Earth Liberation Front
Encyclopedia
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office
, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare
to stop the exploitation
and destruction of the environment".
The ELF was founded in Brighton
in the United Kingdom
in 1992 and spread to the rest of Europe by 1994. It is now an international movement
with actions reported in 17 countries and is widely regarded as descending from Animal Liberation Front
because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements. Using the same leaderless resistance
model, as well as similar guidelines to the ALF
, sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit
motive out of environmental destruction by causing economic damage to businesses through the use of violence and arson.
The ELF was classified as the top "domestic terror" threat in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
in March 2001, and are categorized as "eco-terrorists". On the lack of deaths from ELF attacks, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism has said, "I think we're lucky. Once you set one of these fires they can go way out of control." The name came to public prominence when they were featured on the television show 60 Minutes
in 2005.
ELF "monkeywrenching" is carried out against facilities and companies involved in logging
, genetic engineering
, GMO crops
, deforestation
, sport utility vehicle
(SUV) sales, urban sprawl
, rural cluster
and developments with larger homes, energy production and distribution, and a wide variety of other activities, all charged by the ELF with exploiting the Earth, its environment and inhabitants.
The Earth Liberation Front has no formal leadership, hierarchy
, membership or official spokesperson and is entirely decentralized; instead consisting of individuals or cells who choose the term as a banner to use. Individuals are commonly known to work in affinity groups, known as cells, and are usually self-funded.
Techniques involve destruction of property
, by either using tools to disable or the use of arson to destroy what activists believe is being used to injure animals, people or the environment
. These actions are sometimes called ecotage
and there are marked differences between their actions in the United States and the United Kingdom.
With many different reasons why ELF activists carry out economic sabotage, a communique to the press claiming the responsibility for an arson against urban sprawl in December 2000, described the reason a cell the took an action. As Elves usually do, they claimed that burning down the house was non-violent, because it was searched for any living creatures; an issue which is much debated within the environmental movement
.
Some of the most common and notable attacks are against the development of multi-million dollar houses, a frequent target in the ELF campaign. In a communique to the ELF Press Officer in North America, that was later published in The Environmental Magazine, the group declared in 2001:
(NAELFPO or ELFPO) was relaunched in October 2008, receiving anonymous communiques from activists, for distributing to the press and public, to discuss the motives, ideologies and history behind such actions.
Craig Rosebraugh
served as an unofficial spokesperson for the ELF Press Office in North America from 1997 to early September 2001. Doubts have been raised about whether Rosebraugh or other unofficial spokespeople actually have ties to the cells involved, although the press office claim they do not know the identities of ELF members.
), an English website listing all Earth Liberation prisoners, as well as a variety of other prisoners of conscience. There are also ELF support networks in Belgium
, Italy
, North America, and Poland
, which collectively coordinate the support of prisoners, as well as websites for specific prisoners, such as for; Rod Coronado, Jeff "Free" Luers, Daniel McGowan, Briana Waters and Tre Arrow
. The networks distribute literature written by those in prison, to their supporters and other support groups, and sometimes raise funds for those who require financial aid in their cases.
ists, are a diverse group of individuals with a variety of different ideologies and theories. These include; animal liberationists
, anti-capitalists, green anarchists
, deep ecologists
, eco-feminists
, and anti-globalisationists.
Elves argue that illegal direct action is required in order to aid the earth liberation
movement, also referred to as eco-resistance movement, and a part of the radical environmental movement
. The ELF claim that it would be similar to how the ALF has projected forward the animal liberation movement
. There was also the intention that in the same way animal liberationists
"help out" with legal campaigns, earth liberationists would aid above-ground environmental organisations, notably Earth First!, by acts of ecotage.
The Earth Liberation Front was founded in 1992 in Brighton, England by members of the Earth First!
(EF!) environmental movement at the first ever national meeting. At the time, EF! had become very popular, so people's concerns were based on maintaining this popularity and by doing so not associating with overt law breaking. There was no universal agreement over this, but it was accepted amongst the movement that British EF! would instead continue to advocate and focus on civil disobedience and mass demonstrations. If people wanted to participate in acts of ecotage, the new name "Earth Liberation Front" would be used, with its name and guidelines derived from the Animal Liberation Front
(ALF), another movement that uses direct action
to liberate animals or sabotage companies using them. It was understood that the simplicity of the guidelines was a crucial factor in order to engage as many people as possible to the new cause, with the intention that the ELF would quickly become as popular as the ALF.
, spent two years advocating a boycott of the company. Green Anarchist
magazine publicised the communique with the demands from the ELF:
's younger sister, because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements. It is believed that cells rapidly established themselves in new countries because of the global outreach of Earth First! and the connection between the two groups. British Elves were also making contact with like-minded activists, informing them about the ELF and its tactics, with missionaries targeting specifically France, Spain, Germany and Holland.
Within two years, McDonalds had been vandalised in Germany and Poland, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and been sabotaged with cars trashed and hunting towers were destroyed in Holland and Germany, presumably inspired by similar actions against hunting by the ALF.
action had happened in North America, was in 1995, in Canada, by a group calling itself the Earth Liberation Army
(ELA). They were considered by the European Elves at the time to be "transatlantic cousins". On 19 June 1995, the ELA burned down a wildlife museum and damaged a hunting lodge in British Columbia
.
1996, activists spraypainted "504 years of genocide" and "ELF" on the walls of a public relations office, as well as a McDonald's restaurant in Oregon
, the actions were the very first by the ELF in the United States. The same restaurant then had its locks glued and spraypainted again, but this time in support of the British McLibel Two
, two activists who had distributed anti-McDonald's leaflets. The next day, it was reported that another two McDonald's restaurants, again in Oregon
, had their locks glued by ELF activists. The only other reported action of the year was on Christmas Day, when a fur farm was raided in Michigan
and 150 mink released into the wild by the Great Lakes
ELF.
thrown at a Banamex ATM. These attacks were claimed to have taken place “as a form of 'protest' against the construction of a new rail line (line 12), in Mexico City
(D.F.) and Mexico State; already because of its construction many trees were cut down, entire families evicted and land expropriated with large hectares of green areas subsequently deforested.”
Soon after this initial group of actions, the Frente de Liberación de la Tierra (Earth Liberation Front) claimed responsibility for a number of actions including the sabotage of a construction machine on December 30, 2008, arson at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the March 22nd, 2009 arson of construction equipment in Guadalajara
, Jalisco
.
The ELF gained state attention in the state of Oregon
in 1996 when they burned down the Oregon Ranger Station.
