Anti-Environmental Campaign against RAN Threatens Right to Peaceful Protest

Anti-Environmental Campaign Against RAN Threatens Fundamental Right to Peaceful Protest

21st June 2001

Take action! Tell Boise Cascade their dirty tricks won't stop grassroots forest protection efforts

As part of a propaganda campaign funding directly by global forest destroyer Boise Cascade (and who knows who else - RAN has lots of corporate enemies) two right wing think tanks have launched an orchestrated campaign against RAN.  These two groups, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise run by anti-enviro PR king Ron Arnold and Frontiers of Freedom Institute(FF)founded by retired Senator Malcolm "strip mine" Wallop are notoriously anti-environmental front groups for the timber and oil industries. 

The campaign began last fall with the launch of an attack site www.ranamuck.org, has involved contacting Boise Cascade customers and RAN funders and even a June 13th Congressional forum entitled "Eco-Terrorism and Extremism" in which Arnold and others attempted to link RAN with property destruction and the "Earth Liberation Front".  Now Frontiers of Freedom has filed a petition to the IRS requesting that RAN's tax-exempt 501c3 status be revoked.

The Congressional forum involved attacks on lots of environmental groups but particularly highlighted RAN.   To quote FF's press release "Ron Arnold, executive vice president of the non-profit think tank, the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, will spotlight the Rainforest Action Network as an attack group not an environmental group. He will present RAN’s anti-capitalist and anti-corporate agenda of force, intimidation and unlawful actions. Arnold will also show suspicious links between RAN’s rhetoric and Earth Liberation Front acts."  Other speakers at the forum included Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Rep. George Nethercutt (R-WA) and FBI experts.

These accusations are ridiculous - RAN is dedicated to exclusively non-violent means and does not engage in nor advocate property destruction. This campaign is a desperate attempt by pro-logging factions to discredit RAN and undermine the  successful work of the grassroots forest protection movement. It is the frantic gasps of the timber industry who has sunk to misinformation and smear campaigns to hide their wholesale liquidation of the world's remaining forests.

Frontiers of Freedom makes it clear this is a test case and if successful they will challenge the tax-exempt status of other environmental and social justice groups.  They are attacking the basic rights of citizens to engage in free speech and peaceful protest.  We must unite to let Boise Cascade know that we will not let them get away with this blatant effort to silence the voices of forest defenders.

PLEASE VISIT http://www.ran.org/info_center/aa/boiseattacks.html TO TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT ALL OF OUR FREE SPEECH RIGHTS. 

Send a letter to Boise and tell them that instead of trying to silence non-violent forest advocates their should use their money to transform their destructive forest operations.

Congratulations everyone!  These attacks are coming about because of the successful work of the entire grassroots forest defense movement to challenge the power of massive corporations to destroy the Earth.  That means they're scared.  And why are they scared?  Because we're winning! Grassroots non-violent direct action campaigns are succeeding in protecting forests!   However let's all be vigilant.  These types of attacks are serious and they are meant to scare activists away from our work of publicly and non-violently defending the forests.  Show them you've got nothing to hide by keeping up all the great work everyone!

"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come" - Victor Hugo

For more information about Boise Cascade's links to the current campaign against RAN check out :
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/isboisebehind.html