Violence Against Feds in the Forest

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) keeps close tabs on violence to federal natural resource workers. Using new federal laws and improved access to data, PEER reports that threats and acts of violence have tripled against employees of the United States Forest Service.
"What we're seeing is there's still a lot of hostility toward federal employees in general," said Eric Wingerter, PEER national field director. "While Attorney General Ashcroft is spreading alarm about foreign terrorists, his Justice Department continues to ignore threats coming from the radical property rights community," Wingerter said. "None of the federal environmental agencies devote resources to studying or preventing violence directed against their own workforces."
This is despite the passage of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, requiring the U.S. Attorney General to collect and report data.
PEER's analysis finds that attacks on Forest Service employees spiked by nearly 20 percent in 2002, including incidents involving pipe bombs and assault weapons.
PEER maintains the nation's only database of incidents against federal resource employees. PEER began its reporting system in 1995.