Small-Time Terrorists Specialize in Nuisance Crimes.

• Position: On First Reading - Brief Article

Fires at new houses, U.S. Forest Service offices, ski resorts and car dealerships. The "freeing" of mink and monkeys from ranches and labs, turning the animals loose into the countryside. Trampling research crops.

All of these are examples of ecoterrorism. Incidents once relegated to the Pacific Northwest now have occurred in Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota, Michigan and New York.

Ecoterrorism or ecosabotage is any crime committed in the name of saving nature." It used to be just mink farmers and logging companies," says FBI spokesperson Beth Anne Steele, "but the target industries are expanding. Now it's tree farms, research facilities, housing development, anything to do with animals."

"We have what I would describe as a new criminal element. This is a new and burgeoning area of criminal activity, and law enforcement is just now beginning to catch up," says Oregon Representative Lane Shetterly.

Through his sponsorship, the Oregon legislature has passed a law that expands the crimes under the state's racketeering law to include those against...