Odd nails stir arrest in spiking of trees

Environmentalist is accused of ecoterrorism that was used to thwart logging in Indiana forest

David Rohn / Indianapolis Star 26jan01

An Indiana environmentalist faces a felony charge alleging ecoterrorist acts of tree-spiking, a tactic meant to thwart logging in state forests.

Frank B. Ambrose, 26, was arrested peacefully at his Bloomington office Thursday and released from the Monroe County Jail on $2,500 bond. He is the Midwest organizer for the American Lands Alliance, a mainstream environmental group headed by Jim Jontz, a former Indiana congressman.

State officials said they traced one of the 10-inch nails driven into trees to Ambrose, a self-described member of the Earth Liberation Front.

The loose-knit group has been linked to more than $30 million in property damage nationwide over such issues as logging, urban sprawl and intensive development. The most recent acts were a rash of fires in a housing development on Long Island, N.Y.

Ambrose is believed to be the first member of the organization ever arrested. The state timber-spiking charge against him is punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. He is scheduled for a court appearance in Monroe County on Feb. 2.

Marlin Dodge, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer working with the FBI, said Thursday he tracked the suspect by tracing nails found in trees at Morgan-Monroe State Forest last June through their manufacturer to a Lowe's hardware store in Bloomington.

Dodge said a store videotape shows a man who appears to be Ambrose purchasing the nails. The purchase was made within a few days of when the spiked trees were discovered. Trees are spiked to fend off loggers, who often cannot spot the nails and can be injured as a result.

"They were very peculiar nails that I'd never seen before," Dodge said. "That was one reason I was able to track them down so easily."

Dodge added that a car seen near where the vandalism occurred also was traced to Ambrose.

But investigators believe others also might have been involved.

"I don't think he could have done what was done by himself," Dodge said.

The Earth Liberation Front, which has boasted publicly about acts of arson and vandalism to expensive logging equipment in the Bloomington area, claimed in an Internet posting that it did the tree-spiking, investigators said.

Last summer, the group also bragged in a public panel discussion that it was responsible for more than $30million in damage nationwide and claimed that not one of its members ever had been arrested.

The Front's Oregon-based spokesman, Craig Rosebraugh, said members, who are anonymous even to one another, operate in small groups to prevent them from being infiltrated, identified or arrested.

Dodge said Ambrose refused to answer any questions after being arrested, including whether he was affiliated with the Front.

Ambrose did not return calls. Jontz also was unavailable for comment.

Even before Ambrose was connected to the vandalism in the state forest, he participated in a peaceful protest last May near a Martinsville state forest office. The group was protesting the sale of timber from state lands.

Most environmental groups oppose ecoterrorism tactics.

"It is counterproductive to the goals we're working toward," said Tim Maloney, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, the state's largest advocacy group. "This is a small group of individuals who don't reflect the approach taken by the environmental community at large."

John Blair, director of the southwest Indiana group Save the Valley, said he knew Ambrose and was surprised to learn of his arrest.

"He's a gentle man, soft-spoken, and I find it hard to believe they have the right man in custody," said Blair, whose group is concerned primarily with air-pollution issues. "I understand the gravity of the (environmental) problem, but I don't think violent tactics ever work."

Blair has participated in several peaceful acts of civil disobedience, including a recent one protesting fish restocking after a chemical spill wiped out 5 million fish in White River. However, he believes the "legitimate tactic" can be abused by others.

"Obviously, people who commit these acts see the world in a way most people don't," he said.

Contact David Rohn at (317) 444-6204 or via e-mail at david.rohn@starnews.com