CHAPTER 9

SECURITY

It is important not to get caught. The information in this chapter comes from experienced monkeywrenchers who have studied police science, law enforcement officers from several agencies, and military veterans who have served in "unconventional" units. Don't take this chapter of Ecodefense lightly. It may be the most important chapter to you in this entire book.

You may find some redundancy here. That is deliberate. Security rules are so important that we want to hammer them home till they become second nature to the serious ecodefender. As monkeywrenching becomes a more serious threat to the greed-heads ravaging Earth for a few greasy bucks, they will force law enforcement agencies to crack down on Earth defenders. You can stay free and effective, by carefully keeping security uppermost in your mind.

 Since the publication of the first edition of Ecodefense, several prominent monkeywrenchers have been arrested and jailed. One, Howie Wolke, received six months in a tiny cell for pulling up survey stakes. He has publicly stated that he was caught because he was careless and let his security down. Don't follow his example to the slammer.

Dave Foreman, one of the editors of Ecodefense, was arrested in 1989 as the target of a major FBI operation to "send a message" that monkeywrenching wouldn't be tolerated. Four other Arizona activists were also arrested and ulti­mately served time. Two, Peg Millett and Mark Davis, were still in the federal penitentiary when this edition went to press. Even the most sympathetic observer would have to admit that all of the people involved in this case vio­lated numerous security guidelines discussed in this chapter as well as com­mon sense in their dealings with undercover FBI agents and informants. Although dozens of FBI agents were employed and over two million dollars spent trying to entrap the Arizonans, poor attention to security gave the G­men the openings they needed.

The Forest Service has also begun special anti-monkeywrenching training for their law enforcement specialists. Park Service and Forest Service cops have been identified at Earth First! and other conservation group meetings. They are taking monkeywrenching very seriously. But they can't touch you if you rigorously practice the security precautions in this chapter. Carelessness will put you in jail.

Because of the crucial need for good security practices by monkey­wrenchers, we have expanded and updated the material in this chapter. Read it. Study it. Make it second nature-like buckling your seat belt when you get into your car.

BASIC SECURITY

Target Selection

Most operations worth monkeywrenching consist of a long chain of events ranging from the corporate boardroom or government office to actual field activities. Before selecting a target for monkeywrenching, gather as much information as possible on this "chain of command." Research may reveal bet­ter targets, or point to the most vulnerable link in the "chain." Newspapers and magazines, as well as physical surveillance of buildings, storage areas, work sites, etc., will help in the selection of targets.

Proper intelligence gathering efforts will insure fairness. Do not lash out blindly at targets without first making an effort to understand the overall situa­tion. Make sure that an action is fully warranted and well deserved. There is a difference between monkeywrenching and plain vandalism. In recent years, that difference has been ignored in some cases. Some targets of monkey­wrenching, like the Santa Cruz power line in 1990, were not warranted. Of course, some of these questionable ecotage incidents may have been done by government or industrial agents to give ecodefense a bad name.

Most damaging projects on public lands are more or less analyzed in public documents by the managing agency (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.). These documents-environmental analyses (EAs), envi­ronmental impact statements (EISs), land management plans, timber plans, etc.-are available free to the interested public and have fairly detailed infor­mation, including maps, on offending projects. Merely by contacting the National Forest or BLM District office in question, you can get on a mailing list to receive such reports.

Of course, the serious monkeywrencher may not want to be on such a mail­ing list due to security considerations. If possible, have a trusted friend, who does not plan to engage in monkeywrenching, get on the mailing list and then give the documents to you. Perhaps you have a trusted contact in an envi­ronmental group who gets such documents and who can pass them on to you. Maybe you even have a trustworthy contact within one of the offending gov­ernment agencies-if so, for added security and her own safety and integrity, never, never let her know what you plan to do with the information. If you do not wish to involve friends or acquaintances, however indirectly, you might receive the information from the agency under an assumed name at a post office box or addressed to your alias in care of one of the private mailing ser­vices, found in big cities, which provide confidential forwarding of mail. Or you might even go to government offices in person, well in advance of intended "hits." If asked to fill out a request form, use a fictitious name and address (don't forget the name you give them!). Before going into an office to request information, leave your wallet with your IDs in your car, so that you can hon­estly say, if asked, that you left it in your car. If they persist in asking for ID, you can tell them you'll go and get it, leave the building, and never go back. Note: avoid going in person to request information that later might prove incrim­inating if you are likely to be recognized by anyone in the office.

Much of the work done by Federal agencies is contracted out to private indi­viduals and small businesses, generally on the basis of competitive bidding. Examples of this include some survey work and timber stand exams. It is possible to obtain information about many such projects by getting on lists to receive announcements of projects as a potential bidder. Again, it may be best to have someone else get this information to protect your security.

Federal agencies will release their mailing lists under the Freedom of Information Act. This means that corporate gumshoes or "Wise Use" thugs can get addresses of conservationists who ask to be on Forest Service, BLM, and other agencies' mailing lists. Of course, law enforcement agencies have access to such mailing lists.

Any method of obtaining timely information on environmentally destructive projects in your area of interest is valid, so long as you do not compromise your security in the process. A great deal of useful information on potential targets for monkeywrenching can be obtained from periodicals. Publications of conservation groups, especially local and regional, are obvious sources of such information, but don't forget trade and industry publications, either.

Local newspapers are an excellent source of information on what sort of development is currently going on or planned-this goes for big-city dailies as well as rural weeklies. (The latter often report regularly on government timber sales, permits for oil and gas exploration, and local mining activities.) A good place to read a variety of publications without compromising your security is the periodical section of your public library.

If you are interested in more detailed information, such as the names of individuals owning a business or a particular piece of property, a little bit of investigative work in the library or at the county courthouse can usually pro­duce results. City directories or business directories (such as Cole's or Polk's) may tell you who lives at a specific address or who owns a business. In most states, the office of Secretary of State usually maintains records of cor­porations incorporated in that state. You may be able to obtain copies of these records for a nominal fee. Finally, your city or county recorder has public records on deeds which show who owns what land or buildings. The tax assessor has public records of property taxes which also indicate ownership of all properties. Also, the "Grantor" and "Grantee" books record all real prop­erty transactions alphabetically by names. Anyone can ask to see this mate­rial.

Finally, mining claims on the public lands are a matter of public record. They are usually filed at the county courthouse. These records are also kept at the state level by the BLM.

FIELD NOTE

* Repeated monkeywrenching of a certain target may cause the offenders to take increasingly drastic measures to protect their investment. For example, if you monkeywrench open bulldozers by the side of the road, the engine com­partments will probably be locked the next time you come by. If you cut the locks and do your work, they'll probably put the machines behind a fence somewhere. If you cut the fence and wrench the equipment again, they'll probably hire a guard. Now it's getting expensive.

The point is, the offenders are always vulnerable somewhere, and if you keep hitting them where they're most vulnerable, sooner or later it will affect their operations. Obviously, this means more persistence and hard work on your part.

