The spike can also lower the commercial value of the wood by causing discoloration, reducing the economic viability of logging in the long term, without threatening the life of the tree.
In the book, he discusses how to do it and how to avoid risks to the activist and the logger, such as by putting warning signs or marks in the area where the trees are being spiked.
[3][4] On 8 May 1987, George Alexander, a millworker, was severely injured when a saw blade shattered after contact with a tree spike and cut his jaw in half.
[7] Alexander later filed a lawsuit against Louisiana-Pacific[7][9] claiming that the band saw had been weakened from previous strikes with nails,[10] but that he was forced to work with the saw or face dismissal.
[17] In 1993, John Blount and others were convicted under this statute for spiking trees in the Clearwater National Forest, after Tracy Stone-Manning agreed to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution.