ELF Terrorists Strike Again

By Pamela Mortimer

When one thinks of terrorists, undoubtedly the war in Iraq and the horror of 9/11 immediately come to mind. There remains a wide array of other terrorist organizations, including a group of domestic terrorists that has repositioned itself at the forefront. The Earth Liberation Front, a.k.a. "ELF" has claimed responsibility for a series of devastating house fires in Woodinville, Washington, a wealthy Seattle suburb. To date, the cost of the fires has topped $100 million. There have been no reported fatalities.

ELF is no ordinary terrorist group. Unlike many who are fighting the war on oil, ELF is fighting for Mother Nature. The members of ELF are focused on destroying homes that are not environmentally friendly and are thereby responsible for helping to deplete precious natural resources. Thus, ELF has been dubbed a group of "eco-terrorists".

The FBI defines eco-terrorism "as the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally oriented, sub-national group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature."

"It remains what we would probably consider the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat, because they have successfully continued to conduct different types of attacks in and around the country," said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko.

The existence of eco-terrorism is not new. For many years, law enforcement has tried to stop eco-terrorist groups such as ELF and its counterpart, the Animal Liberation Front a.k.a. "ALF". In a report released Monday, it appears that law enforcement has made some headway. The latest conviction secured against a member of ELF took place earlier this month. Briana Waters was found guilty of arson for her role as the group’s lookout during a 2001 fire that destroyed the Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.

Although the groups came into the public eye in the 1990s, ongoing activity of the groups shows that support for their cause has not waned.

"Every time a fire breaks out and somebody takes a spray can and writes 'ELF' or 'ALF' on there, then everybody gets all excited that 'Oh this movement has started back up,'" said Bob Holland, a retired arson investigator. "The movement never really left."

Like many other terrorist cells, ELF and ALF operate on a sense of personal belief and conviction. As with many religious groups, that kind of dedication is difficult to combat. However, in 2006, a nine year federal sting called "Operation Backfire" managed to dissolve a cell responsible for twenty acts of arson that took place in five Western states over a period of five years.

"Generally speaking, the Earth Liberation folks are motivated by a deep kind of affective connection to nature that many of them would characterize as spiritual or religious," said Bron Taylor, a professor of religion and nature at the University of Florida. "They believe that the human species is perpetrating a war on nature and that those who are connected to nature and belong to it have a right to defend themselves."

The terrorists tend to operate alone or in small groups, making it even more difficult for law enforcement to infiltrate the organizations. Members of the cell, dubbed the "Family", tend to be college age and well educated. Although there are exceptions, Kolko said. Some members fall into the 30-50 range.