spectr17
05-23-2001, 05:33 PM
Eco-terrorists suspected in UW horticultural fire
By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter
Federal authorities are investigating a fire early yesterday at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture and a blaze in Oregon for possible links to a radical environmental movement involved in arsons across the country.
Investigators are treating the UW fire as suspicious in origin, with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bringing in a special dog from Canada to search for evidence of accelerants that may have helped spread the fire.
The UW fire, which resulted in no injuries, is estimated to have caused between $1.5 million and $2 million in damage.
Fueling suspicion was the removal of a container that usually holds two snakes from the office of Toby Bradshaw, an associate professor and poplar-tree geneticist at the center. Bradshaw's reptile boxes were move to a safe place outside the building and away from the fire.
The idea that the container was moved by someone who wanted to keep the snakes from being harmed in the fire is of obvious interest to investigators. It also would mean that individual who moved the container, which was empty at the time, is familiar with the center's operation, Bradshaw acknowledged.
"We (he and co-workers) were all innocent victims of a terrorist attack, if that's what it turns out to be," Bradshaw said.
A radical movement in recent years has tried to sabotage research on fast-growing hybrid poplar trees, including a 1999 attack on potted trees at the UW horticultural center. The Oregon tree farm, scene of the other fire yesterday, cultivates poplars in large-scale commercial plantings.
Both fires were reported at about 3:20 a.m. yesterday. FBI officials confirmed they were on the scene at both incidents. Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman, said it's unclear whether there are direct links between the two.
The UW fire damaged the offices of eight professors and destroyed some work by graduate students, according to Bradshaw.
Five researchers - a mix of faculty, staff and graduate students - are involved in poplar research at the center. Bradshaw's research was the target of vandals in the 1999 attack.
In recent years, the eco-terrorists have attacked the bioengineering of food and fiber, claiming genetic manipulation can cause widespread harm to the natural world.
Fast-growing poplars are considered an alternative to pulp woods logged from forests. Due to bioengineering and efforts to develop them in industrial plantations, they have been singled out for attacks.
Bradshaw said if the fire turned out to be the work of eco-arsonists, it would not stop his research.
"Burning crosses did not stop the civil-rights movement, and burning buildings won't stop the tree-genetics research programs around the country," he said yesterday. Bradshaw had a long-term cooperative relationship with the commercial poplar plantation damaged yesterday in northwest Oregon.
Two buildings and at least 10 vehicles were destroyed at the Jefferson Poplar Farms outside Clatskanie, Ore. Dick Long, chief of the Clatskanie Fire District, said the fire was ignited by incendiary devices.
One of the spared buildings at the Oregon tree farm was spray-painted with the words: "You cannot control what is wild" and "ELF," the acronym for the Earth Liberation Front. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous arsons and is now considered by the FBI to be one of the country's leading domestic terrorist organizations.
Other arson attacks claimed by ELF include fires last year that burned partially built luxury homes in suburban New York and a 1998 blaze that caused $12 million in damage at Vail Mountain ski resort in Colorado.
In Washington state, the ELF and Animal Liberation Front jointly claimed responsibility for a June 21, 1998, fire that damaged two Olympia-area U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Damage Control Buildings and destroyed about $1.5 million worth of research.
In November 1999, Washington State University's Puyallup research center was hit by vandals who destroyed about 180 raspberry plants.
A group called the Tree Improvement Association took responsibility for that action, insisting they had killed not raspberries but genetically altered poplar and cottonwood trees. That group also claimed responsibility for hacking up Bradshaw's potted poplars.
In March, saboteurs attacked three poplar-research plots operated by Oregon State University professor Steve Strauss.
An e-mail released through a group called GenetiX Alert was sent to Strauss. It said genetic engineering to improve poplar trees was "socially and environmentally unacceptable."
It said hybrid poplars with modified genes would create "frankentrees."
Bradshaw said his poplar research does not involve genetic engineering but more traditional techniques of hybrid breeding. He said he sees poplar cultivation as a "net environmental benefit" that will help ease pressure on forests.
Seattle Times staff reporters Dave Birkland and Sherry Stripling and researcher Sandy Freeman contributed to this report.
