FCUSA President Testifies to House Ecoterror Hearing

On Feb. 12, 2002, the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, held a hearing on "Eco-terrorism and Lawlessness in the National Forests." The following written testimony was submitted for the Subcommittee's consideration by FCUSA president Paul Westwood.

See also:

Testimony of James F. Jarboe, Domestic Terrorism Section Chief, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

ALF/ELF Ex-Spokesman Takes Fifth Amendment Before Congress Report by Americans for Medical Progress.

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to address the serious subject of ecoterrorism, which has impacted so many who work and recreate in our forests. We, as farmers, see ecoterrorism as a new form of crime. Originally directed at those who feed, clothe, shelter and cure us through medical research, ecoterrorism is now expanding to new targets.

I am a working mink farmer. Fur farming combines animal agriculture with a recycling process whereby mink and fox, being carnivores, consume the "leftovers" from the dairy, beef, fish and poultry industries and transform this "waste" into fur pelts for use in cold weather clothing, fine oils and other products.

Fur farmers, along with retailers, designers and our support industries, have been subjected to persistent, coordinated, and costly multi-state terrorist attacks. As victims of terrorism, either in the name of animal rights or the environment, we join the ranks of the beef, poultry, dairy, forestry, mining and recreation industries, wildlife managers, research scientists, zoos, aquariums, restaurants and others who have been victimized.

In October of 1996, my family's farm was attacked by ecoterrorists and 1,200 mink were released and abandoned, resulting in losses of over $100,000. In the following days, weeks and months, I spent many sleepless nights wondering if these criminals would attack again. When a car would drive past may farm, I would wonder if it was someone wanting to harm me or my family, my wife and our young children. In any event, my family business has been affected by this and other events. Rather than simply focusing on my product and my markets, I must also focus considerable attention and costs on security.

In March of 1997, the Utah Fur Breeders Agricultural Co-Op was firebombed by ecoterrorists who are now spending lengthy prison terms behind bars. Some of these criminals testified in court, listing others who attacked our farm. Even with this list of names, the laws were inadequate for prosecution of the entire group.

We have all read the press releases issued by the various groups such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which embrace property damage and intimidation tactics. The ELF and ALF are almost interchangeable and issue statements such as, "As corporate destroyers burn in the west, wildlife nations will be liberated in the north". They rant against the American system of free enterprise, calling it "the capitalist death machine".

The Justice Department has claimed responsibility for hundreds of actions in the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and the United States, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The London Independent characterized the Justice Department's bombing campaign as, "...the most sustained and sophisticated bombing campaign in mainland Britain since the IRA was at its height".

Ecoterrorism and Cyberspace Slumlords: How the Public Provides Terrorists with Free Web Homes

Imagine that a landlord owns an apartment building from which a tenant disseminates literature attacking a minority business sector with which he is unhappy, calling its members "scum of the Earth", "rapists" and "murderers". This literature also contains the home addresses of the business owners, and detailed instructions on how to destroy their property, including how to make bombs and plant them to cause maximum damage. And it gives tips on how to avoid the long arm of the law once the bombs have exploded.

This tenant also raises funds for the defense of anyone caught, adding them to a public list of names he calls "prisoners of war", which includes convicted murderers.

The only thing the tenant does not do is specifically advocate murder, but he provides a variety of criminals with moral support by saying he "understands and shares the frustration that drove them to it."

The landlord, meanwhile, knows about his tenant's activities but turns a blind eye. Now let us suppose the tenant occupies his space in the building rent-free, with free utilities and even a free phone line to get his message out. The landlord can afford to be generous because he runs the building as a charity supported by public funds.

In America we encourage free speech in its many forms, and that means our tenant is welcome to his misguided, bigoted opinions. Organizations which provide "public benefit", meanwhile, may be granted non-profit status by the government. This in turn may result in perks such as tax-exemption for profits and asset transfers, reduced mailing rates and so on.

But would we wittingly dispense such privileges to a landlord who uses public money to support those promoting criminal acts? No we would not!

Let us move this scenario to cyberspace. Rather than running a store built of bricks and mortar, our tenant operates a website from a "cyber building", an Internet service provider (ISP) hosting hundreds of websites.

But that one difference aside, everything else remains the same - the hate literature, the address lists, the bomb-making instructions, how to avoid the law, and so on. And the ISP doesn't charge our tenant any rent, because he operates as a non-profit business supposedly for public benefit, he pays no taxes, and his costs are covered by public funds. In return, all he must do is ensure all his tenants are non-profits working for the public good. In reality, though, his tenants are embracing criminal actions while living rent free in this cyber slum because they would stand no chance of getting non-profit status for themselves. And just like our slumlord in the world of brick and mortar, our cyberspace slumlord turns a blind eye to their nefarious activities.

