Tree spiking involves hammering a metal rod,

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

or other material into a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

trunk, either inserting it at the base of the trunk where a logger might be expected to cut into the tree, or higher up where it would affect the

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

later processing the wood. It is used to prevent logging by risking damage to saws, in the forest or at the mill, if the tree is cut, as well as possible injury or death to the worker. The spike can also lower the commercial value of the wood by causing discoloration, reducing the economic viability of logging in the long term, without threatening the life of the tree. It is illegal in the United States, and has been described as a form of eco-terrorism.

History

It was first mentioned in the context of discouraging logging in Earth First! magazine. It came to prominence as a contentious tactic within unconventional

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

circles during the 1980s, after it was advocated by

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around t ...

co-founder

Dave Foreman William David Foreman (October 18, 1946 – September 19, 2022) was an American environmentalist and author, he was a co-founder of Earth First! and a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Early life and education William ...

in his book '' Ecodefense''. In the book, he discusses how to do it and how to avoid risks to the activist and the logger, such as by putting warning signs or marks in the area where the trees are being spiked. On 8 May 1987, George Alexander, a millworker, was severely injured when a saw blade shattered after contact with a tree spike and cut his jaw in half.

Louisiana-Pacific Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, commonly known as "LP", is an American building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. LP pioneered the U.S. production of oriented strand board (OSB) panels ...

, Alexander's employer, offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the alleged tree spiker, but no charges were filed in this incident. The spiking itself was thought to be inconsistent with Earth First! tactics, as the trees were not in an old-growth forest and the placement of the nail suggested it was inserted after the tree was cut. Alexander later filed a lawsuit against Louisiana-Pacific claiming that the band saw had been weakened from previous strikes with nails but was forced to work with the saw or face dismissal. This industrial accident led the leaders of

to denounce tree spiking. Tree spiking is labeled as eco-terrorism by logging advocates who claim it is potentially dangerous to loggers or mill-workers, although by 1996 only this single injury resulting from tree spiking had been reported.

By country

New Zealand

Beech trees that were being logged in 1998 in the

Tuatapere Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is the self declared "Sausage Capital of New Zealand". Tuatapere is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Waew ...

area were spiked. Police were unable to trace those who were responsible.

Pat O'Dea Patrick John "Kangaroo Kicker" O'Dea (17 March 1872 – 5 April 1962) was an Australian rules and American football player and coach. An Australian by birth, O'Dea played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victoria ...

, while he was the mayor for the Buller District, suggested in 2000 that

Native Forest Action Native Forest Action (NFA) was set up protect the publicly owned native forests of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand from logging. The West Coast has extensive stands of virgin native forests and numerous organisations had lobbi ...

(NFA) had spiked trees during a direct action campaign against native forest logging on the West Coast. This was denied by NFA spokesperson Dean Bagient-Mercer. In 1998,

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

from

Forest and Bird Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous f ...

had said that tree spiking was proposed by some individuals involved in the NFA campaign.

United States

Following the 1987 injury of California mill worker George Alexander, anti-tree spiking legislation was introduced as the Anti-Tree Spiking Act, and was passed into federal law as an amendment, introduced by senators James A. McClure and Mark Hatfield, to the

Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (, ) is a major law of the War on Drugs passed by the U.S. Congress which did several significant things: # Created the policy goal of a drug-free America; # Established the Office of National Drug Control Policy; ...

. In 1993, John Blount and others were convicted under this statute for spiking trees in the

Clearwater National Forest Clearwater National Forest with headquarters on the Nez Perce Reservation at Kamiah is located in North Central Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Idaho Panha ...

, after

Tracy Stone-Manning Tracy Stone-Manning (born 1965) is an American environmental policy advisor who is the current director of the Bureau of Land Management in the Biden administration. Early life and education Stone-Manning was born in Springfield, Virginia. S ...

agreed to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution. In 1990,

leaders, including

Judi Bari Judith Beatrice Bari (1949–1997) was an American environmentalist, feminist, and labor leader, primarily active in Northern California after moving to the state in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was the principal organizer of Ear ...

and

Mike Roselle Mike Roselle (born 1954) is an American environmental activist and author who is a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Roselle is one of the co-founders of the radical environmental organization Earth First!, as well as of Ra ...

, issued a memo and press release to Earth First! activists in Northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and Southern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, renouncing tree-spiking as a tactic on the eve of

Redwood Summer Organized in 1990 by Earth First! and the Industrial Workers of the World, Redwood Summer was a three-month movement of environmental activism led by Judi Bari aimed at protecting old-growth redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') trees from logging by ...

, a 1990 campaign of nonviolent protests against logging of the

redwood forest ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

. In 2021, President Biden nominated

to lead the Bureau of Land Management despite her involvement in a 1989 tree-spiking plot.

In popular culture

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author, essayist, and environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His best-known works include '' Desert S ...

's novel ''

Hayduke Lives! ''Hayduke Lives!'', written in 1989 by Edward Abbey, is the sequel to the popular book ''The Monkey Wrench Gang''. It was published posthumously in 1990 in a mildly unfinished state, as Abbey did not complete revision prior to his death. Thus, ...

'' (1989), environmental activists organise tree spiking actions against logging in the Southwestern United States. In the computer game '' Jagged Alliance 2'' (1999), one of the many

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

bounties the player can obtain is for a man named Theodore Rexall, whose listed crimes include tree spiking. In the '' X-Files'' episode ''Darkness Falls'', two eco-terrorists are accused of spiking trees in

Olympic National Forest Olympic National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Washington, USA. With an area of , it nearly surrounds Olympic National Park and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jeffer ...

References