Mr. Villamar believes his friend was jailed because of his environmental activism. Boise Cascade may be gone, but timber cutting remains a big business in Guerrero, and authorities there do all they can to protect it, he said. Uniting farmers Mr. Montiel founded a farmers' group called the Ecologists of Petatlan to fight against logging in the mountains northeast of the beach town of Zihuatanejo. The reason is simple. As mere farmers, they get no attention.
Farmers have no clout.
The Sierra of Petatlan, with mountains reaching nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, contains some of North America's most pristine forest lands,environmentalists say. When the forest is healthy, trees help capture rainwater and boost the water supply which farmers rely on for irrigation. But as trees are cut down, there is less water and farmers have trouble growing crops, environmentalists say. Taking action Seeing their land dry up, Mr. Montiel and others began taking action. In 1997, they set up a toll booth to collect a kind of local tax from passing logging trucks.