear your music."

Merchant grinned and said curtly: "I don't want to spoil the moment, but I wanted to say something and listen to other points of view. I hope I didn't upset you all. I hope I didn't burst your bubble. Let's get back to music."

The people cheered and Merchant sang a rousing version of Eat for Two, a song about an unwanted pregnancy.

One way or another, Merchant always makes her point. But there are many sides to the Allegany State Park issue, and the parks department says it welcomes dialogue.

"Commissioner Castro wants all public input, whether it's from Natalie Merchant or anyone else," said Stephen Lewis, who represents the state as chairman of the Allegany Park Master Plan Completion Team.

Lewis said the parks department wants to allow different species of trees and wildlife to flourish by thinning the overgrown forest.

"This plan has been devised with a concern for the forest and the wildlife in the park," he said, adding that nothing will be done without "wildlife habitat management" to ensure that wildlife is protected.

Merchant and opponents of the plan worry that logging in the park would mean building roads for trucks and building fences. She said noise from chain saws and other factors would forever change the nature of a park that has always been used solely for recreation.

Some scientists have said high fences and chemical sprays will be needed to keep deer from spoiling the tree-management program that state officials are considering for the park.

Most of all, Merchant and the environmentalists worry that allowing logging will set a precedent for other state and national parks.

Lewis defends the plan. "This plan is being portrayed as letting commercial logging firms come in and clear it, but that's just not so," he said, adding the logging decision will be based on "science, not economics."

Lewis said the plan is more complicated than "just cutting down trees," adding that bike paths, cabin construction and other issues are involved.

The final decision may come down to a public relations battle, and that's where Merchant's stature carries clout.

"The wonderful thing Natalie does for us is help bring public attention to this issue," Woodworth said. "She's a very popular entertainer and there's a spotlight on her wherever she goes. I think the Pataki administration will respond to public opinion. That's where Natalie can make a big difference."

Merchant has welcomed environmental activists at venues on her current concert tour, and they will be at Shea's tonight. She also speaks out about Allegany State Park during concert stops across the state, and tonight wants Hoyt to come on stage at the end of the show. "I'm little nervous about this," Hoyt said. "I mean, I usually speak before 20 people at a senior citizens center. Now I'm on stage at a rock concert. I don't know what to wear."

Hoyt also will appear with Merchant at a press conference next Friday in Albany to discuss the Park and lobby for support.

"We don't want logging in that park, and that's the issue for all of us. It doesn't matter if you're a rock star or not," Hoyt said. "That's why Natalie's involved."