Genetic Trees a Target for "Eco-Terrorists"

July 3, 2001-- Imagine a tree whose DNA has been altered to make it grow faster than any tree has ever grown. Imagine a tree that grows in orchards so thick and tall the timber industry has no need to log in old-growth forests. Imagine trees that produce their own pesticides, or fruit that stays fresh for a very long time...

The office building of Toby Bradshaw, a genetics expert at the University of Washington. The building was recently firebombed by environmental activists. Courtesy of Steven Strauss

Experts on genetic manipulation are trying to develop these kinds of trees right now -- but around the country, radical activists are doing almost everything they can to stop them. By one account, nearly 60 genetic manipulation research projects have been attacked by "eco-terrorists" over the last few years.

At least six genetically manipulated orchards have been cut down or "girdled," a process where a band of bark around the tree is removed. This kills the tree by cutting off its food supply from the roots. Also, at least one laboratory has been firebombed.

The activist groups that have taken credit for these attacks call it "economic sabotage." The timber industry and some scientists calls it "terrorism." NPR News Correspondent John Nielsen reports from the scene of a recent "eco-crime" in Corvallis, Oregon.


In mid-March, in Corvallis and at two other locations, vandals damaged or destroyed most of the genetically modified trees being grown in an Oregon State University program headed by Steven Strauss. Read the "communique" that the vandals directed to Strauss explaining their actions. And read the statement that Strauss and his laboratory colleagues drafted in response.

Visit the Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative, the center run by Strauss, Oregon State University forestry professor, to develop and test genetically modified trees.