The ELF gained national attention for a series of actions which earned them the label of eco-terrorists
, and one of the top domestic terror threats in the United States. This came after the burning of a ski
resort in Vail, Colorado
, on October 19, costing $12 million. In a communique to the press, the ELF said:
Actions also included sabotaging power lines, the burning of an SUV dealership, and the burning down of a logging headquarters causing $1 million in damages. The Elves wrote to the local paper "Let this be a lesson to all greedy multinational corporations who don't respect their ecosystems," with most actions taking place in Oregon
. The defendants in the case were later charged in the FBI's "Operation Backfire
", which included 17 acts of property destruction.
The ELF then set fire to Michigan State University
on New Years Eve, using a gasoline bomb to cause $1.1 million in damages, because of a program to provide GMO
plants to african farmers. ELF spokesmen claimed Monsanto
had been a major contributor to funding the program, however the only funding from Monsanto Corp. was a one-time sum of $2,000 to send five African students to a conference on biotechnology. The next day, commercial logging
equipment was set on fire, with "ELF" and "Go Log in Hell" spraypainted on a truck. In March 2008, four activists were charged for both the arsons.
2000
On November 27, in Colorado, the ELF burned the Legend Ridge mansion and sent a message to the Boulder Weekly saying "Viva la revolution!" Damages were estimated at $2.5 million.
2001
In March, a total of thirty SUVs were torched, belonging to Joe Romania's dealership, in Oregon, with damages estimated at $1 million. The action was claimed in support of Jeff "Free" Luers, who targeted the very same dealership and was in court for the charges at the time. He was then sentenced to twenty-two years in jail, later revised to ten.
On May 21, a fire destroyed laboratories, offices, and archives at the Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington
, causing a total of $7 million in damages. The arson destroyed 20 years of research and plant and book collections. The ELF claimed responsibility based upon the incorrect belief that the University was involved in genetic engineering
of poplar trees. No genetic engineering was being conducted. In the wake of the attack, an FBI spokeswoman in Portland, Oregon
said "I don't think there's any doubt the ELF is upping the ante".
On November 21, ELF member Ian Wallace planted incendiary devices outside of two buildings on the campus of Michigan Technological University
in Houghton, Michigan
during the early morning hours. The devices failed, and on March 21, 2009, Wallace was sentenced to three years in prison for the incident by Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who said Wallace "didn't intend to hurt anybody, (but) this is a serious offense."
Said Wallace after his conviction, "I have been consumed by shame for what I have done," Wallace said. "My greatest blessing is that no one got hurt."
2003
On August 1, a 206-unit condominium in San Diego was destroyed, with a banner left at the scene saying "If you build it, we will burn it", signed "The E.L.F.s are mad". The damages totaled $50 million after flames reached an estimated 200 feet (61 m) in the air, as over a hundred fire fighters attempted to put out the fire. The destruction was the movement's most financially damaging action against a target, with a local preservation group calling the action pointless, noting that "You can go and burn something down, but it's just going to get built again." Exactly three weeks later, 125 SUVs and hummer
s were torched, costing a total of $3.5 million, with "I love pollution
" spray-painted at the scene, and a month later, homes being built in San Diego were targeted again, this time costing an estimated $450,000 in damages.
2006
The FBI's most recent report stated that there had been over 1,200 "criminal incidents", within January 2006. A nearly completed 9600 square feet (891.9 m²) house, worth $3 million, was burnt to the ground in Washington. The Herald Net reported that a bedsheet was draped across the front gate, with a threatening message spray-painted on it.
2008
One of the latest ELF arsons was reported on the morning of March 3, when explosive devices set fire to four multi-million dollar homes from the 2007 Seattle Street of Dreams
in Echo Lake, Washington
, costing $7 million in damage. Authorities described the act as "domestic terrorism" after finding "ELF" spray-painted in red letters, mocking claims that the homes were environmentally friendly: "Built Green? Nope black! McMansions in RCD
s r not green. ELF." A criminology professor replied saying: "The real unfortunate thing is many citizens will empathize with ELF because their goal is the environment."
2009
On March 23, the ELF claim the burning of an excavator in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. In one of many recent anonymous communiques, the ELF reported to Bite Back; "Maybe we have not collapsed the system of domination with these actions, but it begins with actions like these."
On September 4, ELF claimed responsibility for using a stolen excavator to overturn two AM radio towers belonging to station KRKO
near Seattle, Washington
; they claimed that radio waves are dangerous.
A Texas
man was arrested after construction workers found a disabled construction vehicle graffitied with the words "ANOTHER TRACTOR DECOMMISSIONED BY THE E.L.F."
The first major report of a name other than ELF being used to claim ecotage was in October 1998, when the Earth Liberation Army
(ELA) claimed to be responsible for causing $12 million in damages to Vail Ski Resort
by setting fire to several buildings and four chairlifts.
Two years later, in Oregon
, three SUVs were completely destroyed by placing jugs of gasoline under the vehicles, with the ELA
calling for others to "[c]ontinue the fight to remove the profit motive from the killing of the environment (biophysical)." Jeff Luers
was later convicted of arson, as part of the Operation Backfire case, along with other ALF and ELF defendants. There have also been other groups that have caused similar damage as the ELF, with in 2001 reports that "eco-terrorist" attacks, known as "ecotage
", had increased. These included the ELF, the ELA, and another name being used - the "Environmental Rangers" who use similar tactics.
Activists have also used the names "The Moles", "The Grey Wolves", "Westcountry Wildlife Cell", "Eco-Animal Defense Unit", and "Radical Brigades for Ecological Defence", as well as others.
s to promote pro-environment causes. It was founded by John Hanna, who was the only member of the group to be arrested and convicted for the use of explosives on federal property.
Although it was an eco-guerilla entity with similar philosophies to the current ELF (Earth Liberation Front), which formed fifteen years later, there was no formal link between the two groups, and founders of the Earth Liberation Front may not have even been aware of the existence of the Environmental Life Force. Despite this, it has acknowledged in written communications that Dave Foreman, who founded Earth First!
three years after the original ELF, was in communication with Hanna in the mid 1980s, before the Earth Liberation Front was founded, which was after Foreman cut ties with the Earth First! movement.
In 1994, Dutch authorities and police made claims that British ELF activists were travelling abroad to cause sabotage, which were disputed by ELF. Later that year the first Earth Liberation Prisoner (ELP) was caught and later charged. Known as Paul S., he was arrested and accused of carrying out an 18-month campaign of vandalism in Holland against road construction sites. The Dutch government attempted to declare him insane, because of his inability to provide a political reason for his actions, other than his care for the environment. This was unsuccessful and the prisoner was sentenced to three years for damaging property.
, as well as the animal liberation movement
and estimates that five ALF actions occurred per day, police carried out a series of raids against animal rights
and environmental activists. In total, there were 55 homes raided against suspected ALF and ELF activists, including an individual in Italy. The police had not managed to charge anyone with any illegal activities, until on January 16, 1996, when six men were charged for a five year ALF/ELF campaign. They were sentenced a year later each to three years for conspiracy to incite violence in the name of animal and earth liberation.
