Environmentalists, particularly in certain rural areas of Utah, are often referred to as "radical-environmentalists" - spoken as a single word. That can be an unfair stereotype.
But whoever spiked trees in a 66-acre timber sale on Thousand Lake Mountain in Wayne County has damaged the reputation of all environmentalists.The stand of timber has been the focus of controversy since work began on an environmental impact statement on the best way to control the spread of a spruce beetle infestation that has spread rapidly because of drought and dense timber stands.
Several protests were filed against the possibility of logging as the way to deal with the problem. The impact study eventually concluded that logging was the best means of handling the situation. So far so good - all parties followed the rules.
But some so-called environmentalists apparently didn't like being on the losing side of the issue. They drove 6-inch steel spikes into many trees at distances varying from 4 to 12 feet from the ground. The heads were cut from many of the spikes to make them hard to find and remove.
An anonymous caller warned Fishlake National Forest officials recently that trees had been spiked. Investigators using metal detectors found that many trees indeed had been so treated.
The problem with spiking is that it not only presents problems in tree harvesting, but also is dangerous if a spiked tree gets into a sawmill. Spikes can take the teeth from a large sawblade or even cause it to disintegrate, spraying shrapnel-like metal in all directions.
Spiking is illegal and is a danger to loggers and sawmill workers. And it won't halt the logging in any case. A reward of $10,000 is being offered for information leading to a conviction.
Aside from the illegality and the disregard for human safety, whoever spiked the trees also has thrown a cloud of suspicion over every law-abiding environmentalist - which is nearly all of them - and tainted their cause. This may be unfair, but as with any group, law-breaking radicals can do more damage to their "friends" than any opponent.
The logging is expected to produce 1.2 million board feet of lumber, enough for about 80 average-sized homes. Apparently those who did the spiking would let the endangered trees die and the beetle infestation spread - rather than see any good come of the wood.