In the case of the above fenced and guarded bulldozers, perhaps you can still cut the fence or spike the access road or cut their power lines or hit their main office or alter their billboards. Do whatever it takes to make it too expen­sive for them to continue ravaging Earth.

 

Planning

Thorough planning for every step of the operation and all feasible contin­gencies will keep you out of jail. Every team member must fully understand the work to be done, individual assignments, timetables, radio frequencies and codes, routes to and from the scene, etc.

 

Even the best of plans can be quickly disrupted by unforeseen events. Coping with and adapting to such problems is the ultimate test of one's mon­keywrenching abilities.

The target should be reconnoitered in advance. If an urban target, know the layout of all the roads you might use during your withdrawal. Otherwise, you might find yourself at the end of a dead-end street while trying to make a quick escape. If you are planning a night operation, familiarize yourself with the tar­get during both day and night. Landmarks visible in daylight may not be so at night, and certain security measures (lighting, security guards) may be used only at night. If your target is in remote country, know the location of all trails, roads, and natural drainages in the vicinity, in case you have to make alternate escape plans.

If it becomes necessary to use written notes and maps in preparing for an action, destroy all such paperwork before commencing work. The best way to destroy paperwork is by burning. Indoors, paper can be burned in a fireplace. Absent a fireplace, burn in a large pan or bucket (place under a kitchen stove hood exhaust or a bathroom fan). It may be preferable to burn such material outdoors in a shallow hole. Since intact ashes can be analyzed in the labora­tory to reveal something of their contents, even ashes should be crushed and disposed of. Outdoors, grind up the ashes and bury them. Indoors, flush them down the toilet.

The Team

In selecting people for an operation, keep the number involved at the mini­mum necessary to get the job done. Although some activities are fine for a lone monkeywrencher, the small group of two to five members is most effec­tive. (Some very experienced and effective monkeywrenchers, however, argue for doing everything alone.) The group provides mobility through a driver, security through a lookout, and the sympathy of a friendly ear to relieve the inevitable tension of the underground. Usually it is just too dangerous for an individual to engage in sabotage and look over her shoulder at the same time. So begin your organized monkeywrenching with a close friend who shares your values. Start small, with the simplest plans and easiest targets, until you learn to function as a team. (If you do not have an entirely trustwor­thy partner, it is better to operate alone.)

Recruiting new team members begins with evaluating your close friends as prospects. Bear in mind, however, that not everyone is suited for this sort of activity. A monkeywrencher should be able to function well under stress, but no test has yet been devised to determine who is likely to crack under stress and who is not. The persons doing the selecting simply have to use their best judgment. Avoid the faint-of-heart, the excessively paranoid, and the not­ quite-thoroughly committed. Avoid the casual acquaintance you only see at a protest rally, especially the ones who "talk tough." Such people may well be police spies or agent provocateurs. Government use of such infiltrators is widespread, both here and abroad. In Britain the authorities have attempted to infiltrate anti-hunting groups, and have even set up sham groups of their own to stage violent acts to discredit their opponents. In the US, cases in which the FBI or other police agents have infiltrated radical groups and even encour­aged or participated in criminal acts are too numerous to mention-the histo­ries of the anti-war and civil rights movements are replete with such stories.

The success or failure of law enforcement often lies with the informer, known in police circles as the "confidential informant" or "CI" These are usually indi­viduals "turned" after their own arrest, who aid the police in exchange for favorable treatment. Such persons produce perhaps 90 percent of all criminal arrests. (In the "Arizona Five" case, there was one full-time professional FBI agent operating undercover, several FBI agents who attended Earth First! par­ties or demonstrations, and at least five confidential informants and perhaps a dozen. These people were active during 1988-89; an undercover Tucson police department officer was unmasked at a Mt. Graham demonstration in Tucson late in 1992 [his automatic pistol fell out of his hippie day pack], three and a half years after the Arizona arrests.) The best way to avoid the informer is to work only with close friends, ideally of many years' acquaintance. A tight-­knit group of friends, loyal to each other and careful to minimize leaving evi­dence at the scene, is virtually impossible to penetrate and apprehend.

Throughout history, secret societies have reinforced group cohesion with an oath for secrecy and loyalty. The oath of secrecy was so successful during the Luddite uprisings in early 19th-century England that oath-swearing was made a capital offense! Although it is not necessary to have a formal initiation with a swearing-in ceremony, it is important that group members openly and directly declare their willingness to protect one another. Psychologically, the act of swearing loyalty is of far greater value than the mere assumption of the same. The memory of such a moment can provide an added ounce of strength under police interrogation (when most groups come unraveled).

Once you have singled out a prospective recruit, use casual conversations to gauge the depth of her commitment to defending Earth. If all goes well, you will next proceed to carefully introduce the topic of monkeywrenching into your conversations, perhaps with the aid of a news broadcast or newspaper story dealing with environmental sabotage. This will help to measure whether feel­ings about conventional law and order might override deeper moral concerns. Be patient. Never rush a recruitment. It may take months to find out that a certain friend is simply not suitable as a team member.

If all goes well, you will eventually suggest doing a "job" together-perhaps something simple like spray-painting slogans on the outside walls of an offend­ing land rapist. Do not, under any circumstances, tell the potential recruit that you have had experience in such matters. If she gets cold feet at the last moment and backs out, she will still have no knowledge that can harm you.

Once your first hit is successfully completed, you are bound together by shared danger and experience, and you may consider introducing the new recruit to the team. If the recruit seems paranoid or expresses doubts during or after the first hit, wait until she has a bit more experience before introducing her to other team members. The ideal recruit responds with excitement and enthusiasm to the rigors of direct action, but is not reckless.

FIELD NOTES

* Some experienced monkeywrenchers argue against working with one's spouse or significant other-in case of a romantic breakup in the future, he or she may turn on you. They also argue against minors participating. Other experienced ecodefenders have long operated with their spouse or romantic partner; some with their children ("kids can be a great cover"). It depends on the individuals.

* Some experienced and effective monkeywrenchers have done all of their work alone.

 

Insertion

The team will most likely be carried to the vicinity of the target in a motor vehicle (see also the section on Mountain Bicycles in the Miscellaneous Deviltry chapter). Whether it be a motorcycle, car, or truck, it should look ordi­nary, and lack anything that might be conspicuous-such as a special paint job, provocative bumper stickers, or personalized license plates.

On most operations, one should not stop directly in front of, park near, or repeatedly cruise past the target.

When exiting the vehicle, do not slam the car doors. Instead, push on the door until it partially latches. The driver can stop briefly after leaving the target area to close doors properly. In rural and suburban environments, it is gener­ally best to drop off the team well away from the target and let them walk to it cross-country. In built-up areas, the drop is usually made closer to the target to avoid being stopped by police patrols when walking down city streets. The aim is to avoid having a casual passerby witness the drop and later report a description of you, your car, or your license plate.

