Two members of the activist group Everglades Earth First were arrested after they chained themselves inside the offices of the Kolter Group offices in West Palm Beach.
The activists managed to get into the Kolter Group's "Kolter Urban" division office and chained themselves with a u-lock bicycle chain in the lobby while a handful of other members of the group held picket signs outside and chanted "Everglades Earth First" and "Save Briger."
The group is protesting Kolter's plan to build town homes on the 680-acre tract of Briger Forest that runs along Donald Ross Boulevard and I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens.
See also: Earth First! Activists With Puppets and Costumes Marching on Kolter Group to Protect Briger Forest
Everglades Earth First says that the town homes would eradicate several endangered and threatened species that make Briger Forest their home, including the gopher tortoise and the snowy egret. The group also claims that the permits The group also claims that the permits Kolter retained for construction are flawed and should never have been approved by the South Florida Water Management District.
Among other issues that clearing the forest would bring, the group says, there will be increased CO2 levels, a "Biotech City," and home to the Scripps Research Institute, which hosts animal testing labs.
The group also claims the project has wasted $580 million in tax dollars.
Chaining themselves to things with bike locks seems to be Earth First's modus operandi when it comes to forms of protest.
Last February, members of the group chained themselves at the entrance to FPL headquarters in Juno Beach over the utility company's plans to build a new power plant on 3,200 acres of land adjacent to the Seminole Tribe's Big Cypress Reservation.
According to CBS12, the two activists arrested Monday are being charged with trespassing and obstruction of justice.
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