Logging Protester Claims Credit for Tree Spiking
An unidentified letter writer claimed responsibility for pounding bridge spikes into trees in the Clearwater National Forest to prevent a proposed timber sale, endangering those who log the trees, officials said.
Margie Ewing, district ranger for the Clearwater Forest at Powell, 12 miles west of Lolo Pass near the Idaho-Montana state line, said officials received a letter last week warning them the tree spiking had occurred.
“We have verified that the trees were spiked,” Ewing said. “We’re not sure of the extent of it yet.”
The typewritten letter said 500 pounds of bridge spikes were hammered into trees at the proposed Post Office timber sale near Powell on the Lochsa River.
The letter was signed, in type, by George Hayduke, the fictitious hero of Edward Abbey’s book “The Monkey Wrench Gang.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