Parking near the target is usually dangerous. After the drop, the driver should leave the area immediately and stay away until the agreed-upon time for pick-up. Keeping the vehicle moving in evening traffic on major streets or highways may be the safest way for the driver to pass the time. If you choose to park, do so only in busy areas near restaurants or movie theaters where you will blend in with the crowd. Avoid operating in the early morning hours when traffic is so light as to make you stand out. The best time for urban operations is usually from nightfall to midnight.

In a rural or sparsely populated area, it may be more dangerous to drive after dark, and you will want to conceal the vehicle by parking it in the woods or on jeep trails adjacent to the highway. Have such a parking place selected beforehand so you do not have to cruise around searching for a place to park out of sight.

Withdrawal

When a team is dropped off, it has a designated length of time to finish its work and withdraw to the pick-up point. The location selected for the pick-up usually should be different from that of the drop, in case the drop was observed. Timing is important, and the driver must not have to rush and break speed limits to arrive on schedule. If the team does not make the first pick-up run, the driver will return at pre-determined intervals of fifteen minutes, a half-­hour, or whatever.

If police are in the area, both the team and driver will go to an alternate pick­up point a few blocks or a few miles away, and up to several hours later if nec­essary. If danger from police is imminent, team members will conceal their tools for later recovery and leave the area without anything incriminating on their persons.

After a successful pick-up, the vehicle should leave the area at normal speed. Once safely away, the team should stop briefly to put all tools or other incriminating items out of sight.

In order to avoid leaving tire tracks as evidence, the pick-up vehicle should not leave the paved surface of the road. Of course, this may not be possible in rural areas or on forest roads. If you are parking the vehicle, it may be possi­ble to sweep away tracks (both human and vehicular) with a broom or branches.

The duration of a "drop and pick-up" type of operation may be anywhere from a few minutes for an urban "hit" (such as the delivery of a bucket of raw sewage to a corporate office) to several hours or possibly even days for a complex action in the field, such as major tree spiking or road destruction.

For recognition of the pick-up point, the team can mark the spot by setting a pre-determined object on the shoulder of the road (such as a discarded oil can or beer bottle); but permanent landmarks, such as bridges, culverts, road signs, or mileage posts, are better. The pick-up vehicle can carry an extra light, like a powerful flashlight, on the dashboard so that the team will recog­nize it on its approach run. Use the brakes as little as necessary, since brake lights can be seen from a great distance. One can avoid too much use of the brakes by stopping more quickly and using the parking brake more. The seri­ous monkeywrencher might consider vehicle modifications (see section on Vehicle Modifications in the Vehicles and Heavy Equipment chapter).

Radio communications are valuable to coordinate the pick-up, or to advise the driver to use the alternate pick-up location due to unforeseen troubles. (See the section on Radios later in this chapter for appropriate equipment.) Again, the alternate pick-up can be anywhere from a few hundred yards to a couple of miles from the primary pick-up point; but it must be out of sight of the primary pick-up point, out of sight of the target, and preferably, on an entirely different road.

Night Operations

Begin by reviewing your plan and equipment. Leave any unnecessary items behind. Do not carry any ID, wallets, loose change, or anything else that might identify you or make unnecessary noise. (A college student was arrested for monkeywrenching a bulldozer in Colorado in 1992. His checkbook was lying beside the sabotaged machine.) If you are carrying a car key, use a safety pin to secure it to the inside of your pants pocket.

Before heading into the dark, allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. Five minutes in the dark without looking at bright lights is the minimum necessary, and it's best to wait half an hour before entering a dangerous area. Any bright light can temporarily ruin one's night vision. If it becomes necessary to look into a lighted area or to use a flashlight, cover one eye so as to retain some night vision in the other. Using a flashlight with a red lens filter will not damage your night vision, but beware that even a red light will be visible from some dis­tance away. When looking at something at night, do not stare directly at it. Everyone has a blind spot in the center of their field of vision. It is easier to see an object at night by keeping the eyes constantly moving than by looking directly at it. Practice by taking walks at night. And eat your carrots!

Travel at a steady pace and avoid running in the dark. Lifting knees higher than normal when walking will reduce the chance of stumbling over rocks, roots, and low branches. To avoid being hit in the eyes by low branches, extend one arm in front of your face and well ahead. This is a safe way of "feeling" your way in the dark. If you must run, focus your attention on the ground just two to three steps in front of you and run at a slight crouch. The crouching position keeps you from taking long strides, which is dangerously uncontrollable at night. Concentrating just a short distance ahead alerts you to the smallest hazards, which are usually the ones that will trip you. Again, keep one arm extended to protect your face. Practice moving at night without a flashlight before you find this necessary on an action.

The sense of hearing becomes much more important at night and will often reveal as much or more than the eyes will. Always pause for several minutes before entering a dangerous target area to listen for the footfalls of a guard or passerby. Make sure your hat does not cover your ears, and cup your hands behind your ears to help pick up faint sounds. An ear to the ground won't help.

Communication between team members is best done with hand signals. Tap someone on the shoulder and point to possible danger sources. If you must talk, cup your hands over your friend's ear and whisper. Night bird sounds, like owl hoots, should be used as danger signals only, to avoid excessive use. In addition, whistles worn on a cord around the neck can provide emergency sig­naling when the team is spread out over a large area. All team members should be assigned numbers or fake names for emergency shouting at night.

-Etta Place

FIELD NOTES

•  Exposure to bright sunlight on the day before a mission can impair your night vision. Wear sunglasses in bright sunlight to prevent this.

• Get in the habit of walking around your home at night in the dark to become used to moving and seeing in the dark. Practice walking without a flashlight when camping.

Military Movement

Direction and Distance

If the target is in unfamiliar terrain, or you expect to be in dim light and dense vegetation, bring a compass. Backpacking and other outdoor stores sell a wide variety of compasses, and instruction books on how to use them and topographic maps.

You will improve your compass skills if you can reliably estimate your dis­tance of travel. Learn how to count your pace, as in infantry training. Measure a distance of 100 feet, pacing the distance several times, and counting the paces of the right or left foot. Practice this in dense vegetation and on other rough terrain, to master staying on a predetermined direction and distance while going around obstacles on the route.

The direction and distance to a particular terrain feature or human artifact (e.g., road junction, hilltop) can be easily determined from a topographic map during planning, using the scale and a protractor. Note that conversion of the map angle to a magnetic (compass) angle is important. This conversion is typically shown at the bottom of topographic maps.

An easy method of keeping track of pace count is to mount small flexible plastic discs on a small section of cord. The discs should be mounted so that no free movement can occur on the cord. During the movement, one disc is moved from top to bottom at each pace count of 100. This simple device is commercially available and cheap at places where military supplies are sold. This device allows you to concentrate on other aspects of movement.

Alternate Assembly Areas

These are predetermined areas where the team can regroup when rapid escape is necessary, and separation of people is likely. These areas should be determined during planning, utilizing map and recon information, and should always be at natural or man-made terrain features easily recognizable during limited visibility conditions.

