Violence and threats against federal employees who manage land in the West are on the rise, with nearly 100 incidents taking place in 1998, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Such attacks have increased since the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, with much of the problem attributable to anti-government radicals and extreme “wise-use” proponents who believe public lands should be controlled at the local level. Also contributing to the mayhem are a small number of environmentalists who commit violent acts to protest logging in national forests and other government policies.
