Editing Tree spiking (section)

== History ==

It was first mentioned in the context of discouraging logging in [[Earth First! (magazine)|Earth First! magazine]].<ref name="watson-leroy" /><ref name="green-rage" /> It came to prominence as a contentious tactic within unconventional [[environmentalist]] circles during the 1980s, after it was advocated by [[Earth First!]] co-founder [[Dave Foreman]] in his book ''[[Ecodefense]]''. In the book, he discusses how to do it and how to avoid risks to the activist and the logger, such as by putting warning signs or marks in the area where the trees are being spiked.<ref name="ecodefense" /><ref name="stammer" />

On 8 May 1987, George Alexander, a millworker, was severely injured when a saw blade shattered after contact with a tree spike and cut his jaw in half.<ref name="la-times-1"/><ref name="washpost" /> [[Louisiana-Pacific]], Alexander's employer, offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the alleged tree spiker, but no charges were filed in this incident.<ref name="bari-secret-history" /> The spiking itself was thought to be inconsistent with Earth First! tactics,<ref name="ecocentrists" /> as the trees were not in an [[old-growth forest]]<ref name="stammer" /> and the placement of the nail suggested it was inserted after the tree was cut.<ref name="bari-secret-history" /> Alexander later filed a lawsuit against Louisiana-Pacific<ref name="bari-secret-history" /><ref name="green-backlash" /> claiming that the band saw had been weakened from previous strikes with nails,<ref name="tree-spiker" /> but that he was forced to work with the saw or face dismissal.<ref name="watson-paul" />

This industrial accident led the leaders of Earth First! to denounce tree spiking.<ref name="ecocentrists" /><ref name="green-backlash" /><ref name="tree-spiker" /> Tree spiking is labeled as [[eco-terrorism]] by logging advocates who claim it is potentially dangerous to loggers or mill-workers,<ref name=":0" /> although by 1996 only this single injury resulting from tree spiking had been reported.<ref name="green-backlash" />