In choosing alternate assembly areas, consider availability of concealment along the routes thereto, and distance; remember: the team will be carrying equipment, and visibility may be low. Consider the feasibility of destruction or concealment of incriminating evidence at the reassembly area. Select an alternate route to safety, too.

The prearranged signal to reassemble at an alternative area should be clear to all members of the separated team, but meaningless to any observers. Non­verbal signals may be preferable to radio codes, due to reliability and speed. Smoke grenades or modified flashes could provide secondary benefits.

Silent Communication

Plan visual signals that convey messages to separated members without being conspicuous. The typical military movement commands may have value due to the simplicity of the hand and arm movements. Some large bookstores have titles dealing with military leadership development.

A rendezvous of team members at night may arouse suspicion if members signal with noise as they approach. A visual signal instead, such as a taped pattern on the red lens of a microlight, provides positive identification, and could save time and embarrassment by preventing the accidental rendezvous with a noisy raccoon or an alert security guard.

-Dan Shays

RULES OF SECURITY

Limit each team member's knowledge of operations to what they need to know. You can't slip and talk about something you don't know about. This will protect your associates as well as yourself.

Don't discuss your illegal activities on the telephone. Not even on pay phones!

Avoid storing potentially incriminating tools, clothing, shoes, paint, and doc­uments in your house or apartment. (This includes maps of the project in question.) If possible, hide them in the woods or in a rented storage locker (rent one under an assumed name). If you must keep anything potentially incriminating at home, hide it well. Keep in mind that a remote corner of your property away from your house can be legally searched without a search war­rant.

In a 1988 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights provision against illegal search and seizure (Fourth Amendment) does not apply to garbage. Justice Whizzer White said that citizens do not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" for their garbage, even when it is sealed in opaque bags. The upshot is that police do not need a search warrant to go through your trash.

Destroy potentially incriminating materials:

Tools - Periodically dispose of all tools that leave a distinctive mark (pry bars, bolt and wire cutters, etc.), and replace them with similar items from a dif­ferent manufacturer. Right after a particularly "heavy" job is a good time to dispose of tools, but it is not the only time you should take this precaution. Remember, the cost of replacing tools is far less than what a good lawyer would charge you for an hour of legal services. Tools may be disposed of in dumpsters, buried in remote rural locations, or dumped into a deep body of water. Buy only well-known, popular brands of tools so an unusual purchase does not stick in the mind of the salesperson.

Papers, maps, and documents - Burn completely and crumble the ashes. Bury or flush down the toilet the crushed ashes.

News clippings, diaries, addresses, etc. - Do not keep any newspaper clippings about monkeywrenching. Mention nothing of possible relevance in your diary, calendar, Day-Timer, or other notes. Do not have addresses, phone numbers, or names of other monkeywrenchers in your address book, Rolodex, or even on scraps of paper. Such addresses and notes constituted major evidence against one of the defendants in the Arizona Five monkey­wrenching trial.

Paint - Dispose of in dumpsters. (Avoid fingerprints on paint cans.) Don't neglect to dispose of rags or clothing that may carry paint spots.

Shoes and clothing - All clothing should be laundered as soon as possible after a job. Clean boots and shoes as well. This can help remove incriminating dirt, fibers, plant debris, and the like. Pay particular attention to grease spots from heavy equipment. If in doubt, dispose of shoes and clothing. These items can be discarded in dumpsters, buried, or burned, as appropriate. Be especially wary of shoes. A distinctive footprint often can be positively con­nected to the shoe or boot that produced it. Shoes found in their homes were used as evidence against two of the defendants in the Arizona Five trial.

Don't worry about the cost of replacing tools, clothing, and the like. Freedom is priceless.

Clean your car - After using a vehicle on a job, vacuum the floor and wipe off the seats to get rid of incriminating soil, grease, etc. Don't forget to clean under floor mats, cracks in seats, etc. After vacuuming, dispose of the bag, or better yet, use a vacuum at a commercial self-serve car wash. If you've been driving on unpaved roads, thoroughly wash the vehicle's exterior too. Don't neglect the underside of the vehicle, especially the wheel wells and inside of bumpers. A self-service, commercial car washing establishment is a good place to wash and vacuum your car. Incidentally, spreading a little mud on your license plate before an operation to prevent it from being read at night is a good idea, so long as you are operating in an area in which mud would not seem out of place. Use common sense, though-a muddy plate on an otherwise clean vehicle would probably attract suspicion.

Remove floor mats before an operation so they don't accumulate evidence. Replace them after the car has been vacuumed. Clean behind the front part of the doors under the hinges and between the front part of the doors and the body. Dirt accumulates there. Do all of this after the car has been profes­sionally washed. Then go to a self-service car wash and re-wash the entire car. Be sure to direct the high pressure water and soap under the chassis and in the wheel wells. Consider changing the air filter. If witnessed, this compul­sive car cleaning may be suspicious. Try to be inconspicuous.

Never carry anything incriminating with you if it is not essential. After com­pleting your mission, resist the temptation to carry out survey stakes, survey­ors' flagging, stolen or damaged pieces of equipment, and the like. If you are stopped and searched (whether by an actual law enforcement officer or by an irate miner, logger, stockman, or whatever) such items would likely be legally admissible as evidence against you.

Always have a story prepared to tell the police if you're stopped in the target area. Keep it short and simple and avoid unnecessary details.

Operate with a small group of trusted friends, and never have more people on an operation than are absolutely necessary.

Assign each member of the team a fictitious first name or number for opera­tional use. Numbers may be best, since fake names may be more confusing. Memorization of these nommes de guerre will take concentration and practice; otherwise, during the stress of an operation it will be too easy to revert to using real names. Never use your fictitious names in public when not on a mission.

Limit talking when on an operation. Practice a few simple hand signals in advance, at least if there will be enough light to see them during the operation.

Avoid nights of the full or nearly-full moon. A quarter to half moon should ordinarily give enough light for night movement.

Don't keep a diary or other written records of illegal activities. Don't get drunk and shoot off your mouth down at the corner bar. Bragging has put more people in jail than any other factor.

If you are engaging in serious monkeywrenching, avoid overt political activism, rallies, demonstrations, and the like. When the police begin looking for suspects, they will begin by consulting existing records of activists, espe­cially those with records of arrests and convictions. These records are very detailed, never destroyed, and are available to any police agency requesting them. Investigative detectives will visit known "hangouts," attend workshops and demonstrations, and make "radical" statements to elicit invitations to clandestine circles. The head of the local Sierra Club chapter or another "respectable" environmental group may be questioned, and she may cooperate fully, even to the point of suggesting suspects. (Some mainstream conserva­tion groups, like the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, have offered substantial rewards for monkeywrenchers in a futile effort to gain credibility with politicians and industry.) Keep a low profile.

Let knowledge be your greatest ally. Go to the public or university library and study police investigative techniques.

