"Earth First" Cimbing into Ohio's Forests

EID-O's Shawn discusses the group "Earth First"'s venture into Ohio and some of their past "activities":

"As shale development continues to provide great opportunities for Ohioans, it is also gaining popularity with self-described radical environmental organizations.  This can be noticed it what seems to be a benign tree-climbing-activist camp outside of Athens hosted by the group Earth First! However, if one digs a bit deeper they can find the Earth First! Climber’s Guild has ties to a deeper, less-than-noble agenda.

The climbing camp – to be held from September 22nd-28th - will help provide activists with the climbing skills needed to temporarily disrupt shale development by, you guessed it – climbing trees.  At this camp, activists will train to rope off roadways to not allow trucks to pass, display banners, live in these trees if needed, and perhaps do all of this without falling and hurting themselves.

While some think they may just be climbing trees for a week (and let’s face it that sounds pretty fun), this is not a wholesome, run of the mill organization. Earth First! has been around for over 30 years, with a mission statement of “No Compromise in the Defense of Mother Earth!” and employs tactics that encourage destruction and put people’s lives in danger.

They describe themselves on their website as such:

Earth First! takes a decidedly different tack towards environmental issues. We believe in using all the tools in the tool box, ranging from grassroots organizing and involvement in the legal process to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching.

According to their website, monkeywrenching is defined as follows:

Monkeywrenching: Ecotage, ecodefense, billboard bandits, desurveying, road reclamation, tree spiking, even fire. All of these terms describe the unlawful sabotage of industrial extraction and development equipment, as a means of striking at the Earth’s destroyers where they commit their crimes and hitting them where they feel it most—in their profit margins. (emphasis added)

At a glance, one may think this group must have had their website hacked and has just been too busy to fix such outrageous claims.  But with a quick internet search I found a couple more quotes from their founders that support the illegal activity."

READ THE REST: http://www.eidohio.org/earth-first-climbing-into-ohios-forests/

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on September 20, 2012 at 3:29pm

Anne, I hope you are able to get this into the local media including radio, TV, and the newspapers. There is very little time for the authorities to prepare for this, but they need to be prepared. It would be good if as many pictures as possible get taken of the persons attending this "training function". Knowledge is power, and forewarned is forearmed. I would think landowners need to be prepared for trespassers, and appropriate law enforcement authorities need to be on alert. O&G drilling companies need to be on the alert as well. They probably need to hire some of their own security at drilling sites and install surveillance equipment at drilling sites. Hopefully prosecutors will take this problem very seriously and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law when any of these people are apprehended committing an offense. I again stress that your information should get disseminated to the widest possible extent. Landowners should not hesitate to record make, model, and license plate number of any suspicious vehicles near their property especially for vehicles bearing out of state license plates. These are my thoughts and I think they are reasonable. Professional law enforcement may have better measures, but they really do need to think about this ahead of time. The value of your very excellent post can only be fully realized if the information is disseminated to the widest possible extent. Best wishes.   

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on September 20, 2012 at 3:42pm

Just in time for squirrel season! 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on September 20, 2012 at 4:24pm

Those squirrels probably wouldn't taste good!

Permalink Reply by Jack Straw on September 20, 2012 at 4:44pm

A friend from Papua New Guenia once told me that Vegans are stringy and tough; but can be quite tasty if they are cooked "low and slow" - kind of a nutty flavor.

 

JS

Permalink Reply by jason smith on September 20, 2012 at 6:10pm
Squirrel season should be extended to control over population problems.
Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on September 20, 2012 at 10:34pm

I note the number of humorous posts and I think they are amusing. To all you comedians, I ask the following question:  Have you done any research at all on this group? When it's your property that is vandalized, your tree that is spiked, your well that is damaged and your royalty checks stop coming, and there's no competent thought out response by law enforcement to quell the lawlessness; then perhaps you will post a serious comment. Not that I didn't  enjoy your humorous comments. You need to be prepared for these squirrels!  

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on September 21, 2012 at 1:42am

These people are nothing more than homegrown domestic terrorist groups and should be treated as such. They should be monitored just as the CIA monitors terrorists abroad only it is our responsibility because our govt won't/can't do it. Tell your neighbors about this group and be vigilant in looking for their activity. Our interests in having our natural resources developed need to be protected and our government doesn't have the manpower or the interest to do it. This one especially hits home with me because I am managing my Belmont acreage for timber and have spent huge amounts of time improving my forest for timber production. I would probably end up in jail if I caught their sabotage activity going on in my forest. If any of them actually owned forest land or Utica Shale land, I think they would have different attitudes about these resources. I could actually respect their opinion if they chose not to develop their own land and resources.

Someone here needs to RSVP for this "climbing camp" to figure out where it will take place. Their website indicates that they will be near Athens but says directions will only be given once you RSVP. If you are interested in climbing as a hobby and think you can stomach a day or a week with these dirtbags, you could even infiltrate their little party and learn who the players are. A little undercover counterintelligence couldn't hurt. Just like there are "lurkers" here on GMS who monitor but don't participate, maybe we need some "lurkers" there who monitor but don't participate. It will be harder to do there though because while we are open and encourage debate and discussion with the anti-drill/frack crowd, these people are a lot more secretive about their activity and tend to scurry off and hide like the roaches they are when the light of day shines on them.

Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on September 21, 2012 at 2:27am

Finnbear: Thanks for a great post.  You apparently know  more about them than I do. I think your post may wake some people up. I  follow a few people who post regularly. Among that group is Anne Carto.  I'm glad she started the thread about this group of very dangerous people. I will say again that law enforcemeent and the mainstream media need to do their parts. I agree, sadly, that they probably law do little.  That same media will out in force when somebody gets shot or a well gets dynamited.  As for law enforcement I remember the  FBI agent from North Dakota or Minnesota who had good information that could have prevented 9/11. He passed it up the line to his superiors who of course did nothing. I hope there are more serious posts to this thread.     

Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on September 21, 2012 at 3:31am

I am embarrassed by typos in above post. Corrections;" enforcement" line 4. Sentence in line five should read as follows; I agree, sadly, that they will probably do little. The word "they" referring to the mainstream media and law enforcement. Everybody makes mistakes, but this post of mine  turned out to be incoherent. I am a reasonably good writer and a good speller, but a damnably poor typist and an occasionally poor proof reader. 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on September 21, 2012 at 3:49am

Funny, we must think alike. I quickly read it and interpreted it as you intended to say it and only noticed the typos when you posted your correction.

Permalink Reply by JREwing on September 21, 2012 at 3:51am

I wuodln't wrory aobut it one bit Sam.  Msot popele are cmopeltley cpalabe of raeidng txet taht has been tolatly buchtrerd...  As long as the meaning gets through, it's all good.

Mark 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on September 21, 2012 at 3:54am

Exactly - perfectly clear even though the letters are all out of order

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