THE Wilderness Society has welcomed and accepted an apology this afternoon from Tasmania Police for using forest activitists as the basis of the sceneario for an airport security exercise at Devonport yesterday.Acting Assistant Commissioner Steve Bonde said Tasmania Police acknowledged the concerns of Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown and the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in relation to the emergency response exercise Western Approach.``Tasmania Police offers an apology to members of the Tasmanian community who have been offended by the scenario chosen for yesterday’s exercise.''The Wilderness Society welcomed and accepted the apology this afternoon.“We accept this apology from Tasmania Police and particularly welcome the acknowledgement that forest protests in Tasmania have always been peaceful and that they have no reason to believe the scenario used yesterday would ever occur,” Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley said.Earlier Mr Steve Bonde said he has spoken to Senator Brown about his concerns that the scenario, based at Devonport Airport, involved a forest campaigner targeting the Wesley Vale mill.Mr Bonde said Senator Brown and he were in agreement that forest activists in Tasmania have never used violence in their campaigns and were committed to peaceful protests.He said these training exercises were deliberately designed around the most unlikely scenario envisaged by Tasmania Police.Mr Bayley had described the scenario as totally unnecessary and offensive to many Tasmanians. ``Forest campaigners have shown incredible restraint and absolute adherence to the concepts of peaceful community protest, even in the face of violent acts of intimidation and assault perpetuated by some in the logging industry,'' Mr Bayley said. He said the Wilderness Society confirmed its support for police exercises and the need for a well-trained police force but condemned this scenario as offensive and its publication to the media as unnecessary and irresponsible.Mr Bonde said police had aimed to put together an improbable scenario so as not to alarm the community, but allow the capabilities of the participating agencies and the coordination between them to be tested. Western Approach involved a full police and emergency services response and included Tasmania Police Forward Command, Special Operations Group, Police Technical Unit, the Australian Federal Police Regional Rapid Deployment Team, negotiators, airport security committee, airport operators, and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.Mr Bonde said the drafting and management of Western Approach was the responsibility of Tasmania Police, with no input from the Minister for Police and Emergency Management or Federal Police.