, alluding to the Red Scare
s, periods of fear over communist infiltration of U.S. society, is a term popularized by environmental activists to refer to legal action by the U.S. government against the radical environmentalist
movement.
It is first known to have appeared in 2002 in the wake of the February 12 congressional hearings titled "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" which discussed groups including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front
(ALF). In late 2005 and early 2006, as part of Operation Backfire
, US grand juries
indicted a total of 18 activists on a range of charges related to "violent acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes". According to the FBI, many of these acts were carried out on behalf of the ELF and was considered as one of the largest arrests of environmental activists in American history.
The operation resulted in the arrest of Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
, William C. Rodgers
, and Daniel McGowan.
In 2008, the FBI increased the reward for handing over four suspects to $50,000. The four, two Americans and two Canadians, are believed to have fled the U.S. through Mexico and are possibly hiding in Syria, Russia, China or India. The announcement of an increased manhunt came on the tenth anniversary of the bombing in Vail.
A 2011 NPR
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
.
Noel Molland, a former ELF activist, writes in Steven Best
's Igniting a Revolution that:
themed violence. The vandalism included spiking trees as well as targeting anglers. However, it wasn't until sometime later, in the United States, that a joint claim of responsibility was made.
Molland also writes that the first established ALF and ELF action was established on March 14, 1997, when the "Animal Liberation Front - Eco-Animal Defense Unit" claimed the spiking
of 47 trees in a clearcut area, Oregon. This was only a few months after the fur farm had been raided by the Great Lakes ELF, which also highlighted the overlap in direct action for animal rights
and environmentalism
. The groups intention was to state that the farm they had raided was a joint effort between members of the Animal and Earth Liberation Front.
Five days later, the "Bay Area Cell of the Earth and Animal Liberation Front" claimed the fire bombing of the University of California
, an animal research laboratory that was still under construction at the time. Also later that year, on November 29, there was another joint ALF & ELF claim, this time releasing 500 wild horses and torching the Bureau of Land Management in Burns, in protest of BLM's intention to round up the wild horses and process them for the sale of horsemeat.
However, this claim contradicts the Southern Poverty Law Center
, which states that the first incident of cooperation between the two movements was 6 months prior to these events on October 27, 1996, when the ALF & ELF were both responsible for firebombing a Forest Service
truck in Detroit, Oregon
. Then three days later both groups claimed the arson at the U.S. Forest Service Oakridge Ranger Station, at the cost of $5.3 million.
It was then reported that a week before the Bay Area cells fur farm raid, on March 11, 1997, four trucks were torched, at the Agricultural Fur Breeders Co-Op. The damage totaled $1 million and the action was again claimed by the ALF & ELF.
As the ELF was becoming well established through its own actions, on 21 June 1998, the United States Forest Service
wildlife research centre near Olympia, Washington
was set on fire with "Eco-Defense" and "Earth Liberation" spray painted on construction machinery, which had received extensive damage in New Jersey
on the 2nd Feb. Both the actions were claimed jointly by the ALF & ELF, and were estimated to have caused one of the worst damages yet, estimated at $1.9 million. The same claim was made when 310 animals were taken from a fur farm involved in experimental research based in Madison, Wisconsin
, which were stolen on the 3rd of July.
Actions claimed by both the ALF and ELF jointly has appeared across the globe, nearly as much as the ELF has, causing more activists from the ALF and other movements to become involved; believing in "No Compromise in Defence of Mother Earth", a popular Earth First! slogan used and populated in the 1980s.
Despite this, in comparison to the ALF, there have been few communiques in recent years that have been released to the media or ELF Press Offices. This is largely due to the style of the ELF, whom are much less likely to report their actions, or even leave a message to notify their targets regarding why they have been attacked.
Although ALF and ELF combined actions have continued, one of the latest string of jointly claimed arsons was publicised was in November 2002, when activists sent a communique to Bite Back
and also the ELF Press Office, claiming responsibility for the arson at Mindek Brothers Fur Farm. In a press release, the groups stated the reason for their action:
The FBI designated the ELF as "eco-terrorists
." Representative Scott McInnis
, then chairman of the US House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, subpoenaed Craig Rosebraugh in an effort to investigate the ELF's activities. On hearing Rosebraugh's testimony, McInnis suggested it was "luck" no one has been killed by an ELF (or ALF) attack.
Despite the leaderless nature of the movement, the FBI says that activist Rod Coronado
is "a national leader" of the ELF in the USA, while Coronado describes himself as an "unofficial ELF spokesman".
Referring to the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front
, ATF Deputy Assistant Director Carson Carrol has said, "The most worrisome trend to law enforcement and private industry alike has been the increase in willingness by these movements to resort to the use of incendiary and explosive devices." In 2005, the FBI announced that the ELF is America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, responsible for over 1,200 "criminal incidents" amounting to tens of millions of dollars in damage to property. The United States Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front are the most serious threats to the nation.
It has also been claimed the ELF's actions harm the environment, a spokesman for the Vail Ski Resort
, which the ELF fire bombed in 1998 in protest of a planned extension, explained, "more logs were used to rebuild the resort than were cut for the [original] expansion". In 2001 the ELF targeted the University of Washington
's Center for Urban Horticulture with the aim of disrupting research into genetic engineering
. However, the targeted researcher was investigating hybridization in poplar
trees, and the resulting fire killed a significant number of endangered plants.
ELF was also featured in commentator Bernard Goldberg
's book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
as #23, "The Unknown American Terrorist". They were listed and criticised for damaging property and acting like a terrorist group in the name of saving the environment.
Earth Liberation Front Press Office
The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal, above-ground news service dedicated to publicizing the direct action of the Earth Liberation Front ....
, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
to stop the exploitation
Exploitation
This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...
and destruction of the environment".
The ELF was founded in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1992 and spread to the rest of Europe by 1994. It is now an international movement
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
with actions reported in 17 countries and is widely regarded as descending from Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements. Using the same leaderless resistance
Leaderless resistance
Leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a political resistance strategy in which small, independent groups , including individuals , challenge an established adversary such as a government. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything from non-violent disruption and civil disobedience...
model, as well as similar guidelines to the ALF
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit
Profit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
motive out of environmental destruction by causing economic damage to businesses through the use of violence and arson.
The ELF was classified as the top "domestic terror" threat in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
in March 2001, and are categorized as "eco-terrorists". On the lack of deaths from ELF attacks, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism has said, "I think we're lucky. Once you set one of these fires they can go way out of control." The name came to public prominence when they were featured on the television show 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
in 2005.
