Two people have been arrested in Olympia, Washington, for their alleged role in a 2001 arson at an Oregon tree farm.  The most active militant environmentalist movement in the U.S. claimed responsibility for the arson at that time.

Joyanna L. Zacher, 28, and Nathan Fraser Block, 24, were arrested eight days after a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted them each on 12 counts of arson, one count of attempted arson and one count of using and carrying a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence.

According to the indictment, the defendants were involved in an arson at a tree farm in Clatskanie, Oregon, which caused over $1 million in damage.  The fire destroyed two large storage buildings and over a dozen vehicles.  The slogan “You cannot control what is wild” and “ELF” were painted on a shed at the scene.  In its claim of responsibility, the Earth Liberation Front threatened that “wild fires of outrage will continue to blaze.” 

Government attorneys will seek their bring Block and Zacher to Eugene to face trial after they appear in federal court in Tacoma, Washington. 

Zacher was reportedly arrested during the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle in December 1999 and charged with malicious mischief and third-degree assault.  Those charges were later dismissed.

The indictments against Block and Zacher are the latest to be brought by federal authorities against people who allegedly have ties to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF).  Last month, eleven suspected members of ELF and ALF were indicted on charges related to 17 acts of domestic terrorism in five western states.