Earth Week was started on Monday, April 16th with an environmental documentary about a fight between activists and lumber companies. This event was hosted by Amber Lincoln, the president of the environmental club.

“This is an un-biased documentary, which is a great way to kick off Earth Week,” said Amber Lincoln.

This documentary, If a Tree Falls, was directed and produced by Marshall Curry. This documentary focused on a young man by the name of, Daniel McGowan, who was a member of an environmental activist group called E.L.F (Earth Liberation Front). This activist group acted differently than others because they would take matters into their own hands. Rather than protesting, rioting, or writing letters they would destroy the properties of those who they felt threated the environment by setting fire to them. McGowan was arrested with other members of the group for setting fire to lumber companies and other places they felt violated their beliefs.

“I was pretty appalled by the way these activist handled the situation, but I do understand their frustration,” said Ian Maan, an engineer and an environmentalist. “The movie though was surprisingly balance.”

The one thing about the documentary that made it different from many other is that it was impartial. It told the stories of the activists and of the lumbermen; giving them the chance to both share their thoughts and opinions on the situation. The activists were able to explain why they did what they did, and also share how they feel about things now. The owners of the Lumber companies who were targeted by the E.L.F. also spoke about how they felt about the arson.

The movie followed Daniel as he was held in house arrest and waited to hear his fate for the crimes he committed. While he remained stubborn to cooperate with the court, other members of the E.L.F group decided to give in and cooperate in order to get a lowered sentence. Tim Lewis, also a fellow activist, talked about how Daniel got into activism and protesting when he was in college. Daniel was pulled into this life by a film he had seen, and from that moment on he devoted his life to protecting the environment.

These sets of activists were very crafty about what they did. They made sure not to leave any evidence so that they would not be caught. From secret codes to gloved hands to how they committed the arson.

The police had a difficult time capturing the felons until one day they captured Jake Ferguson, a member of E.L.F. on suspicion. They convinced him to tell them everything he knew about the fires, and with the promise of getting off free of charges they convinced him to wear a wire to capture solid proof of the members.

In the end, Daniel was sentenced to 7 years and the judge applied a ‘terrorism enhancement’ to the sentence. One of the activist stated that ‘You don’t have to be Bonnie and Clyde to be a bank robber. You don’t have to be Al Qaeda to be a terrorist.’ This movie was not shown to promote this kind of action, but to inspire people to want to help the Earth.

“The vast power that corporations have on the environment motivated me to major in environmentalism,” said Crystal Hernandez, a student of Skyline College.