Structure and aims
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
, genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
, GMO crops
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
, deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
, sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
(SUV) sales, urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
, rural cluster
Rural Cluster Developments
A rural cluster development is a form of residential subdivision. In an RCD, houses are clustered together in areas zoned for larger properties. The remainder of the land is often designated "open space." The effect is tract-home density in the middle of rural communities....
and developments with larger homes, energy production and distribution, and a wide variety of other activities, all charged by the ELF with exploiting the Earth, its environment and inhabitants.
The Earth Liberation Front has no formal leadership, hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
, membership or official spokesperson and is entirely decentralized; instead consisting of individuals or cells who choose the term as a banner to use. Individuals are commonly known to work in affinity groups, known as cells, and are usually self-funded.
Techniques involve destruction of property
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
, by either using tools to disable or the use of arson to destroy what activists believe is being used to injure animals, people or the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
. These actions are sometimes called ecotage
Ecotage
Ecotage is a portmanteau of the "eco-" prefix and "sabotage". Ecotage is often used as a descriptive term for the direct actions of environmental groups such as Earth First! and similar groups throughout the Western world. The term is only applied for actions of sabotage committed within the...
and there are marked differences between their actions in the United States and the United Kingdom.
With many different reasons why ELF activists carry out economic sabotage, a communique to the press claiming the responsibility for an arson against urban sprawl in December 2000, described the reason a cell the took an action. As Elves usually do, they claimed that burning down the house was non-violent, because it was searched for any living creatures; an issue which is much debated within the environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
.
Some of the most common and notable attacks are against the development of multi-million dollar houses, a frequent target in the ELF campaign. In a communique to the ELF Press Officer in North America, that was later published in The Environmental Magazine, the group declared in 2001:
Press office
The North American Earth Liberation Front Press OfficeEarth Liberation Front Press Office
The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal, above-ground news service dedicated to publicizing the direct action of the Earth Liberation Front ....
(NAELFPO or ELFPO) was relaunched in October 2008, receiving anonymous communiques from activists, for distributing to the press and public, to discuss the motives, ideologies and history behind such actions.
Craig Rosebraugh
Craig Rosebraugh
Craig Rosebraugh is a writer, filmmaker and activist advocating for political and social justice, human rights, and environmental and animal protection.- Activism :...
served as an unofficial spokesperson for the ELF Press Office in North America from 1997 to early September 2001. Doubts have been raised about whether Rosebraugh or other unofficial spokespeople actually have ties to the cells involved, although the press office claim they do not know the identities of ELF members.
Support networks
Prisoner support networks support ELF prisoners, such as Spirit of Freedom (ELPSNEarth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
The Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network , also known as Spirit of Freedom, is a network to provide information on people imprisoned for direct action relating to campaigns on Environmental and other issues...
), an English website listing all Earth Liberation prisoners, as well as a variety of other prisoners of conscience. There are also ELF support networks in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, North America, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, which collectively coordinate the support of prisoners, as well as websites for specific prisoners, such as for; Rod Coronado, Jeff "Free" Luers, Daniel McGowan, Briana Waters and Tre Arrow
Tre Arrow
Tre Arrow is a green anarchist who gained prominence in the U.S. state of Oregon in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his environmental activism, bid for Congress as a Pacific Green Party candidate, and then for his arrest and later conviction for committing acts of arson on cement and logging...
. The networks distribute literature written by those in prison, to their supporters and other support groups, and sometimes raise funds for those who require financial aid in their cases.
Philosophy
Earth liberationEarth liberation
Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
ists, are a diverse group of individuals with a variety of different ideologies and theories. These include; animal liberationists
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
, anti-capitalists, green anarchists
Green anarchism
Green anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden...
, deep ecologists
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
, eco-feminists
Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism...
, and anti-globalisationists.
Elves argue that illegal direct action is required in order to aid the earth liberation
Earth liberation
Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
movement, also referred to as eco-resistance movement, and a part of the radical environmental movement
Radical environmentalism
Radical environmentalism, is a grassroots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged out of an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism...
. The ELF claim that it would be similar to how the ALF has projected forward the animal liberation movement
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
. There was also the intention that in the same way animal liberationists
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
"help out" with legal campaigns, earth liberationists would aid above-ground environmental organisations, notably Earth First!, by acts of ecotage.
United Kingdom
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
(EF!) environmental movement at the first ever national meeting. At the time, EF! had become very popular, so people's concerns were based on maintaining this popularity and by doing so not associating with overt law breaking. There was no universal agreement over this, but it was accepted amongst the movement that British EF! would instead continue to advocate and focus on civil disobedience and mass demonstrations. If people wanted to participate in acts of ecotage, the new name "Earth Liberation Front" would be used, with its name and guidelines derived from the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
(ALF), another movement that uses direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
to liberate animals or sabotage companies using them. It was understood that the simplicity of the guidelines was a crucial factor in order to engage as many people as possible to the new cause, with the intention that the ELF would quickly become as popular as the ALF.
Earth Night
The very first ELF action is unknown, or undocumented, but one of the first and most notable actions was on April Fool's Earth Night 1992, a night organised by activists to carry out ecotage and also one of the first of them. The Elves, as they were also known, targeted Fisons, a peat company accused of destroying the peat bogs causing £50,000-70,000 worth of damage. Pumps, trucks and other machinery belonging to the company were destroyed after legal campaigners, Friends of the EarthFriends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
, spent two years advocating a boycott of the company. Green Anarchist
Green Anarchist
The magazine Green Anarchist was for a while the principal voice in the UK advocating green anarchism, an explicit fusion of libertarian socialist and ecological thinking.-Early years:...
magazine publicised the communique with the demands from the ELF:
EF! Journal
In the September–October 1993 issue of the Earth First! Journal, an anonymous article announced the creation of the ELF in England. It said the ELF is a movement of independently operating eco-saboteurs that split from the British EF! movement, which has focused directly on public direct actions. The author noted that, unlike the ALF which seeks publicity: "ELF cells, for security reasons, work without informing the press and do not claim responsibility for actions."Europe
The ELF quickly spread across to Europe by 1994, with actions first occurring in Holland, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Spain, France and Finland, and the name starting to be used across the globe. The Earth Liberation Front is widely regarded as the Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
's younger sister, because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements. It is believed that cells rapidly established themselves in new countries because of the global outreach of Earth First! and the connection between the two groups. British Elves were also making contact with like-minded activists, informing them about the ELF and its tactics, with missionaries targeting specifically France, Spain, Germany and Holland.
Within two years, McDonalds had been vandalised in Germany and Poland, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and been sabotaged with cars trashed and hunting towers were destroyed in Holland and Germany, presumably inspired by similar actions against hunting by the ALF.
North America
- Further information: North American Earth Liberation Front Press OfficeEarth Liberation Front Press OfficeThe North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal, above-ground news service dedicated to publicizing the direct action of the Earth Liberation Front ....