Avoid patterns. This is easier said than done. You will tend to establish pat­terns as to type of target, days of the week on which you are active, times at which you strike, etc. Police investigators will look for these patterns and can be surprisingly good at predicting one's moves. This can lead the unwary monkeywrencher into ambushes. Make a conscious effort to keep your actions as random as security permits. Periodically "lay low" for awhile. If you suspect that the police are investigating your activities or conducting stake­outs, cease all activity for a few months. Limited personnel and budget will force the authorities to assign their investigators to more pressing matters.

Such interludes are good times to dispose of tools, intelligence files, and other possibly incriminating materials. Be clean as a whistle in case investiga­tors get a lead on you, or otherwise become suspicious enough to haul you in for questioning or obtain a warrant to search your home.

A final rule: Don't hurt anyone. Respect all life.

-Fearless Fosdick

Disposing of Evidence

Recent arrests have included the seizure by police of large amounts of material as "evidence" from suspected eco-raiders' homes. Carefully observe all security precautions for disposing of evidence. After any job in which you may have left tool marks from pry bars, screwdrivers, wire cutters, and the like, immediately use files and emery cloth to alter the tools' prying/cutting edges to prevent a positive "match" between your tools and evidence left at the scene. This must be done before the tools are stashed away. If you've used something like spray paint or glue during a "job," get rid of any remaining and replace it with a different brand for the next action.

Have a well-rehearsed drill for disposing of evidence in an emergency. If you don't have a stove or fireplace for documents, you should have a sheet of metal or metal container in which you can burn documents without burning your house down.

If you must leave your house to dispose of tools and other evidence, make a dry run first to check for ambush or surveillance before taking the tools out of your dwelling. Have at least two emergency plans for disposing of tools. Dumping them in water is best, but only if they cannot be seen from above. Don't dump things in a stream in the dark only to find that in daylight the objects are easily seen! Select your dump spots ahead of time (and beware of places where the water level rises and falls). Plan both your approach and departure routes. Though it's best to scatter the tools about in the water, do it quietly from the edge of the water. Loud splashing noises may attract the attention of an unseen passerby.

If a watery grave is not available, tools can be buried in remote spots (ideally, several spots), or tossed from open car windows while driving down remote highways (after having been cleansed of fingerprints, of course). Items tossed from vehicles should be thrown far back in the brush where hunters and casual passersby are unlikely to find them.

Don't wait for an emergency situation to find your disposal sites-plan ahead.

If you prefer to temporarily bury your tools between jobs, either on your own property or at a remote site, consider the following:

- Decoy pieces of scrap metal can be buried at many spots around your cache to mislead and discourage searchers using metal detectors.

- Avoid burying at night. Even if the use of a flashlight doesn't betray your presence, you may have a hard time returning the ground to a normal appear­ance that will pass muster in daylight.

- Be careful when burying or digging up your cache, even if it's in a remote location. Sit down and watch and listen for awhile, then move on to another spot and repeat, before commencing digging operations. Your burial site should be a location where you cannot be observed except from close up. Be wary for hikers, hunters, or other passersby.

- Getting out of a car with a shovel and heading into the woods looks suspi­cious. Use a folding entrenching tool (found at military surplus stores) that fits into your pack, or even a small backpacker's trowel designed for burying human waste.

- Encase your tools in several layers of sealed plastic bags to protect against moisture.                                    - Frozen ground can be a problem in winter. Bury shallow in winter. Mixing salt with the covering soil can limit freezing problems somewhat.

- If you are caught at a burial site, claim that you were just walking by and saw something sticking out of the ground. If you took proper precautions when you buried your tools, there will be no fingerprints on the tools or bags. Of course, if you are carrying a shovel, you might have some explaining to do.

- Never bury tools used in ecotage on your own land or that owned by friends or associates. Police agencies are experienced in the use of metal detectors to uncover buried caches. You can throw off metal detectors by burying metal tools in old landfills that have other metal present or by scattering nails and scrap metal through the soil where you do bury your "monkeywrenches."

-Pinky Burns

No Evidence

After any act of ecotage, it is essential that there be no evidence-in your possession or at the site of the action-that could link you to the "crime." The basic principles for eliminating all potentially incriminating evidence are:

1) Don't leave anything at the site that can be connected with you.

2) Don't take anything away with you that can be connected with the site. More specific suggestions include the following:

- Wear coveralls or common work clothes. Should a button or another frag­ment from practical clothing of this type be lost on the site, it would be unlikely to arouse suspicion. Use common work gloves, such as cheap cotton ones.

- Minimize what you wear and take with you onto the site. The less you carry, the less likely you are to drop something which might later be used as evidence.

- Remove fingerprints from everything on your person before you enter the site-even such internal parts as flashlight lens, bulb, and batteries; radio bat­teries; and the insides of cases and tool boxes. Authorities will fingerprint any possible piece of evidence they find, in every conceivable place you could leave a fingerprint.

- Don't leave footprints. Wear common work boots or shoes. Cover them with a cloth bag or wrap to blank-out the sole. Cotton duck canvas and burlap work well for this, and are easily disposed of.

- Don't leave tire tracks. Use a common brand, size, and style of tire. Avoid damp or muddy ground. Generally, if you stay on compacted roads that site workers use, tire tracks shouldn't be a problem. If you must drive where tracks will be conspicuous, sweep with a branch or broom; or drag a large branch tied in such a way that it can be released quickly while driving. This last technique is often ineffective on wet ground.

- Use top-quality tools. Tools that break cause injury and leave evidence. Use common US brands such as Proto, Thorsen, Challenger, Utica, Bonney, Wright, Snap-On, New Britain, SK, Diamond, Ridgid, H.K. Porter, Channellock, Craftsman, etc. Avoid tools made in Taiwan or Hong Kong.

- Use a stone or file to dress-up after use the working surfaces of tools like wrenches and bolt cutters that leave distinctive marks. Better yet, remove the broken bolts, nuts, chain-link pieces, and other fragments of metal that you have cut; discard them off site.

- Anything written should be either innocuous or coded. It's safest never to write anything related to the action.

- Use deliberate "false evidence" with great care, if at all. If no real evidence is left behind, the scattering of false evidence is a waste of time. It can also backfire and/or get innocent persons in trouble.

- Remove dirt, grease, oil, paint, etc. from tools and clothes as soon as possible. Use an ultraviolet light to check for special marker dyes. If you sus­pect a special marker dye, dispose of the article. Clean tools of plating chips or paint chips before and after the action. (Remember that if you worked on your green car yesterday with the same wrench, and you leave green paint on the bulldozer, it may be incriminating. Likewise, if you have yellow bulldozer paint on your wrench.)

- Think. The length of your step is evidence. Your blood is evidence. Watch for infrared cameras or any strange electronic equipment. Don't photo-docu­ment your action (surprisingly, some people do!), and never tell anyone who doesn't need to know.

- Avoid creating suspicion in the first place. Act normal. Use clothing and equipment that have other legitimate uses. Don't hide anything that wouldn't be hidden under normal circumstances. Use big tool boxes that can be used to hide things in a "legitimate" manner. Prepare your story/alibi in advance.

