Written Testimony of Paul Westwood,
President of Fur Commission USA,
to the House Resources Committee,
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, on Feb. 12, 2002, as part
of its hearing on "Eco-terrorism and Lawlessness in the National
Forests."

February 12, 2002

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.

ALF/ELF, "Justice Department" and Terrorist Cells

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".
Additionally, threats have been issued to U.S. farmers and
researchers from the ultimate enforcement arm of ALF and ELF, the
so-called "Justice Department." This group sent razor blade-rigged
letters with drawings of letter bombs, warning the recipients to quit
their industries or, "be subjected to violenceS"  Fur farmers were
among the recipients of these letters.
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, "SELF'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.  Slike 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
www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goframe.pl?refname=/intelligenceproject/ip-4r8.html.