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Eco-terror targeted in federal legislation The Associated Press MONMOUTH - U.S. Congresswoman Darlene Hooley said she plans to introduce federal legislation next week that would help combat the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group. Hooley, D-Ore., made the announcement Friday at the Boise Cascade headquarters in Monmouth, which has been rebuilt since arson destroyed it on Dec. 25, 1999. The ELF later claimed responsibility for the blaze, but police have yet to arrest any suspects. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden also called for more state and federal resources to fight ecoterrorism. Hooley's legislation would provide more federal funding for campaigns against ecoterrorism and would reassign federal officers to areas hit hardest by such attacks, she said. It would also create a "clearing house" of information, Hooley said. Hooley said she hopes Wyden will introduce similar legislation in the Senate. She said she has received up to 100 calls, e-mails and letters from Oregonians who are concerned about increased attacks around the state. Hooley said Oregon and the Northwest have been hit harder than other areas. The FBI received permission from the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the ELF as a domestic terrorist organization in July 1999, a ruling that allows the agency to monitor suspected members even if they are not directly linked with a crime. The ELF has claimed responsibility for torching luxury homes in Mount Sinai, N.Y., sabotaging logging equipment in Indiana and a 1998 fire that caused $12 million damage at the Vail, Colo. Ski resort. In Oregon, the ELF most recently claimed responsibility for a May 21 arson at Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie. The group simultaneously attacked offices in the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. The tree farm and the university-based Poplar Molecular Genetics Cooperative apparently traded genetics research with pollen and cuttings, and the school reciprocated with pollen and seedlings. In Southern Oregon, ELF hs claimed responsibility for the Jan. 2 fire-bombing of the offices of the Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale. The fire, determined to be arson by Oregon State Police investigators, caused more than $400,000 in damage. ELF also took credit for a blaze that gutted the two-story Medford headquarters of U.S. Forest Industries on Dec. 28, 1998. That fire caused $500,000 in damages. Craig Rosebraugh, the Portland-based spokesman for the organization, said Hooley's proposed legislation protects industry, but not natural resources. Rosebraugh says he is not a member of the ELF and does not know any of its members. On the Net: Earth Liberation Front: www.earthliberationfront.com Boise Cascade: www.boisecascade.com Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.