-The Shadow

Written Records

While written records are the classic security mistake that leads to many convictions, you may occasionally have to keep simple notes when planning a mission. Avoid obvious references to targets. A monkeywrencher's note "Uranium mine turnoff milepost 149.3" can become a nature lover's "beautiful rocks m.p. 149.3."

A written note on a cigarette paper can be easily eaten, balled up and dropped, or hidden in clothing seams. Write only with pencil (No. 2) in case you have to swallow your work. Another suitable paper type is the edible paper made of starch fibers that quickly dissolves in water. It is sold in nov­elty/magic shops and on the novelty/gag racks at some tourist junk shops. It can also be purchased from mail-order outfits like Johnson Smith Company, 4514 19th Court E (or PO Box 25500), Bradenton, FL 34206-5500. Ask for their catalog. Practice with this paper before using it and learn to keep the 'pieces small.

Most important: remember that any paper or cardboard underneath the slip you're writing on will carry an impression of your letters (and make dandy evi­dence in court). Impressions can also be left in other relatively soft materials such as a wooden table used to write on. Writing on a piece of glass or mirror is a good way to avoid such traces. -Mata Hari

Avoiding Arrest

If you have been active in one area for any length of time, the police will consider baiting a trap to catch you. In setting a trap, the authorities will look for any patterns you may have inadvertently set. Perhaps you only work on certain nights. Perhaps you hit certain targets more than others. Perhaps your routes of approach and withdrawal to your targets are known. Monkeywrenchers have narrowly escaped from police traps on some occa­sions simply because they were silent and alert, while the opposition was bored with weeks of fruitless waiting. The best way to avoid traps is to hit your target one time only, but with maximum effectiveness.

Sometimes a trap will be baited by deliberately leaving heavy equipment temptingly parked along rural roads. In such a situation, chase cars will be carefully hidden in the area, often on back roads and dirt lanes, sometimes one on each side of the "bait" but a good distance away, ready to intercept suspect vehicles. If you see such a tempting target, be careful! Instead of striking immediately, scout the area carefully ahead of time, carrying nothing incrimi­nating.

In cases where construction equipment has been successfully sabotaged repeatedly, the owners will often move it at night to a more public location, such as a roadside, to facilitate protection by police or private guards. Look for the vehicles of private security guards, which may be concealed among the pieces of heavy equipment.

Be aware that monkeywrenchers may run afoul of the law in a completely unexpected manner. Don't break speed limits when going to and from an oper­ation-you could fall victim to a speed trap or police radar. A simple rule to follow to prevent most routine traffic violations is to have the front seat pas­senger (i.e., the person in the "shotgun" seat) watch for road hazards, and caution the driver if the car exceeds the speed limit. If the driver is over-sen­sitive about this, she shouldn't be driving.

Another conventional law enforcement activity to which unwary monkey­wrenchers could fall victim is the local game warden on the lookout for jack­lighters or poachers. A tactic used frequently by game officers is to park on a hill that allows a long view of a road often used by poachers at night. Drive by the local office of the Department of Fish and Game to learn what type of vehi­cles the game officers in your vicinity use. If you are out on a job at night and think you have spotted a game officer in the vicinity, scratch your operation and wait for another night. These men and women are providing a valuable service in fighting poaching and should be helped, not hindered or distracted. Also, game officers are full-fledged law enforcement officers with all the power of the state behind them, and may enforce other laws besides game laws. Since they may stop you at night, never carry rifles, spotlights, or anything else that might make you look like a poacher when on a monkeywrenching operation.

Keep in mind that every time a law enforcement officer stops to check any suspicious person or thing, a record is made of the event. Even if you are just briefly stopped and then released, that record may later be used to place you near the scene of an illegal activity. If stopped by a cop before you hit a tar­get, cancel the mission. If stopped after you have already carried out an oper­ation, go to special pains to destroy all evidence as soon as you arrive at a safe location.

-Tra v

FIELD NOTES

* When placing lookouts, consider all possible routes of approach. Place lookouts to cover these.

* The growing popularity of monkey business is also making it more danger­ous. Here's a method of approach that has proven safe for day or night, by one person or a group.

1) Always observe from a distance first. Because daytime is riskier, stay well away and use binoculars. Day or night, hide in deep shadow and don't let shiny or brightly colored objects betray you. Watch for as long as you can, especially if a parked vehicle nearby might indicate a watchman in the area.

2) If all appears quiet, you're ready to do a "walk-by" to either spot a watch­man or trip an ambush. We usually put on our new monkey shoes at this point, but carry nothing incriminating. The idea is to be clean if you're stopped. Quietly, but out loud, practice the casual and friendly answer you'll give when confronted. (Practicing your comments silently in your mind is not nearly as effective as practicing them out loud. All good public speakers, singers, and other performers know this.) Scout as hikers, bird-watchers, young lovers, or the like.

3) Walk past-but not through-the target area, glancing about casually (in daytime from behind sunglasses) for sign of trouble. If no one confronts you, sit down a short distance away and continue to look and listen.

4) If you are still uncertain, do a dry run to trip an ambush. Pause at the tar­get, like a bulldozer, and pretend to be doing something to it. Do not actually touch it. If caught at this point, you can just explain that you've always liked big machines and were curious. You've committed no crime.

5) Since the Freddies will read about this, add a final step of leaving the immediate vicinity and hiding nearby to see if anyone emerges to check whether you've actually done any damage. Or have a hidden lookout watch.

6) If all is still clear, go to work.

-Safety First

CAMOUFLAGE

Light Reflections

Light reflections off the face are rarely a problem in night-work. Still, if for certain jobs you feel reflections could be a problem, tone down bright spots by rubbing a little burnt cork across the forehead, on the cheekbones, on the top of the nose and on the point of the chin. Never spread the blacking all over the face-hitting the aforementioned high spots lightly is sufficient. This form of night camouflage is rarely used, mainly because it makes the user stand out, and anyone observing an individual so made up would almost certainly con­clude that they were engaged in some illegal activity. In certain wilderness operations, however, it may even be beneficial to use camouflage face paint (available at sporting goods and bow hunter supply stores). How-to books for bow hunters may be your best guide. Anyone using either of these techniques is advised to carry a couple of packets of moist towelettes (like "Wash 'N Dry"). These should be carried carefully safety-pinned into a pocket (make sure that the pin does not pierce the inside of the packet, or the towel will dry out). After an operation these can be used for quick cleanup. Camo face paint is easy to remove if you put a thin layer of baby oil on the areas to be camouflaged before applying the face paint. This is at least true for the military stuff and possibly for bow hunter face paint.

Footwear

Proper footwear is important. Remember, shoes and boots leave prints which may constitute valuable evidence. Such prints do not produce leads on suspects, but they do constitute physical evidence that might be matched up later when other means produce a suspect. Cheap tennis shoes that can be thrown away after a major job or series of minor hits are ideal. If it's not too awkward, one can buy shoes a couple of sizes too large and wear extra pairs of socks to fill them out. This will confuse the investigators who may photo­graph and/or take casts of footprints at the scene of the "crime." If good trac­tion is not critical, obtain shoes with smooth soles. If you do not throw your monkeywrenching shoes away, at least avoid wearing them for any other pur­pose. Do not ever wear them around your home, since the dirt around your house and driveway will be the first place that the authorities will look for matching footprints.