Any business can set up an Internet server and peddle virtually any message it wants. But clearly the government should not be granting non-profit status to cyberspace slumlords who ostensibly house groups providing public benefit, but instead house a den of trouble-makers inciting others to illegal acts. It's time to bring in the wreckers and clean up the slum, even if it is in cyberspace. One solution would be for Congress to encourage the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the misuse of the tax laws by organizations that sponsor these websites.

Negative Impact on Free Speech and Civil Liberties

Free speech and civil liberties are the real victims of ecoterrorism as citizens are systematically threatened and attacked by these criminals.

ELF, ALF, the Justice Department, and other group names, are taglines for small cells of criminals embracing threatening and terrorist tactics to push their agenda forward. Their goal is to silence, terrify and eliminate those supporting sustainable use of the Earth and to force society to embrace their suicidal agenda to "liberate" the Earth and animals from any human interference. Since every living organism has an impact on the Earth, we are all potential targets of this extremist agenda.

The original wave of ecoterrorism focused on the minorities in our modern, industrialized society, those who work directly with the Earth and animals to feed, clothe, shelter and cure us. It started with graffiti and window breaking, attacks on meat, fish, dairy, fur and leather shops and on research laboratories. Ecoterrorists expanded to destroying logging, mining, ranching and construction equipment; break ins at livestock facilities and labs; tree-spiking; fence-cutting and cattle shooting; website hacking; in-the-field vandalism of plant research; arson and letter bombs. Masked intimidation of people in their homes and on the job and anonymous threats sent via email are all common tactics.

The costs of ecoterrorism are rising, destruction of property is excessive, animals and people have been injured and killed.

Arsons against recreation facilities and homes in several states have awakened the general public to the risk they face since we all take animal habitat when building our cities, recreation areas and our homes, the only private property most of us will ever own.

American Democracy Threatened

We humans, along with all life forms, are dependent upon the Earth, its plants and animals in order to live. Everyone and all property, including domesticated animals, are all "legitimate targets" to Earth and animal "liberators."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is renowned for its defense of civil rights, has stated, "…ELF's use of underground violence strongly resembles ex-Klansman Louis Beam's concept of ‘leaderless resistance.' The ELF is composed of autonomous and secretive ‘cells' that initiate terrorist acts independently, and do not communicate with or even know one another. …like most groups on the radical right today, the ELF sees global capitalism as an enemy."

With these sorts of threats hanging over us, our democratic society is thwarted in its efforts to discuss and prioritize concerns, to make decisions based on fact, reason and science. Instead we are forced to respond to how many windows were broken at a trade meeting or what burned down or was blown up last week.

Norman Rockwell's series' "The Four Freedoms" includes a painting of a young farmer speaking out at a Town Hall meeting and embodies the American form of free speech that we so cherish, the common man freely expressing his opinion. What happens when that farmer is mocked, receives a pie in his face as he leaves the meeting, has his windows systematically broken, his livestock set loose, his barn burned or his family threatened with mail bombs? After being on the receiving end of such systematic terror tactics, how willing will this community be to stand up in public to add their opinions to the debates over how we feed and clothe 6 billion people on a finite planet? And if society is not willing to condemn tactics of terror and protect its people, why should anyone put himself or herself in danger by putting their opinion forward?

With a communications revolution available for anyone expressing an opinion, opportunities for discussion are endless. Encouraging and training young people in how to break the law should not be rewarded with non-profit tax-exempt status. Non-profit groups promoting illegal actions should clean up their act or have their tax-exempt status pulled by the IRS.

Ecoterrorism is a direct affront to a land that prides itself on liberty for all and open and free speech. What does ecoterrorism (arson, property destruction, masked intimidation and bombs) have to do with our civil liberties and free speech? Absolutely nothing but destruction. Judges should get serious about jail time for those who choose law breaking to make any point.

Conclusion

Domestic terrorism has victimized small family farms, food producers, research scientists, loggers, miners, recreationists, and is now threatening all Americans. You, our elected representatives, must develop an understanding of these threats and respond. Specifically, you must provide law enforcement with the investigative and prosecutional tools necessary to address this problem. You must also encourage the Internal Revenue Service to limit the benefits obtained by organizations that sponsor or encourage these activities. The leadership displayed by this Subcommittee in addressing these issues is a good beginning.

Peaceful protest and civil discourse are welcome. But we must find out how we, as a society, can stop an international crime spree driven by the poorly conceived and fundamentally flawed concept of animal and Earth "liberation."

Thank you for allowing us to submit written testimony before the Subcommittee.

Notes:

To learn more about fur farming, please visit www.furcommission.com.

For more on ecoterrorism, visit the Fur Commission website's Safe Farm's section at www.furcommission.com/resource/pressSF.htm.

For a chronology of ecoterror crimes, visit www.furcommission.com/attack/index.html.

ELF's "POW" list at www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk includes Unabomber Ted Kazcinski.

Southern Poverty Law Center on ELF, Intelligence Report, Summer 2001, Issue # 102 at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=212.

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm

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