Guest “This would make sense if it was the other BLM” by David Middleton

Does anyone here remember the ecoterrorist organization Earth First! and their terrorist attacks in the 1980’s?

TREE SPIKING AN ‘ECO-TERRORIST’ TACTIC
By JACK ANDERSON and
DALE VAN ATTA March 5, 1990

George Alexander, a third-generation mill worker, was just starting his shift at the Louisiana-Pacific lumber mill in Cloverdale, Calif., when the log that would alter his life rolled down his conveyor belt toward a high-speed saw he was working on.

It was May 1987, and Alexander was 23. His job was to split logs. He was nearly three feet away when the log hit his saw and the saw exploded. One half of the blade stuck in the log. The other half hit Alexander in the head, tearing through his safety helmet and face shield. His face was slashed from eye to chin. His teeth were smashed and his jaw was cut in half.

Alexander had never even heard of a sabotage tactic called tree spiking until he became a victim of “eco-terrorism.” Someone who objected to tree cutting had imbedded a huge steel spike in the log that violently jammed the saw.

[…]

“The purpose of tree spiking is not to hurt anybody; it’s to keep trees from being cut,” said Dave Foreman, co-founder of Earth First, the most radical arm of the environmental movement.

[…]

Since its formation in 1980, Earth First has lived by the slogan “No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth.” Its followers have been known to chain themselves to trees, lie down in front of bulldozers and vandalize machinery. Many Earth First followers don’t take part in the eco-sabotage, but the tactics advocated by the group have made it the target of FBI scrutiny. Foreman is awaiting trial on a charge of conspiracy to tear down an electrical tower.

[…]

The Washington Post

Well… Unless Joe Manchin changes his mind, a former member of Earth First! is set to become the Director of the Bureau of Land Management…

ENERGY

Manchin backs Stone-Manning to lead Bureau of Land Management
Manchin plans to support the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.

By ANTHONY ADRAGNA

07/19/2021

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) plans to support the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management, a spokesperson confirmed Monday, a major boost for the nominee who is facing strong GOP opposition because of her connection to radical environmentalists in the 1980s.

Manchin’s support likely ensures the Energy Committee he chairs will deadlock on the Stone-Manning selection when it considers the pick on Thursday. All 10 Republicans wrote a letter last week urging President Joe Biden to abandon the pick over her role in a tree spiking incident carried out by members of the group Earth First! that was designed to stop logging in Montana’s forests.

[…]

Republicans have bashed her as an “eco-terrorist” and contended that she lied to lawmakers by saying she did not believe she had ever been the target of an investigation.

The now-retired federal investigator in the tree-spiking case said in a letter last week that Stone-Manning had displayed “vulgar, antagonistic, and extremely anti-government” behavior during the initial 1989 investigation, and that she knew she was a target in 1993 when she negotiated a cooperation agreement with prosecutors and testified against two men in the case.

Politico

Convicted tree spiker: Stone-Manning knew plans in advance
By Scott Streater, Jennifer Yachnin | 07/15/2021

A convicted felon and a former Forest Service investigator are contradicting Tracy Stone-Manning’s portrayal of her role in a 1980s tree-spiking incident in Idaho that has taken center stage in her nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

[…]

Stone-Manning, along with two other men who helped Blount, Fairchild and LaCrosse spike the trees, would later agree to testify against Blount and Fairchild in exchange for legal immunity.

E&E News Greenwire

via Watts Up With That?

https://ift.tt/3iFrvNA

July 22, 2021