For some operations, lightweight shoes will be impractical. For work in rough terrain or at night, where the danger of falls and sprains is real, sturdy boots are generally called for (though some people even backpack off-trail in light­weight running shoes-one possibility is to tape your ankles before wearing running shoes for night or rough ground work). Since it may be costly to throw away boots after a "job," one might consider covering the boots with oversize socks (dark for night-work). Carry several pairs if operating on hard or stony ground. Dispose socks after an operation, since minute fibers will have been left as evidence. You could also make boot coverings out of heavy canvas.

FIELD NOTES

• It is hard to determine just how effective footprints are as evidence. During the Arizona Five Trial in Prescott, the FBI lab specialist could not definitely match a very clear print to one of the shoes seized. The testimony indicated shoe prints were vague and indefinite evidence. In contrast, there have been recent claims that podiatrists can not only match a shoe with a track but can positively identify the foot in it, presumably from pressure points, weight, and so forth. Whatever the reality is on shoe prints as evidence, it is unwise to keep shoes worn during any serious ecotage operation, and absolutely fool­hardy to keep them in one's home.

• Do not wear anything on your feet to disguise your tracks that may seri­ously impede your speed of movement or maneuverability. Strapping boards to one's feet ("Air Bakers") has been proven to make a monkeywrencher help­less.

• A recent arrest in Utah shows how law enforcement relies on evidence like footprints. Ecodefenders must never let their curiosity cause them to leave incriminating footprints near heavy equipment and the like. You can get stuck with something you didn't do.

• Here's one monkeywrencher's recommendations on footwear: "To be ready on a moment's notice, I buy different brands of cheap canvas shoes. The newest pair goes into my backpack. I use them for fording streams, but I back into the stream with them on and erase the footprints behind me. Once my hiking boots are back on, I smear out the canvas shoe prints on the bank where I exit the stream. This way, I can be ready for a spur-of-the-moment hit, knowing that I left no prints behind me that can be linked to the scene.

"Once a pair of these ten-dollar shoes have left their prints at a hit, I never carry them again in daytime when escape is difficult. They are then reserved only for nighttime escapades, and not even worn around the house (I don't want to leave nasty old footprints in the flower bed by mistake).

"Out here in hostile territory where redneck cops can get a search warrant quicker than a turd gets flies, these shoes are either stashed in the back­woods or put in specially-built hiding places inside the homestead."

Editor's Note: The precautions enumerated here seem worthwhile, with one exception, and that is the propriety of keeping shoes that have left a print at a "hit" anywhere around one's dwelling (or place of employment or whatever) no matter how well hidden. If you are suspected by the authorities, they may well tear your house completely apart looking for "evidence." You should weigh the cost of a cheap pair of shoes against the cost of months or years behind bars, and choose accordingly.

 

Clothing

Never underestimate the importance of proper clothing. What is good for one type of operation might not be for another. Urban or rural, day or night, season of the year-all of these factors affect what type of clothing is best.

As a general rule, avoid the exotic and unusual. One should not stand out. Dress like the locals, be they construction workers, loggers, or corporate executives. It may be necessary to blend in with the local scene to escape from the target area. Dress and cut your hair like the locals. Women should avoid halter tops, short shorts, or other outfits that make them noticeable.

Camouflage may be of many types. For a wilderness operation (tree or road spiking, for example), consider traditional, military-type camouflage clothing, which ranges from expensive, tailored gear available from fancy sporting goods firms to used, genuine military uniforms sold by "war surplus" stores. Military camouflage comes in many patterns designed for different geographi­cal regions, such as woodland pattern or desert pattern. Consult the special­ized literature, such as military training manuals on camouflage or how-to books for bow hunters (which also give instructions for using camo face paint).

For many operations military-type camouflage is not only unnecessary, but might actually make the monkeywrencher stand out as suspicious. In opera­tions around construction sites or machinery, coveralls and a hard hat might be best. A monkeywrencher so attired might pass for a worker if seen. Used coveralls can be purchased for a reasonable price at many linen supply com­panies. The serious monkeywrencher might purchase several pairs, in differ­ent colors.

Some plaid patterns are nearly as good as camouflage and fit right in with local styles. Pendleton "Black Watch" plaid is good in coniferous forests. Some brown plaids are good in arid environments. Janitors, mechanics, and the like often sport a grayish-green work shirt. It's good in a variety of land­scapes but especially in sagebrush country.

Dark clothing is the rule for nightwork. Long sleeves protect the arms and cover light skin (visible on moonlit nights). Avoid too tight clothing that restricts movement, and too loose clothing that snags on branches, barbed wire, and the like. If stealth is particularly desired, nylon and plastic clothing should be avoided, since it makes a "swishing" noise when one moves. Wool is quieter than cotton. However, woolen garments are particularly susceptible to leaving fibers behind. Brush, cactus, barbed wire fences, and even rough brick can snag" clothing and cause the ecoteur to leave fibers. Although it is unlikely that investigators would find minute clothing fibers left at an outdoor monkeywrenching scene, you should nonetheless avoid unusual, exotic clothing, and should consider discarding clothing after a particularly "heavy" operation.

Used clothing stores such as those operated by Goodwill or the Salvation Army can be sources for cheap, throw-away clothing (don't set a pattern of frequently buying such items at one store and becoming known by the clerks). Again, coveralls (dark) may be best, although "work" shirts and pants are probably adequate.

Many commercial laundry detergents contain chemical "brighteners" that increase the reflectivity of clothing (ever notice your sleeves glowing under a "black light"?). Avoid these when washing clothes to be used in secretive activities. Only actual laundry soap, like Ivory, will leave you with the wonder­fully dull and dingy look while still getting out those telltale body odors. All detergents will increase the reflectivity of your clothing, and will make you more visible to night vision devices. (See the section on Eyes of Night.)

Gloves

Gloves are a must to avoid leaving fingerprints. Each type of glove has its own characteristics:

LEATHER - Good, highly durable, and suited to general purposes. However, leather can leave distinct prints like fingerprints, especially if it becomes contaminated with oil or grease.

CLOTH - Not as durable as leather, but adequate for most work, and cheaper. The low cost makes it practical to dispose of cloth gloves after an operation; a desirable thing to do. Cloth patterns can be left under the same conditions mentioned above for leather.

PLASTIC OR RUBBER - Usually good for light work only. They will make one's hands sweat. When disposing of this type of glove, one should keep in mind that the insides carry a perfect set of one's fingerprints. Burning them in a fire insures thorough destruction by melting.

Regardless of which type you use, dispose of any manufacturer's labels before heading out. Make sure your gloves cover the entire palm, as any part of the palm can leave distinctive prints for investigators.

