Editing Tree spiking (section)

{{Short description|Radical environmentalist tactic}}
{{use mdy dates |date=September 2022}}
[[File:Nail in a tree.jpg|thumb|Nail sunk into a birch in Sweden.]]

'''Tree spiking''' involves hammering a metal rod, [[Nail (fastener)|nail]] or other material into a [[tree]] trunk, either inserting it at the base of the trunk where a [[Lumberjack|logger]] might be expected to cut into the tree, or higher up where it would affect the [[sawmill]] later processing the wood. Contact with the spike often damages saw blades, which can result in injuries to nearby workers. The spike can also lower the commercial value of the wood by causing discoloration, reducing the economic viability of logging in the long term, without threatening the life of the tree. It is illegal in the United States, and has been described as a form of [[eco-terrorism]] by logging industry advocates.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Bandow |first=Doug |date=12 April 1990 |title=Ecoterrorism: The Dangerous Fringe of the Environmental Movement |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/1990/pdf/bg764.pdf |url-status=live |journal=The Backgrounder |location=Washington, DC |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |issue=764 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119100949/http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/1990/pdf/bg764.pdf |archive-date=19 November 2020 |access-date=11 July 2021}}</ref>