Daniel G. McGowan does not look like a terrorist. But the mild-mannered, affable-looking social and environmental activist – and, now, federal prisoner – has been labeled just that.
McGowan was a member of the Earth Liberation Front – a group that combats what they view as environmental exploitation by corporations and the government through meticulously planned arsons – during its most active period in the late '90s and early 2000s.
Daniel's story has been told in the award-winning documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which was shown at Buffalo's own Squeaky Wheel Media Art Center on Sept. 14.
Introducing the film was activist, author and Buffalo native Leslie Pickering, who was part of the Earth Liberation Front Press Office during some of the group's most active years. In a talk he gave before the screening, Pickering emphasized the importance of social ecology as a practical resistance movement and the exigent nature of the environmental crisis.
"[The] annihilation of [nature in the name of] short-term economic gains for the extremely wealthy is…unacceptable to posterity," Pickering said. "I didn't grow up wanting to burn down buildings, but the longer I lived in this society and kept my eyes open, the more I realized that was a logical, reasonable option."
The film itself focuses primarily on McGowan – from his formative years as a student on the east coast to his subsequent radicalization and move to the west coast – and the formation of his ELF "cell" in the mid-1990s.
Through numerous interviews and archival footage, the film paints a vivid picture of the burgeoning "radical" environmental scene in mid-'90s Eugene, Ore. By presenting the failure of peaceful environmental protests, the unnecessary brutality of police sent to respond to those protests, and the utter marginalization of the protestor themselves by the powers-that-be, If a Tree Falls does an excellent job of getting its audience to sympathize with the soon-to-be "terrorists."
"[Expletive] working within the system," says McGowan at one point early in the documentary.
From there, the film follows McGowan's ELF "cell" through some of its most notable actions, from the arson of an Oregon Ranger station in 1996 to the disastrous fire at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001.
The film takes special care to remain balanced in its portrayals, and it highlights the practical failings – as well as the high-minded idealism – of the "eco-terrorists" it follows. Much of the later portions of If a Tree Falls are even dedicated to the federal manhunt for McGowan and his colleagues, with the government agents being presented in the same fair manner as the members of the ELF.
The real star of the show, though, is McGowan and the human drama of his story. Intimate scenes of McGowan's house arrest, court proceedings, and last days as a free man before being sent to federal prison serve to humanize a potentially polarizing narrative.
The evening of Sept. 14 was also taken as an occasion to spread the word about the newly-opened Burning Books bookstore – an establishment Pickering had a hand in creating as one of its co-owners.
"We're a book store focusing on freedom struggles," said Nate Buckley, who co-owns Burning Books with Teresa Baker and Pickering. "[What we want is] an active, educated movement to bring about change."
If a Tree Falls is in the middle of a national tour of small, intimate screenings like the one at the Squeaky Wheel on Sept. 14 – a full list of these screenings can be found at www.ifatreefallsfilm.com/screenings.html. On Sept. 27, the film will be shown on the local PBS station at 10 p.m., with a viewing event planned at Merge on Delaware Avenue for 9 p.m.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