Canadian ELA
The first time it was known that an earth liberationEarth liberation
Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
action had happened in North America, was in 1995, in Canada, by a group calling itself the Earth Liberation Army
Earth Liberation Army
The Earth Liberation Army , similar to the Earth Liberation Front , is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment", commonly known as ecotage or...
(ELA). They were considered by the European Elves at the time to be "transatlantic cousins". On 19 June 1995, the ELA burned down a wildlife museum and damaged a hunting lodge in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
United States
On Columbus DayColumbus Day
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
1996, activists spraypainted "504 years of genocide" and "ELF" on the walls of a public relations office, as well as a McDonald's restaurant in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, the actions were the very first by the ELF in the United States. The same restaurant then had its locks glued and spraypainted again, but this time in support of the British McLibel Two
McLibel case
McDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris [1997] EWHC QB 366, known as "the McLibel case" was an English lawsuit filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a pamphlet critical of the company...
, two activists who had distributed anti-McDonald's leaflets. The next day, it was reported that another two McDonald's restaurants, again in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, had their locks glued by ELF activists. The only other reported action of the year was on Christmas Day, when a fur farm was raided in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and 150 mink released into the wild by the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
ELF.
Mexico
In late November 2008, a group calling itself eco-anarquista por el ataque directo (Eco-anarchist cell for direct attack) claimed responsibility for a number of recent actions, including: half a dozen Molotov cocktails thrown at tren férreo (metro rail) in Mexico City, Incendiary sabotage against Telmex, a Molotov cocktailMolotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
thrown at a Banamex ATM. These attacks were claimed to have taken place “as a form of 'protest' against the construction of a new rail line (line 12), in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
(D.F.) and Mexico State; already because of its construction many trees were cut down, entire families evicted and land expropriated with large hectares of green areas subsequently deforested.”
Soon after this initial group of actions, the Frente de Liberación de la Tierra (Earth Liberation Front) claimed responsibility for a number of actions including the sabotage of a construction machine on December 30, 2008, arson at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the March 22nd, 2009 arson of construction equipment in Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
, Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
.
Notable actions: 1998-2009
1996/1999The ELF gained state attention in the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
in 1996 when they burned down the Oregon Ranger Station.
The ELF gained national attention for a series of actions which earned them the label of eco-terrorists
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
, and one of the top domestic terror threats in the United States. This came after the burning of a ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
resort in Vail, Colorado
Vail, Colorado
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived...
, on October 19, costing $12 million. In a communique to the press, the ELF said:
Actions also included sabotaging power lines, the burning of an SUV dealership, and the burning down of a logging headquarters causing $1 million in damages. The Elves wrote to the local paper "Let this be a lesson to all greedy multinational corporations who don't respect their ecosystems," with most actions taking place in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The defendants in the case were later charged in the FBI's "Operation Backfire
Operation Backfire (FBI)
Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI....
", which included 17 acts of property destruction.
The ELF then set fire to Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
on New Years Eve, using a gasoline bomb to cause $1.1 million in damages, because of a program to provide GMO
GMO
A GMO is a genetically modified organism.GMO may also refer to:* Gell-Mann–Okubo mass formula in particle physics* General Medical Officer, a designation for United States Army soldiers* Generalised molecular orbital theory, in chemistry...
plants to african farmers. ELF spokesmen claimed Monsanto
Monsanto
The Monsanto Company is a US-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed in the "Roundup" brand of herbicides, and in other brands...
had been a major contributor to funding the program, however the only funding from Monsanto Corp. was a one-time sum of $2,000 to send five African students to a conference on biotechnology. The next day, commercial logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
equipment was set on fire, with "ELF" and "Go Log in Hell" spraypainted on a truck. In March 2008, four activists were charged for both the arsons.
2000
On November 27, in Colorado, the ELF burned the Legend Ridge mansion and sent a message to the Boulder Weekly saying "Viva la revolution!" Damages were estimated at $2.5 million.
2001
In March, a total of thirty SUVs were torched, belonging to Joe Romania's dealership, in Oregon, with damages estimated at $1 million. The action was claimed in support of Jeff "Free" Luers, who targeted the very same dealership and was in court for the charges at the time. He was then sentenced to twenty-two years in jail, later revised to ten.
On May 21, a fire destroyed laboratories, offices, and archives at the Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, causing a total of $7 million in damages. The arson destroyed 20 years of research and plant and book collections. The ELF claimed responsibility based upon the incorrect belief that the University was involved in genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
of poplar trees. No genetic engineering was being conducted. In the wake of the attack, an FBI spokeswoman in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
said "I don't think there's any doubt the ELF is upping the ante".
On November 21, ELF member Ian Wallace planted incendiary devices outside of two buildings on the campus of Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
in Houghton, Michigan
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...
during the early morning hours. The devices failed, and on March 21, 2009, Wallace was sentenced to three years in prison for the incident by Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who said Wallace "didn't intend to hurt anybody, (but) this is a serious offense."
Said Wallace after his conviction, "I have been consumed by shame for what I have done," Wallace said. "My greatest blessing is that no one got hurt."
2003
On August 1, a 206-unit condominium in San Diego was destroyed, with a banner left at the scene saying "If you build it, we will burn it", signed "The E.L.F.s are mad". The damages totaled $50 million after flames reached an estimated 200 feet (61 m) in the air, as over a hundred fire fighters attempted to put out the fire. The destruction was the movement's most financially damaging action against a target, with a local preservation group calling the action pointless, noting that "You can go and burn something down, but it's just going to get built again." Exactly three weeks later, 125 SUVs and hummer
Hummer
Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the Humvee; and the H2 and H3 models that were...
s were torched, costing a total of $3.5 million, with "I love pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
" spray-painted at the scene, and a month later, homes being built in San Diego were targeted again, this time costing an estimated $450,000 in damages.
2006
The FBI's most recent report stated that there had been over 1,200 "criminal incidents", within January 2006. A nearly completed 9600 square feet (891.9 m²) house, worth $3 million, was burnt to the ground in Washington. The Herald Net reported that a bedsheet was draped across the front gate, with a threatening message spray-painted on it.
2008
One of the latest ELF arsons was reported on the morning of March 3, when explosive devices set fire to four multi-million dollar homes from the 2007 Seattle Street of Dreams
Street of Dreams arson fires
On March 3, 2008, four multi-million-dollar homes were set on fire in Echo Lake, Washington, on Echo Lake Road, off State Highway 522. Slogans spray-painted on one of the burned houses' fences attributed the arson to the Earth Liberation Front, with words such as "Built Green? Nope black!...
in Echo Lake, Washington
Echo Lake, Washington
Echo Lake is a census-designated place in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 849 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Echo Lake is located at ....
