Earth First

Re "Earth First!: Radical Tactics Lead to Arrests" (by Ann Japenga, Sept. 5): The article about "monkeywrenching" was fascinating. Since the last two secretaries of the Interior Department might possibly be classified as "bulldozers" upon the natural environment of this county, perhaps the only way to get their attention is with a monkeywrench. ULA PENDLETON Los Angeles

U.S. Magistrate Morton Sitver approved unsecured bond Friday for Earth First! founder David Foreman of Tucson but ordered three co-defendants held without bail in an alleged conspiracy to sabotage nuclear facilities in Arizona, California and Colorado. Attorney Richard Sherman said he was gratified at the release of Foreman, but said all should have been released.

Perched on a small, unsteady plywood platform 130 feet above the earth in the crown of an ancient coastal redwood tree, Greg King saw the light. It was a searchlight. And it was pointed at him. Crews working for the tree's owner, Pacific Lumber Co., had moved the light deep into the remote, old-growth forest northwest of here to keep tabs on King and another protester, Jane Marie Cope, as they camped in the trees last month to prevent them from being felled.

Six environmentalists who tried to save a portion of a national forest by chaining themselves to trees and machinery have been convicted of disorderly conduct and fined $113 each. Walker County Justice of the Peace John Pasket on Wednesday found the members of Earth First! guilty. The protesters were arrested last month, after they obstructed U.S. Forest Service tree crushers. Their action held up the clear-cutting of 2,500 acres of the Sam Houston National Forest for 24 hours.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Department said Thursday that it is investigating the possibility that malicious damage by timber harvesting opponents may have been responsible for a lumber mill accident in which a worker was injured when a huge saw band flew into his face after hitting a large nail embedded in a log. It was the first-known accident that could be linked to "tree-spiking," a tactic advocated by radical environmental activists to stop the logging of old-growth trees.

The article by Kennedy is an example of the pathetic Pollyanna attitude that threatens to reduce the environmental movement to a media circus destined to quickly fade in deference to big business-as-usual. Earth First! should be applauded, not chided, for standing up to the vested interests and refusing to compromise the integrity of our remaining wilderness areas. It takes political and personal courage to chain oneself to a bulldozer or to physically block huge logging trucks in an effort to prevent further clear-cutting.

According to my sample ballot, Prop. 130 wins the prize for the highest cost bond issue. The total is $1,327,000,000! For the $1.3 billion, Prop. 130 proposes to buy 3,000 acres of something called the "Headwaters Forest." It would be outrageous to allow Earth First! (one of the sponsors of Prop. 130) to siphon off this many taxpayer dollars for its selfish purposes when there are so many unmet needs in our society. PETER GANAHL Anaheim

Congratulations to Julia Hill and her Earth First support team for demonstrating the respect and reverence that nature deserves ("Fighting for Treedom," Feb. 20). That Julia is the daughter of an evangelist is ironic, since it was the church's missionaries who, upon observing native peoples' reverence for nature, mistakenly declared it nature worship and made it a crime. JEFFREY CROWE CARR Manhattan Beach Let me get this straight. A 23-year-old woman, with no tree-climbing experience, climbs a 200-foot redwood and lives there.

I know even The Times makes mistakes now and then. You made one in the article titled "Who's Environmentalist? Everyone, Study Suggests" (March 27). I know the UC Irvine professor who did this study did his best. But talking to only 185 people, a lot of them members of Earth First, the Sierra Club, and other environmentalist groups, sure doesn't convince me that "nearly everyone" is an environmentalist. You see, I'm not an environmentalist. No way, no how! I believe human beings are more important than trees, owls, whales or rats.