FIELD NOTES

* Some monkeywrenchers argue that cotton gloves are better than leather. Because leather is cow skin, it has a grain as unique as a human fingerprint. A good "gloveprint" can be positively linked to a specific glove taken from a sus­pect. The cotton glove is a woven material whose prints might be linked to a certain manufacturer, but only anomalies like tears or manufacturing flaws will connect them to a specific glove. Most important, since you can purchase cotton work gloves cheaply, you can afford to buy and properly dispose of several pairs a year, rather than be tempted to keep expensive leathers for "one more job." The thinnest cotton gloves (like photographers use) might on rare occasions leave a fingerprint, but heavier cotton work gloves will not. To further confound law enforcement, buy a different brand of glove each time, and never dispose of evidence at or near the scene of a hit.

* Dispose of your gloves very well. Like hats, they most likely contain an arm or hand hair which can be traced positively back to you (assuming you're caught near the scene of the crime or are "questioned" later). If you are pur­sued, it may be tempting to simply toss away gloves with incriminating paint, grease, etc. on them. Better to take a moment to bury them (ineffective if dogs are on your trail), or to continue to carry them until escape is assured and then dispose of them safely by burying or burning. Disposing of gloves near the crime scene should be done only if capture appears unavoidable and immedi­ate.

Headgear

Headgear is important in some situations for warmth and disguise. Knitted wool watch caps are both commonplace and comfortable. Wide brimmed hats hang up on brush and tree limbs and should be avoided. Ski masks and ban­dannas can be used for disguise, but their use may constitute an additional violation of the law. Do not lose your headgear at the scene of an action. It will contain samples of your hair.

If you have long hair, tie it back. Ponytails and braids can be stuck down inside a coat.

Vehicle Camouflage

For lower visibility, paint your truck, van, or whatever one color with a good automotive "semigloss" or flat paint. Good colors are white, yellow, orange, green, or brown.

You may want to install a CB antenna or two, even if you don't have a CB radio, in order to blend in with the local bumpkin proletariat.

Paint the wheels the same color as the vehicle, or else flat black. Avoid tires with raised white letters, and any other custom accessories. Avoid "suggestive" bumper stickers on the vehicle. An American flag decal or NRA sticker might be a good idea, if you want to fit in with the local "good of boys." (Scotch tape them to the inside of a window so you can later remove them.)

Cover packs or other camping gear with a plain canvas tarp. Tool boxes, torches, and other "working gear" left out in the open are a good idea if you wish to look like you belong on the job.

A set of official-looking magnetic door signs might also be useful in order to look like a contractor of some sort who has business in the area. Magnetic door signs are instantly removable or installable. This helps disguise your vehicle.

Make sure your registration, driver's license, and vehicle identification num­ber are all legal. A recently-purchased car might not be in the computers yet, and thus could give cause to detain you. If ownership of a car can't be estab­lished, that alone is sufficient cause for a police agency to obtain a search warrant for the car.

Tires, windshield, blinkers, and brake lights should be in good condition, to avoid giving the authorities probable cause for stopping you.

Switching license plates is not advised. Make sure that your front and back plates match. Incidentally, in the West, Idaho plates are the hardest for offi­cers to read, while Utah plates are very legible. Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and California plates all fall somewhere in between.

-The Invisible Man

FIELD NOTES

* Many ecodefenders claim it is safer to monkeywrench out of state than in one's own. This is not true for activists with California license plates-they are considered fair game by most non-California badge wearers who get their jollies by hassling residents of the tarnished golden state. In California, however, out-of-staters are rarely bugged just because of their origin except for those with Mexican license plates.

* If you have suggestive bumper stickers on your car, you can cover them with masking tape and duct tape while "on the job" or visiting unfriendly towns like Escalante, Utah. Cover your sticker with masking tape first, then cover the masking tape with duct tape. The masking tape will protect your bumper sticker from being peeled off or torn when the duct tape is pulled off. When your need for maintaining a low profile is over, simply peel off the duct tape and there is your bumper sticker proclaiming its message to the world. If you are serious about security, however, you will remove such bumper stickers from your vehicle while on the job.

FIELD NOTES-GENERAL CAMOUFLAGE

* Before you go into the woods at night, check your running shoes, clothing, pack, and other equipment for reflective patches and remove them. For example, many running shoes today have reflector stripes on them to make runners along roads at night visible to cars. To check, dress exactly as you would for nightwork, stand to the side of a road, and have a trusted friend drive down it with the headlights on as you turn around-if anything you are wearing reflects light, she should notice it.

* Campmor offers in their catalog what they call the "world's quietest pack." It is touted as, "The pack when you don't want to be seen or heard. Made of 26 oz., water resistant, virgin wool. This pack will not pull, thread or catch. Forest green color blends into the woods nicely." Sounds like it was made with mon­keywrenchers in mind!

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Keep the number of tools used in an operation to an absolute minimum. Useful tools may include adjustable pipe and crescent wrenches, hacksaws with spare blades, heavy duty wire cutters or bolt cutters, pliers, pry-bars, screwdrivers, and crosscut saws. Especially noisy tools should be avoided. Hammers fall into this category, although they are essential for certain types of work, such as spiking. Chain saws are usually out of the question for any clandestine type of activity. Insulated handles (tape may be used for this) minimize the sounds of tools clanking together.

If you are carrying only one or two tools, secure them to your wrist or belt with a short cord, to prevent loss by dropping them in the dark. Otherwise, carry tools in jacket pockets or in canvas bags slung from the shoulder or attached to the belt. If bags are used, they should be easy to open and close. Before heading out, shake the bag to insure that the tools don't rattle or bang together. A dark towel or rag can be used to deaden any noise. A towel will also prove useful if you need to cut wire: drape a couple of layers of towel over the wire and then cut. The towel will deaden the sound of the wire separating. Be sure the ends of a taut fence wire don't snap back and cause noise. A shallow cut followed by flexing the wire back and forth should allow the wire to separate quietly. Practice.

Choose tools of common manufacture and buy them with cash at large retail outlets or discount houses where the cashier is not likely to remember you. If asked for name and address, even for a warranty, give false information or none at all.

If you must buy special tools, materials, books, or the like by mail, don't leave a "paper trail" for investigators to follow. Don't use charge cards or per­sonal checks. Send postal or bank money orders instead, and DO NOT fill out your name and address in the part labeled "sender." Remember, bank accounts are accessible to the police, and provide a detailed account of pur­chases, travel, and even political opinion. All checks cashed, by law, must be recorded on microfilm. A basic step in police investigation is to gather com­plete bank records of all possible suspects and co-conspirators. Your bank does not tell you when they hand over copies of your records to a police agency. In the Arizona Five case, the FBI secretly acquired complete bank records for the accounts of Dave Foreman, Earth First! Journal, and the Earth First! Foundation, well before any arrests.

Microscopic marks left by tools can sometimes be used to link a specific tool to the scene of a "crime." Also, paint flakes or other material from a "crime scene" may be found on a tool and used as evidence to link that tool to a spe­cific site. Because of this, too, it is prudent to dispose of tools regul