, costing $7 million in damage. Authorities described the act as "domestic terrorism" after finding "ELF" spray-painted in red letters, mocking claims that the homes were environmentally friendly: "Built Green? Nope black! McMansions in RCD
Rural Cluster Developments
A rural cluster development is a form of residential subdivision. In an RCD, houses are clustered together in areas zoned for larger properties. The remainder of the land is often designated "open space." The effect is tract-home density in the middle of rural communities....
s r not green. ELF." A criminology professor replied saying: "The real unfortunate thing is many citizens will empathize with ELF because their goal is the environment."
2009
On March 23, the ELF claim the burning of an excavator in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. In one of many recent anonymous communiques, the ELF reported to Bite Back; "Maybe we have not collapsed the system of domination with these actions, but it begins with actions like these."
On September 4, ELF claimed responsibility for using a stolen excavator to overturn two AM radio towers belonging to station KRKO
KRKO
KRKO is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Everett, Washington, USA. The station broadcasts an All Sports format to the Seattle metropolitan area...
near Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
; they claimed that radio waves are dangerous.
A Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
man was arrested after construction workers found a disabled construction vehicle graffitied with the words "ANOTHER TRACTOR DECOMMISSIONED BY THE E.L.F."
ELA and Environmental Rangers
- Further reading: Earth Liberation ArmyEarth Liberation ArmyThe Earth Liberation Army , similar to the Earth Liberation Front , is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment", commonly known as ecotage or...
(ELA)
The first major report of a name other than ELF being used to claim ecotage was in October 1998, when the Earth Liberation Army
Earth Liberation Army
The Earth Liberation Army , similar to the Earth Liberation Front , is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment", commonly known as ecotage or...
(ELA) claimed to be responsible for causing $12 million in damages to Vail Ski Resort
Vail Ski Resort
Vail Ski Resort is located in Eagle County, Colorado, next to the town of Vail. Vail Mountain, at , is the largest single mountain ski resort in the United States, featuring seven bowls and intermediate gladed terrain in Blue Sky Basin...
by setting fire to several buildings and four chairlifts.
Two years later, in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, three SUVs were completely destroyed by placing jugs of gasoline under the vehicles, with the ELA
ELA
ELA or Ela may refer to the following:In organizations:*Euskal Langileen Alkartasuna, a Basque trade union*English Lacrosse Association, the governing body for lacrosse in England*Epanastatikos Laikos Agonas, see Revolutionary Nuclei...
calling for others to "[c]ontinue the fight to remove the profit motive from the killing of the environment (biophysical)." Jeff Luers
Jeff Luers
Jeffrey "Free" Luers is an political activist from Los Angeles, California, who served a ten year prison sentence for arson in the U.S. state of Oregon. On February 14, 2007, The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned Luers' sentence, instructing the Lane County circuit court to determine a new sentence...
was later convicted of arson, as part of the Operation Backfire case, along with other ALF and ELF defendants. There have also been other groups that have caused similar damage as the ELF, with in 2001 reports that "eco-terrorist" attacks, known as "ecotage
Ecotage
Ecotage is a portmanteau of the "eco-" prefix and "sabotage". Ecotage is often used as a descriptive term for the direct actions of environmental groups such as Earth First! and similar groups throughout the Western world. The term is only applied for actions of sabotage committed within the...
", had increased. These included the ELF, the ELA, and another name being used - the "Environmental Rangers" who use similar tactics.
Activists have also used the names "The Moles", "The Grey Wolves", "Westcountry Wildlife Cell", "Eco-Animal Defense Unit", and "Radical Brigades for Ecological Defence", as well as others.
Environmental Life Force
The Environmental Life Force, also known as the Original ELF, was the first radical group to use explosive and incendiary deviceIncendiary device
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
s to promote pro-environment causes. It was founded by John Hanna, who was the only member of the group to be arrested and convicted for the use of explosives on federal property.
Although it was an eco-guerilla entity with similar philosophies to the current ELF (Earth Liberation Front), which formed fifteen years later, there was no formal link between the two groups, and founders of the Earth Liberation Front may not have even been aware of the existence of the Environmental Life Force. Despite this, it has acknowledged in written communications that Dave Foreman, who founded Earth First!
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
three years after the original ELF, was in communication with Hanna in the mid 1980s, before the Earth Liberation Front was founded, which was after Foreman cut ties with the Earth First! movement.
First ELF arrest
- Further information: Earth Liberation Prisoners Support NetworkEarth Liberation Prisoners Support NetworkThe Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network , also known as Spirit of Freedom, is a network to provide information on people imprisoned for direct action relating to campaigns on Environmental and other issues...
In 1994, Dutch authorities and police made claims that British ELF activists were travelling abroad to cause sabotage, which were disputed by ELF. Later that year the first Earth Liberation Prisoner (ELP) was caught and later charged. Known as Paul S., he was arrested and accused of carrying out an 18-month campaign of vandalism in Holland against road construction sites. The Dutch government attempted to declare him insane, because of his inability to provide a political reason for his actions, other than his care for the environment. This was unsuccessful and the prisoner was sentenced to three years for damaging property.
British police raids
Due to the increased popularity of the environmental movementRadical environmentalism
Radical environmentalism, is a grassroots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged out of an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism...
, as well as the animal liberation movement
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
and estimates that five ALF actions occurred per day, police carried out a series of raids against animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and environmental activists. In total, there were 55 homes raided against suspected ALF and ELF activists, including an individual in Italy. The police had not managed to charge anyone with any illegal activities, until on January 16, 1996, when six men were charged for a five year ALF/ELF campaign. They were sentenced a year later each to three years for conspiracy to incite violence in the name of animal and earth liberation.
Operation Backfire
The term Green ScareGreen Scare
The Green Scare, alluding to the Red Scares periods of fear over communist infiltration of US society, is a term popularized by environmental activists to refer to legal action by the US government against the radical environmental movement....
, alluding to the Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
s, periods of fear over communist infiltration of U.S. society, is a term popularized by environmental activists to refer to legal action by the U.S. government against the radical environmentalist
Radical environmentalism
Radical environmentalism, is a grassroots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged out of an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism...
movement.
It is first known to have appeared in 2002 in the wake of the February 12 congressional hearings titled "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" which discussed groups including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
(ALF). In late 2005 and early 2006, as part of Operation Backfire
Operation Backfire (FBI)
Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI....
, US grand juries
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indicted a total of 18 activists on a range of charges related to "violent acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes". According to the FBI, many of these acts were carried out on behalf of the ELF and was considered as one of the largest arrests of environmental activists in American history.
The operation resulted in the arrest of Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach is an American radical environmentalist associated with the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.-Biography:...
, William C. Rodgers
William C. Rodgers
Bill Rodgers a.k.a. Avalon , co-proprietor of the Catalyst Infoshop in Prescott, Arizona, USA, was one of six environmental activists arrested December 7, 2005 as part of the FBI's Operation Backfire...
