PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An environmental activist and former fugitive who once won thousands of votes in a congressional election pleaded not guilty Monday to ecoterrorism charges and was ordered held as a flight risk and public danger.

Tre Arrow, 34, who has legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti, is charged in a 14-count federal indictment with helping to destroy concrete-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Co. in Portland in April 2001 and of firebombing logging trucks at Schoppert Logging Co. in Eagle Creek near Mount Hood in June 2001.

He was returned to Portland on Friday to face the arson and conspiracy charges after fighting extradition for four years from a prison in British Columbia. Before his arrest in Canada in a shoplifting case, he was a fugitive from the FBI for 19 months.

Arrow did not speak during the brief arraignment, during which U.S. District Judge Paul Hubel ordered him held pending a possible detention hearing.

Through his attorney Paul Loney, Arrow requested that he be given a raw vegan diet in accordance with his religious beliefs. Hubel asked that his request be granted as quickly as possible.

Arrow was arrested in British Columbia on assault and other local charges after a security guard reported that he tried to steal a pair of bolt cutters. The arrest preceded his U.S. indictment in April 2004.

Hoping for his client's release, Loney argued Monday that Arrow was not convicted of the assault charge and was not violent. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer said Arrow fought extradition for four years and cited that as evidence of flight risk.

Arrow scaled the offices of the U.S. Forest Service in downtown Portland in the summer of 2000 to protest logging on Mount Hood, perching on a narrow ledge for 11 days.

He once ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate, winning nearly 16,000 votes. He suffered a broken pelvis in October 2001 when he fell 65 feet from a tree after a two-day standoff with police and loggers in the Tillamook State Forest.

Three other defendants pleaded guilty to arson in the U.S. case and have completed 41-month federal prison terms. Arrow's supporters contend the three cooperated with the government against him to get easier treatment.

Outside the federal courthouse, as a drummer pounded away, a handful of Arrow's supporters held banners reading "Free Tre Arrow" and "Justice for all, Not Just Y'All."

Arrow's older sister, Shawna Scarpitti, 38, was at the courthouse and said her brother "is 100 percent innocent of the charges the government has against him."

Arrow's plea came hours after three multimillion-dollar homes were torched to the north in Washington, purportedly by members of the shadowy group Earth Liberation Front. The FBI has claimed Arrow is associated with the ELF.

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