The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), an underground movement of autonomous cells dedicated to direct action in defense of the Earth, recently spiked a 300-acre tract of forest slated for logging in Westmoreland County.

Tree-spiking, the practice of driving nails into trees to prevent them from being cut or milled, originated with the Industrial Workers of the World and has been associated since 1984 with Earth First! However, it has been increasingly used in recent years by ELF, which was founded at a 1992 Earth First! gathering in Brighton, England.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ELF has caused over $37 million in damages against US targets alone since 1996. This is the first ELF action in Virginia.
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