Environmental Rangers

According to The Daily Telegraph (April 18th, 1996) a new group called the Environmental Rangers has been formed in the US. They have formed to prevent logging and mining in Montana and are particularly angry about a proposal to blast a mile wide pit into the hills near the Blackfoot River to mine for gold. The Environmental Rangers carry firearms and many are Vietnam Veterans. They feel that non-violent protests are not enough any more and as a spokesperson says: ‘We are fighting to protect and preserve our planet. Non-violent protests don’t work any more, I’ve seen non-violent protesters get beaten up for sitting in the middle of the road. I have friends who were almost killed, then arrested, fined and put on probation for their non-violent protests. The bad guys have bought the legal system and they have drawn first blood because they have already committed violence against the land.’ They say that they have exhausted every other method of protest, with one of them saying: ‘We’ve tried everything, going to court, going all over the country to meetings, protesting, writing to my congressman, but nobody does anything. Just what do we have to do to get people to take notice?’