Wit and wisdom of the Wise Users: how the other half intimidates - activities of anti-environment 'Sahara Club' - Priorities - Column

Sierra, Nov-Dec, 1995 by Paul Rauber

One of the nastier manifestations of the anti-environmental Wise Use movement is the "Sahara Club," a loose collection of loose nuts based in Southern California "dedicated to fighting eco-freaks and keeping public lands free." Over the years, their newsletter has become a sort of clearinghouse of dirty tricks for the anti-environmental fringe.

"We do not condone or encourage any illegal activities of any sort," the newsletter's most recent issue coyly disclaims. "However, we get a real kick out of legitimate irritation of the eco-freak community." Following are suggestions for "legitimate irritation" from Sahara Club members:

* "Every meeting that's been held in our area between eco-freaks and normal people, we have shown up (12 members strong) and literally shouted the bastards down. We position ourselves throughout the audience, rather than sit in one group. This way, when we yell long and hard, it seems like the entire audience is doing it.

"Our small group has turned no less than a dozen meetings into screaming yelling matches and the eco-freaks have run out of the room most of the times. Being intimidating really works and sure shuts the bastards up!" from Oregon

* "Our local club has been faking letters to our local newspapers, posing as eco-freaks. The letters we write are so inflammatory that when they're run, the readers get really pissed off at the eco-freaks. It seems the wilder we make the letters, the more the papers run them."

* "Me and my buddies get a list of various enviro-groups that are holding some kind of meeting. We then show up and watch who goes into the meeting and where they park their cars. After the meeting is well under way, we remove all the valve cores from their tires and toss them in the bushes. It's tow-truck city later on.

"We also take down the license plate numbers and call the local police department and report the cars as stolen. I highly recommend this as an effective way to slow down eco-meetings."

* When my kid came home from school and told me that his teacher was preaching to the class about all the good Greenpeace was doing, I went to the school and confronted this teacher. He told me he was a Greenpeace supporter. I told him he could be anything he wanted to be, but that if he tried to teach my kid that crap I would go to the principal and school board and get him fired. He agreed to back off and has not mentioned another eco-word to this date."

* "I have stocked up on super glue and find it works best in the door locks of BLM vehicles. One little squirt in each lock and they have to break the window to get in. If I have time, it's also fun to let the air out of the tires, then superglue the valve caps back on so they can't be refilled." --no name from California

* Whenever I run into an eco-freak almost anywhere, I get right in his face and make him or her feel like dog shit. Of course, it helps that I am a fairly large person. But I have taught a few of my normal-sized friends how to intimidate verbally, and it works for them, too."

It may not be much comfort if you just had your tires flattened, but the reason Wise Users need to throw their weight around is that they don't have very much of it. Environmental activists should remember that they have the vast majority of the American people--not to mention the Bill of Rights and the criminal code--on their side. Intimidation only works if you let it.