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Eco-Terrorists Target Tree Farm02-02-06 | News

Eco-Terrorists Target Tree Farm




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Valerie Hipkins, site manager of the Institute of Forest Genetics near Placerville, Calif., inspects a seedling.


Robert Glennon, professor, University of Arizona and Rogers College of Law addresses the crowd at the Second Annual Intelligent Use of Water?EUR??,,????<

Yet federal authorities say the world?EUR??,,????'???s oldest tree-breeding center was the main target of three people who were arrested on Jan. 13 in a plot to blow it up and damage other structures such as cell-phone and electricity towers.

?EUR??,,????'??I read the paper and it makes me nervous,?EUR??,,????'?? said office administrator Chris Nelson, who recalled giving the three suspects a tour.

The affidavit says they used the tour as a reconnaissance mission, drawing a map of the lab when they left.

Eric Taylor McDavid, 28, of Foresthill; Zachary O. Jenson, 20, of Monroe, Wash.; and Lauren Weiner, 20, of Philadelphia, were arrested three days after they toured the institute.

Site manager Valerie Hipkins said she wasn?EUR??,,????'???t surprised to find her lab was a target for ecoterrorists.

?EUR??,,????'??Forests are a very powerful, emotional resource,?EUR??,,????'?? she said. ?EUR??,,????'??Whether you?EUR??,,????'???re cutting trees or putting a road through a forest, people feel strongly about it. So when you put the whole genetics thing with it, it?EUR??,,????'???s very contentious.?EUR??,,????'??

The lab?EUR??,,????'???s 120 acres grow the world?EUR??,,????'???s most complete collection of pine trees ?EUR??,,????'??? 70 of the more than 100 species ?EUR??,,????'??? and 15 of the world?EUR??,,????'???s 45 fir species.

Source: Associated Press

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