, and Daniel McGowan.
In 2008, the FBI increased the reward for handing over four suspects to $50,000. The four, two Americans and two Canadians, are believed to have fled the U.S. through Mexico and are possibly hiding in Syria, Russia, China or India. The announcement of an increased manhunt came on the tenth anniversary of the bombing in Vail.
A 2011 NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit is a recent designation for a self-contained group within a facility in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons that severely restricts, manages and monitors all outside communication of inmates in the unit.-Origins:As part of the Bush Administration's War on...
.
Philosophy
- Further information: Earth liberationEarth liberationEarth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
, Animal liberationAnimal liberation movementThe animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
, EcocentrismEcocentrismEcocentrism is a term used in ecological political philosophy to denote a nature-centered, as opposed to human-centred, system of values. The justification for ecocentrism usually consists in an ontological belief and subsequent ethical claim...
, BiocentrismBiocentrism (ethics)Biocentrism , in a political and ecological sense, is an ethical point of view which extends inherent value to non-human species, ecosystems, and processes in nature - regardless of their sentience...
and Deep ecologyDeep ecologyDeep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
- Radical environmentalists consider the ELF to be the environmental wing of the Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation FrontThe Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, effectively acting as the Eco-ALF. Evidence of this include names used such as the "Westcountry Wildlife Cell" and then later "ALF: Eco-Animal Defense Unit". - The ELF is also considered to be the ALF's younger sister, forming 16 years later and due to the fact that the guidelines, as well as the name itself, were derived from the movement.
- Despite the movements only forming alliances in 1996/1997, activists such as Rod CoronadoRod CoronadoRodney Adam Coronado is a Native American eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front...
were known to be active in both the ALF and ELF dating back before the names were officially used together.
Noel Molland, a former ELF activist, writes in Steven Best
Steven Best
Steven Best is an American animal rights activist, author, talk-show host, and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso...
's Igniting a Revolution that:
History
During the mid 1990s, the Western Wildlife Unit, an ELF branch in Britain, were responsible for various acts of animal rightsAnimal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
themed violence. The vandalism included spiking trees as well as targeting anglers. However, it wasn't until sometime later, in the United States, that a joint claim of responsibility was made.
Molland also writes that the first established ALF and ELF action was established on March 14, 1997, when the "Animal Liberation Front - Eco-Animal Defense Unit" claimed the spiking
Tree spiking
Tree spiking involves hammering a metal rod, nail, or other material into a tree trunk to discourage logging by attempting to devalue the commercial use of the wood, reducing the economic viability of logging in the long term, while not threatening the life of the tree...
of 47 trees in a clearcut area, Oregon. This was only a few months after the fur farm had been raided by the Great Lakes ELF, which also highlighted the overlap in direct action for animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. The groups intention was to state that the farm they had raided was a joint effort between members of the Animal and Earth Liberation Front.
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, an animal research laboratory that was still under construction at the time. Also later that year, on November 29, there was another joint ALF & ELF claim, this time releasing 500 wild horses and torching the Bureau of Land Management in Burns, in protest of BLM's intention to round up the wild horses and process them for the sale of horsemeat.
However, this claim contradicts the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
, which states that the first incident of cooperation between the two movements was 6 months prior to these events on October 27, 1996, when the ALF & ELF were both responsible for firebombing a Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
truck in Detroit, Oregon
Detroit, Oregon
Detroit is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It was named for Detroit, Michigan in the 1890s because of the large number of people from Michigan in the community. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
. Then three days later both groups claimed the arson at the U.S. Forest Service Oakridge Ranger Station, at the cost of $5.3 million.
It was then reported that a week before the Bay Area cells fur farm raid, on March 11, 1997, four trucks were torched, at the Agricultural Fur Breeders Co-Op. The damage totaled $1 million and the action was again claimed by the ALF & ELF.
As the ELF was becoming well established through its own actions, on 21 June 1998, the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
wildlife research centre near Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
was set on fire with "Eco-Defense" and "Earth Liberation" spray painted on construction machinery, which had received extensive damage in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
on the 2nd Feb. Both the actions were claimed jointly by the ALF & ELF, and were estimated to have caused one of the worst damages yet, estimated at $1.9 million. The same claim was made when 310 animals were taken from a fur farm involved in experimental research based in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, which were stolen on the 3rd of July.
Actions
- Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions: 2000-2004Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2000-2004This is a time line of the Animal Liberation Front actions from 2000 to 2004.-Background:ALF formedTwo years after Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman had been charged for the raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester, UK, in 1974, as part of the Band of Mercy, the "Bicester Two" as they...
and 2005-PresentTimeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2005-PresentThis is a time line of Animal Liberation Front actions since 2005.-Background:ALF formedTwo years after Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman had been charged for the raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester in 1974, as part of the Band of Mercy, the "Bicester Two" as they were known; Lee...
Despite this, in comparison to the ALF, there have been few communiques in recent years that have been released to the media or ELF Press Offices. This is largely due to the style of the ELF, whom are much less likely to report their actions, or even leave a message to notify their targets regarding why they have been attacked.
Although ALF and ELF combined actions have continued, one of the latest string of jointly claimed arsons was publicised was in November 2002, when activists sent a communique to Bite Back
Bite Back
Bite Back is a Malaysia-registered website and magazine that promotes the cause of the animal liberation movement, and specifically the Animal Liberation Front...
and also the ELF Press Office, claiming responsibility for the arson at Mindek Brothers Fur Farm. In a press release, the groups stated the reason for their action:
In popular culture
- Folk musician David RovicsDavid RovicsDavid Rovics is an American indie singer/songwriter. His music concerns topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization and social justice issues. Rovics has been an outspoken critic of former President George W...
performs a song dedicated to the ELF called "Song for the Earth Liberation Front" - In the 2004 novel by Michael CrichtonMichael CrichtonJohn Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
, State of FearState of FearState of Fear is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton concerning eco-terrorists who attempt mass murder to support their views. The novel had an initial print run of 1.5 million copies and reached the #1 bestseller position at Amazon.com and #2 on the New York Times Best Seller list for...
, a fictional group based on the Earth Liberation Front, but called the Environmental Liberation Front instead, is the main villain. - In the novel by Nicholas EvansNicholas EvansNicholas Evans is an English journalist, screenwriter television and film producer and novelist. Evans was born at in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and educated at Bromsgrove School but before studying at Oxford University, he served in Africa with the charity Voluntary Service Overseas...