Hal Bernton can be reached at 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com.
By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter
Federal authorities are investigating a fire early yesterday at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture and a blaze in Oregon for possible links to a radical environmental movement involved in arsons across the country.
Investigators are treating the UW fire as suspicious in origin, with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bringing in a special dog from Canada to search for evidence of accelerants that may have helped spread the fire.
The UW fire, which resulted in no injuries, is estimated to have caused between $1.5 million and $2 million in damage.
Fueling suspicion was the removal of a container that usually holds two snakes from the office of Toby Bradshaw, an associate professor and poplar-tree geneticist at the center. Bradshaw's reptile boxes were move to a safe place outside the building and away from the fire.
The idea that the container was moved by someone who wanted to keep the snakes from being harmed in the fire is of obvious interest to investigators. It also would mean that individual who moved the container, which was empty at the time, is familiar with the center's operation, Bradshaw acknowledged.
"We (he and co-workers) were all innocent victims of a terrorist attack, if that's what it turns out to be," Bradshaw said.
A radical movement in recent years has tried to sabotage research on fast-growing hybrid poplar trees, including a 1999 attack on potted trees at the UW horticultural center. The Oregon tree farm, scene of the other fire yesterday, cultivates poplars in large-scale commercial plantings.
Both fires were reported at about 3:20 a.m. yesterday. FBI officials confirmed they were on the scene at both incidents. Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman, said it's unclear whether there are direct links between the two.
The UW fire damaged the offices of eight professors and destroyed some work by graduate students, according to Bradshaw.
Five researchers - a mix of faculty, staff and graduate students - are involved in poplar research at the center. Bradshaw's research was the target of vandals in the 1999 attack.
In recent years, the eco-terrorists have attacked the bioengineering of food and fiber, claiming genetic manipulation can cause widespread harm to the natural world.
Fast-growing poplars are considered an alternative to pulp woods logged from forests. Due to bioengineering and efforts to develop them in industrial plantations, they have been singled out for attacks.
Bradshaw said if the fire turned out to be the work of eco-arsonists, it would not stop his research.
"Burning crosses did not stop the civil-rights movement, and burning buildings won't stop the tree-genetics research programs around the country," he said yesterday. Bradshaw had a long-term cooperative relationship with the commercial poplar plantation damaged yesterday in northwest Oregon.
Two buildings and at least 10 vehicles were destroyed at the Jefferson Poplar Farms outside Clatskanie, Ore. Dick Long, chief of the Clatskanie Fire District, said the fire was ignited by incendiary devices.
One of the spared buildings at the Oregon tree farm was spray-painted with the words: "You cannot control what is wild" and "ELF," the acronym for the Earth Liberation Front. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous arsons and is now considered by the FBI to be one of the country's leading domestic terrorist organizations.
Other arson attacks claimed by ELF include fires last year that burned partially built luxury homes in suburban New York and a 1998 blaze that caused $12 million in damage at Vail Mountain ski resort in Colorado.
In Washington state, the ELF and Animal Liberation Front jointly claimed responsibility for a June 21, 1998, fire that damaged two Olympia-area U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Damage Control Buildings and destroyed about $1.5 million worth of research.
In November 1999, Washington State University's Puyallup research center was hit by vandals who destroyed about 180 raspberry plants.
A group called the Tree Improvement Association took responsibility for that action, insisting they had killed not raspberries but genetically altered poplar and cottonwood trees. That group also claimed responsibility for hacking up Bradshaw's potted poplars.
In March, saboteurs attacked three poplar-research plots operated by Oregon State University professor Steve Strauss.
An e-mail released through a group called GenetiX Alert was sent to Strauss. It said genetic engineering to improve poplar trees was "socially and environmentally unacceptable."
It said hybrid poplars with modified genes would create "frankentrees."
Bradshaw said his poplar research does not involve genetic engineering but more traditional techniques of hybrid breeding. He said he sees poplar cultivation as a "net environmental benefit" that will help ease pressure on forests.
Seattle Times staff reporters Dave Birkland and Sherry Stripling and researcher Sandy Freeman contributed to this report.
Hal Bernton can be reached at 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com.