After playing out the protest, Sleeper and Cricket told us about what happens next. Inevitably, protesters go to jail. The biggest sin a protester could commit during an action is unlocking from the group because he's offered a lesser charge by the cops who come to break it up. Sleeper said cops always pick on the youngest female protester and threaten her any way they can.

"I once saw a cop keep macing the guy next to a young woman while telling her that if she didn't unlock, he would blind the guy. When she didn't budge, the cop had to stop. Cops don't understand it when someone refuses to give in to their pressure. It's like they aren't equipped to see a person suffer and still go on resisting, without fighting back."

With the help of legal support back at headquarters, protesters will usually only spend two to five days in jail. In court, most cases are reduces to a misdemeanor with a fine attached. We were told the worst thing we could do is plea out to probation because we would be sacrificing most of our rights. Then Sleeper shared with us some horror stories of times he had spent in jail and police harassment that bordered on torture. But despite the hardships, he said it was worth it.

"When it comes down to the wire and they're screaming at you, or kicking you, or macing you, you've got to remember why you are there to begin with," he said. "You have to realize that you are right and they are wrong. You're there because you know it's right to save our trees, it's right to save our rivers, it's right to save endangered species. Just because you don't have the same power that they do, it doesn't make you wrong.

Boot camp ended with a prayer. Our small group got in a circle, held hands and bowed our heads. Sleeper and Cricket said they felt nothing but good energy from us and felt we shared their compassion for the earth. After telling us to keep hope in our hearts and that we'll win the battle, Sleeper ended the prayer with a howling scream and we all chorused in. The scream sounded like some wolf cry and I thought it was a perfect way to end our training. Like the wolf, these activists feel a connection to the environment that makes them fight to protect it. And just like the wolf, their numbers are declining toward extinction.

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