Harassment is nothing new to social and environmental movement activists. Attempts to intimidate, isolate, scare, threaten and harm us are both pervasive and sometimes effective. As more people within our movement are targeted with this type of harassment, it becomes more important to address this issue and begin thinking about a solid network of support for targeted activists. As someone who has been singled out for harassment, I have learned that there are many others who have had similar experiences. People are trying to quell our movement, and I want to beat them at their own game by telling my story and removing the cloak of isolation. We can foil wise use and law enforcement attempts to paralyze our movement.

I have only been active for about a year and a half. Within that period, I have been targeted various times, including on my "first day" as an activist when I went out to the Allegheny National Forest to meet with the Allegheny Defense Project (ADP). After a day hiking in the woods, I slept in the bushes (having forgotten my tent). Two men walked into my campsite, which was two miles from a road, and started talking about how nice it would be if they opened a hunting season on "long hairs." One of the men had a rifle. Once they left, I got outta there, only to find my car spray painted with, "Fuck off tree hugger." I went home.

Seven months later, I started interning at ADP, and within a week we filed a major lawsuit against the Forest Service. One week later I went to a Ruckus action camp in North Carolina. After I returned to the Alleghenies, I got a phone call from a good friend who told me she had received a threatening letter about me. The letter included a photo of me in my car, with a target drawn around my head, and the message, "Tell your pain in the ass friend to get the fuck out of my forest before he gets hurt." I checked my mailbox and found a copy of the same photo with a bull's-eye drawn around my head. The only place I can figure the photo could have been taken was when I was parking at the action camp, 800 miles from my home.

A few days later I was circled by a pickup truck while a man in the passenger seat took photos of me. The license plate of the shiny pickup truck was covered in mud.

I am not named in the lawsuits filed on the Allegheny National Forest. I have not commented on many timber sales. I have not had my name in the press, and I am not especially visible in the community.

In the fall, we won a major lawsuit, shutting down half the year's timber sales on the Allegheny National Forest. Two weeks later, while driving home alone from an animal rights organizing meeting, I was pulled over by an unmarked car with flashing red lights on the dash and white lights in the grill. The car sat behind me for about two minutes and drove away. Some days later I received a letter through my campus mail system that read, "Don't like getting pulled over do you? No more warnings." The next day there was a flier in our campus mail room that read, "Wanted Josh Raisler Cohn $500 Reward. This tree spiking, animal liberating, machine sabotaging asshole must be stopped. He is an eco-fascist and doesn't give a shit about people's well being. If you stop him we will find you with this reward."

This February I was down in southern Ohio helping out with the first ever blockade in the Wayne National Forest, fighting an illegal stripmine. On my way home I was pulled over by the police twice. The first time I was warned for driving five miles over the limit. The second time, an hour later, a policeman walked up to the car (which is not registered to me) and said, "Hi Josh. You were speeding and we suspect you have drugs in your car." Two officers spent 45 minutes searching the car and found nothing. At this point, an unmarked car pulled up, and a man in a suit got out of the passenger side. He walked over to me and said, "Hi Josh. Did you have fun at the party tonight? Though I know you are not much of a partier. (There had been a victory celebration that evening for those involved in the Wayne protests.) We did not think you were leaving until the morning; you made us come out earlier than we were expecting. Speaking for myself, and many others, we are glad you are leaving southern Ohio, and why don't you stay away for a while? Drive safely."

He walked back to his car, and the policeman told me to be on my way. Ecstatic to be leaving, and hoping to change into some dry pants, I did just that.

I have taken part in a few demos, hung off a building on my campus to protest live animal experimentation, interned with a forest defense group, attended a zero cut organizing meeting and helped out with some civil disobedience actions. I am by no means a seasoned activist. This sort of harassment is nothing new, but I am an unlikely target. However, I have learned a lot and want to pro-actively counter these attempts at intimidation and isolation. I've received much good advice, which I will try to pass on.

If you are a victim or witness of harassment:

1. Write everything down, as accurately as you can, and keep all records in a safe place.

2. Report it to the police, and ask for a copy of the report for documentation.

3. Keep the originals of anything you receive, and let the police have photocopies. If the harassment comes from somewhere within the government, it would be too easy for the police to "lose" documentation. Do not give them the opportunity.

4. Record all badge numbers and license plate numbers, if you can. (I was told by police in southern Ohio that I could have their badge numbers "at the station.")

5. Contact other activists. These are attempts to make us ineffective and scared, and we should all reach out to our community when we need the support.

6. Remember that you are being effective as an activist. There must be some reason why you have been targeted.

There are a number of groups out there that can provide support and information. How to Deal with Harassment is a report available from the Western States Center, POB 40305, Portland, OR 97240; (503) 228-8866; e-mail: harassment@wsc.pdx.org; website: www.epn.org/westernstates. Brain Glick's short book, War At Home: Covert Action Against US Activists and What We Can Do About It, has many references and groups that can provide further support info. It's published by South End Press.

Events like this happen, sometimes in unlikely places at unlikely times to unsuspecting people. I carry a cell phone and a little container of pepper spray with me wherever I go. It took some reconciling to be able to do that, and I don't like the idea of it. All these experiences have greatly affected the way I live and have strengthened my resolve, reinforcing what is truly important within my life. Be strong, be proud and be safe.