Liberty
Matters News Service
March 18, 2004
FBI Nabs Eco-terrorist
The FBI has announced the arrest of Michael Scarpitti in connection with arson attacks on logging and cement trucks in 2001 in the Portland, Oregon area. Scarpitti, who is known to have ties to the Earth Liberation Front, made the FBI's most wanted list after he dropped out of sight two years ago. He gained notoriety in July 2000 when he climbed a U.S. Forest Service building in downtown Portland and perched on a ledge for eleven days. In October 2001, he climbed into the spotlight again, only to plunge 60 feet out of the hemlock tree where he was roosting to protest a logging sale. Three other people were arrested for the arson incidents, and one of them, Jacob Sherman, identified Scarpitti (known by his fellow terrorists as "Tre Arrow") as the "leader and instigator" of the attacks. Also, in New Mexico, a former Peace Corps worker was arrested and charged with sabotaging a public trail in the Cibola National Forest. Michael Delongchamp is accused of placing steel cables across a trail used by bicyclists, hikers and equestrians. Christopher Chase was injured when he hit the cables while riding his bike last December 16. "I knew right away what was going on," he said. "I knew there was eco-terrorism in the area." A jogger hit the cables December 20, and while her husband attempted to remove them, he found a wooden board embedded with nails buried in the trail. According to the complaint, Delongchamp booby-trapped the trail because "he was angry because mountain bike riders were responsible for creating miles of new trails in areas where they did not previously exist."
FBI Arrests Alleged Ecoterrorist in Oregon
Man Accused of Ecoterrorism Along Trail
New Mexico Rancher Remains in Jail
Catron County rancher Kit Laney will stay in jail at least until next Monday. U.S. Magistrate Karen B. Motzen said, "I don't think Mr. Laney is a flight risk," as Federal prosecutor John G. Crews charged, "but I am concerned about Mr. Laney being a danger to law enforcement." Laney was arrested Sunday night by U.S. Forest Service officers who claimed he assaulted them with his horse and then attempted to release his cattle the agents had confiscated. The Laneys have been on the losing end of a string of court battles over grazing rights in Gila National Forest for almost a decade. Last December, a federal court ruled the ranchers were in contempt of court for failing to abide by earlier court orders to remove their cattle from the forest. That ruling paved the way for Forest Service personnel to begin confiscating some 400 head of Diamond Bar cattle. Prosecutor Crews wanted Judge Molzen to keep Laney in jail until the round up was complete, a feat that may not be accomplished for another six weeks, according to ranchers attending the hearing.
Kit Laney Arrested on Diamond Bar
Catron County Rancher Stays in Jail
For the Love of Orchids
A Spring, Texas man is in big trouble for importing and selling orchids that an international treaty has labeled endangered. George Norris and Manuel Arias Silva, a prominent Peruvian orchid grower, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami last week for smuggling the forbidden flowers into the United States. Norris maintains he did nothing wrong and blames the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and overregulation of the orchid industry for turning a harmless activity into a criminal offense. "Selling these flowers doesn't diminish their numbers in the wild at all," Norris said. "It's not like we're constructing pipe bombs or selling pedophile material. We're talking flowers." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (F&W) was tipped off by an orchid lover that Norris was advertising Peruvian orchids on his web site. F&W agents instructed the snitch to buy from Norris and then nabbed him when he didn't produce proof the plants were legally imported. Norris could get 35 years in prison and a $1.75 million fine. Norris says the feds are treating him as though he were dealing drugs and making tons of money. He sells the plants for $20 to $25 apiece and nets about $11,000 a year from his hobby.
Spring Man Faces Indictment over Orchid
Florida Panthers Pose Threat to Neighborhood
Federally introduced panthers (mountain lions) have been frequenting the Pinecrest community and residents are afraid they may attack someone since they do not exhibit any fear of humans. "There are no known cases of panthers attacking humans in Florida," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer, Henry Cabbage. Jan Michael Jacobson, of the Everglades Institute says he fears for his life and the lives of nearby residents. "The panthers have been seen with front paws on the four-foot high fence looking the situation over," he said. They can leap at least 10 feet high, so the fence is no protection at all." Jacobs complained that wildlife agents imported the animals from Texas and that Florida panthers don't even exist and therefore should not be protected as an endangered species. "Nowhere in the Endangered Species Act is there authorization to spend tax dollars on a species which is shot as vermin in Texas and is hunted in a number of states," he said. "The Texas cats reintroduced into my neighborhood morphed from varmints to endangered when they were reintroduced here. Same cat, different status." Sounds as though the Wildlands project to turn half of the U.S. into a national park is gaining ground in Florida.
Community Fears Big Cats