All well and good. HOWEVER:Meanwhile a standoff developed between environmental activists and the Dutch authorities Thursday over the planned felling of trees along the German border to improve safety for NATO AWACS aircraft using the nearby Geilenkirchen airfield. Dozens of activists of the organization Groenfront! (Green Front) climbed trees to build huts and hang protest banners, ignoring an order to vacate the woodland near the town of Schinveld in the southeastern province of Limburg. Although the order to vacate went into effect early Thursday, police and military helicopters monitoring the activists did not intervene as locals brought in refreshments. The Dutch Environment Ministry has ordered taller trees over a 20-hectare area to be felled and a 6-hectare area to be cleared entirely to facilitate the take-off and landing of AWACS aircraft at the Geilenkirchen airbase across the border in Germany. Indications from across the German border were that the trees would be felled by the end of next week.