, The Divide, a main character is involved in ELF activities. - In 2011, a documentary on the ELF by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Marshall CurryMarshall CurryMarshall Curry is a documentary filmmaker. His first feature-length film, Street Fight, was nominated for an Academy Award and a News and Documentary Emmy. His second film, Racing Dreams, won Best Documentary and was runner up for the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009...
entitled "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It's since been released on DVD by Oscilloscope Laboratories. - In 2005 the ELF were the subject of a CBS 60 Minutes report called Burning Rage in which Ed Bradley Reports On Extremists Now Deemed Biggest Domestic Terror Threat and another from CNN
- In 2009 the ELF were the subject of a documentary called Green With A Vengeance
- In 2005 the ELF were the subject of the documentary 'Testify! - Eco-Defense and the Politics of Violence'
- Featued in the episode 'Scorched (Numb3rs)Scorched (Numb3rs)"Scorched" is the 11th episode of the second season of the American television show Numb3rs. Marking the first produced script for series writer Sean Crouch, the episode features Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and mathematicians investigating a series of arsons that may have been started...
' from Season 2 of Numb3rs. - Featured in a negative light in Meg Cabot's 'Airhead Airhead (novel)Airhead is a young-adult novel by Meg Cabot. It was released on May 13, 2008. The sequel, Being Nikki was released in May 2009. The third book in the series Runaway has been released as well....
The main character is physically killed by the activities of an ELF protester.
Criticism
- Further information: Eco-terrorismEco-terrorismEco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
The FBI designated the ELF as "eco-terrorists
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
." Representative Scott McInnis
Scott McInnis
Stephen Scott Emory McInnis is a lawyer and former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado. In August, 2010, McInnis lost his bid to be gubernatorial nominee after a plagiarism accusation and apology hurt his standing.-Education and professional history:Born in...
, then chairman of the US House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, subpoenaed Craig Rosebraugh in an effort to investigate the ELF's activities. On hearing Rosebraugh's testimony, McInnis suggested it was "luck" no one has been killed by an ELF (or ALF) attack.
Despite the leaderless nature of the movement, the FBI says that activist Rod Coronado
Rod Coronado
Rodney Adam Coronado is a Native American eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front...
is "a national leader" of the ELF in the USA, while Coronado describes himself as an "unofficial ELF spokesman".
Referring to the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, ATF Deputy Assistant Director Carson Carrol has said, "The most worrisome trend to law enforcement and private industry alike has been the increase in willingness by these movements to resort to the use of incendiary and explosive devices." In 2005, the FBI announced that the ELF is America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, responsible for over 1,200 "criminal incidents" amounting to tens of millions of dollars in damage to property. The United States Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front are the most serious threats to the nation.
It has also been claimed the ELF's actions harm the environment, a spokesman for the Vail Ski Resort
Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc. runs four ski resorts in Colorado, as well as two in Lake Tahoe and a summer resort in Wyoming. They also own luxury resort hotels throughout the United States. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol MTN...
, which the ELF fire bombed in 1998 in protest of a planned extension, explained, "more logs were used to rebuild the resort than were cut for the [original] expansion". In 2001 the ELF targeted the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
's Center for Urban Horticulture with the aim of disrupting research into genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
. However, the targeted researcher was investigating hybridization in poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....
trees, and the resulting fire killed a significant number of endangered plants.
ELF was also featured in commentator Bernard Goldberg
Bernard Goldberg
Bernard Richard Goldberg , also known as Bernie Goldberg, is an eleven-time Emmy Award-winning American writer, journalist, and political commentator...
's book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is a non-fiction book by Bernard Goldberg that was published in 2005. The book's central idea is to name and blame a long list of specific individuals for making the United States a "far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place."Goldberg's book denounces many...
as #23, "The Unknown American Terrorist". They were listed and criticised for damaging property and acting like a terrorist group in the name of saving the environment.
Further reading
- Best, StevenSteven BestSteven Best is an American animal rights activist, author, talk-show host, and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso...
and Nocella, Anthony J. Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth, AK PressAK PressAK Press is a worker-managed independent publisher and book distributor that specialises in radical left and anarchist literature. It is collectively owned and operated.-History:...
, 2006. ISBN 1-904859-56-9 - Leslie Pickering. Earth Liberation Front: 1997-2002, Arissa Media Group, 2006. ISBN 0-974288-40-3.
- Rosebraugh, CraigCraig RosebraughCraig Rosebraugh is a writer, filmmaker and activist advocating for political and social justice, human rights, and environmental and animal protection.- Activism :...
. Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front Lantern BooksLantern BooksLantern Books is an American book publisher since 1998, first located in Union Square , and now with offices in Brooklyn. It "publishes books for all wanting to live with greater spiritual depth and commitment to the preservation of the natural world." The subject areas that Lantern Books covers...
, 2004. ISBN 1-59056-064-7 - ELF Website
See also
- Anarcho-primitivismAnarcho-primitivismAnarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification, coercion, and alienation...
- Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation FrontThe Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
- Deep ecologyDeep ecologyDeep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
- Earth Liberation Front Press OfficeEarth Liberation Front Press OfficeThe North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal, above-ground news service dedicated to publicizing the direct action of the Earth Liberation Front ....
- Earth Liberation Prisoners Support NetworkEarth Liberation Prisoners Support NetworkThe Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network , also known as Spirit of Freedom, is a network to provide information on people imprisoned for direct action relating to campaigns on Environmental and other issues...
(ELPSN) - EcopedagogyEcopedagogyThe ecopedagogy movement is an outgrowth of developments in critical pedagogy, a body of educational ideas and practices influenced by the philosopher, Paulo Freire...
- Green anarchismGreen anarchismGreen anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden...
- Green syndicalismGreen syndicalismGreen syndicalism or eco-syndicalism has been used as a name for the philosophy of the green guild or sustainable trades movement.- Background :...
- Operation Backfire (FBI)Operation Backfire (FBI)Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI....
- Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation MovementResistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation MovementResistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement was an environmentalist magazine that was created with the stated aim to "inform, inspire, and energize the earth liberation movement"...
- RewildingRewilding (anarchism)Rewilding is the process of re-instating the role of keystone species to human society where the expression of this role appears lacking. The term originates in conservation biology in which "rewilding" stands for the re-introduction of keystone species into areas where such species appear locally...
External links
- EarthLiberationFront.org - The News Source for the Earth Liberation Front
- Animal & Earth Liberation Front, 7-minute video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. - Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement
- Original ELF
- The evolution of ELF after "Operation Backfire", Earth Liberation Front
- Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network (ELPSN)
- North American Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
- GreenIsTheNewRed.com
- Eco-Terror Indictments: 'Operation Backfire' Nets 11, FBI
- Eco-Terrorism, FBI
- Covert Repertoires: Ecotage in the UK
- Do or Die: Voices from the Ecological Resistance
- Earth First! (UK) action reports
- Earth First!
- Bombs and Shields: Covers the latest ELF news
- If a Tree Falls: New Documentary on ELF — video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...