Ecoterrorism: Imposing values through crime

The (Everett) Herald

May 23

They don't like people. They hate learning. And their crimes are blighting the Northwest.

But, hey, they care about animals and trees. Or so they would have us believe.

Whatever the sick mentality behind it, ecoterrorism is becoming a part of life in the Northwest. The viciousness is spreading beyond the woods to infect the rural and urban centers of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and much of the West.

Federal investigators are still checking, but last Monday's fire at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture appears to have been the work of arsonists. At almost the same time, explosives were used to set fire at a commercial tree nursery in Oregon.

Those new attacks came as investigators continue to probe other apparent terrorist acts by environmental and animal rights activists, including two last month in Snohomish County. Two hundred mink were released from a farm near Snohomish, and arson did $1.5 million damage at a chicken farm warehouse near Arlington.

Ecoterrorism has branched out from its 1980s roots in tree-spiking to include a variety of crimes, which continue to go unpunished at a distressing rate. So far, the damage has been confined to property. But the arsons threaten human life every time they occur.

So, too, do the tree spikings, which have taken a turn in British Columbia that reveals the disrespect for life shown by all terrorism, eco or otherwise. To avoid having tree spikes spotted by metal detectors, terrorists have begun using concrete plugs. Like metal spikes, the concrete ones are intended to splinter chain saws or mill saws, spraying the area with potentially deadly shrapnel.

The attack on the UW's horticulture center took a sickening toll on knowledge, claiming records of lifetime research by professors. The fire destroyed one professor's slides of the revegetation of Mount St. Helens. As in previous attacks at Washington State University research facilities, the destruction actually impedes efforts to create a healthy relationship between humankind and the Earth. Some of the center's work focused on plants that can do well in a drought.

Ecoterrorists complain about genetic engineering of trees - and they express their supposed viewpoint by destroying trees. In that regard, ecoterrorists are no different than whoever killed trees along Mukilteo Boulevard recently, apparently to improve scenic views and property value. They use crime to impose their personal values on society.

With universities increasingly targeted, the state Legislature must make sure that adequate security resources are available to prevent attacks. And federal authorities must continue or increase their efforts to apprehend the criminals. No matter what the level of activity so far, people who hate human society and human learning are a danger that must be faced.