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Earth Liberation Front, stepping up arson campaign

Terrence Petty / AP 2jun01

FBI:  Shadowy Eco-Militants

PORTLAND, OR  --  A shadowy group blamed for costly arson attacks across the country is stepping up efforts to punish companies and institutions it says are threatening the environment, federal authorities say.

This week, the Earth Liberation Front posted a manual on its Web site that tells would-be arsonists how to build simple incendiary devices. And on Friday, the group claimed responsibility for fires last month at the University of Washington and a tree farm in Oregon.

"I don't think there's any doubt the ELF is upping the ante," said Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland.

The ELF's declaration came the same day three logging trucks were torched in an Oregon forest. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Steele refrained from blaming the ELF and said usually their claims of responsibility for an arson attack are delayed.

The FBI considers the ELF to be one of the nation's most dangerous terrorist groups. No one has been hurt in the ELF's four-year spree of violence and the group has said its aim is to protect the environment, not harm anyone. But the FBI worries it's only a matter of time before a firefighter or someone else is harmed.

"The Earth Liberation Front says it doesn't commit violent acts that hurt people," Steele said. "But arson fires are unpredictable."

The ELF and a sister organization -- the Animal Liberation Front -- have claimed responsibility for more than two dozen acts of vandalism since 1997 -- arson at three luxury homes in Mount Sinai, N.Y., sabotaged logging equipment in Indiana and a 1998 fire that caused $12 million damage at the Vail, Colo., ski resort.

On Friday, the ELF claimed responsibility for two May 21 arson fires -- one at the Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, Ore., and the other at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.

Both operations are developing hybrid poplar trees. The fire at the university caused as much as $3 million in structural damage; the Oregon fire caused at least $500,000 in damage.

Before dawn Friday, someone tried to torch six logging trucks at a company in Eagle Creek, 40 miles southeast of Portland. One truck was destroyed and two others were damaged. Plastic milk jugs were found beneath the trucks, apparently filled with a flammable liquid.

The trucks were going to be used for harvesting trees at a nearby site in the Mount Hood National Forest. For the past two years, environmental activists have been trying to block logging at the site.

The FBI suspects the reason for delays in the past is the ELF wants to make sure no one was hurt before asserting responsibility, Steele said.

"These are not stupid people," she said.

Little is known about the ELF. The group's spokesman, Craig Rosebraugh, owns a vegan bakery in Portland.

Rosebraugh says he sympathizes with the ELF, but insists his only involvement is forwarding to the news media the group's claims of responsibility for attacks.

The group's Web site indicates the ELF has no leadership, centralized organization or official membership. Instead, it operates in "small groups that consist of one to several people" and each cell is anonymous, not just to the public, but also to one another.

Earlier this week, a manual on how to make incendiary devices appeared on the Web site. The guide counsels: "Always strive for guaranteed destruction."

Underground group publishes arson manual on Web site

Joseph B Frazier / AP 31may01

PORTLAND, OR -- The Earth Liberation Front, considered by the FBI to be one of the country's leading terrorist organizations because of its arson attacks, is using its Web site to tell others how to burn buildings.

The online guide is a step-by-step "how to" manual on building time-delayed igniters and gives detailed advice on other aspects of making incendiary devices.

The guide counsels would-be arsonists: "Remember the rule: always strive for guaranteed destruction."

Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland, said the FBI was aware of the site but she did not know if it was legal.

"There is a very fine line between freedom of speech and censorship," she said.

The ELF, a shadowy underground organization, has been burning buildings of organizations it considers to be damaging to the environment since 1996.

The group has claimed responsibility for dozens of arson fires that have caused more than $30 million in damage -- including a 1998 fire that caused $12 million in damage at the Vail, Colo., ski resort.

The FBI has admitted it has had trouble infiltrating the ELF.

Portland activist Craig Rosebraugh operates what he refers to as the North American press office for the ELF but denies he is part of the group.

His ties to the ELF, he says, are limited to distributing news releases that are sent to him anonymously. He has been questioned numerous times by the FBI, called before a grand jury and his home has been searched.

Rosebraugh said Thursday he had nothing to do with the arson manual.

The ELF's Web site includes advice on what to do "If an Agent Knocks."

The Web site also lists attacks claimed by the ELF, provides stories about Rosebraugh's brushes with the law, and includes a plea for donations to help support Rosebraugh's "ELF Press Office."

If information on the Web site is to be trusted, it also provides some insight into the way the ELF operates.

According to the site, the ELF operates in "small groups that consist of one to several people" and each cell is anonymous not just to the public, but also to one another.

It says ELF has no leadership, centralized organization or official membership.

The ELF and a sister organization -- the Animal Liberation Front -- trace their origins to the late 1970s with the founding of Earth First!, a group energized by Utah anarchist Edward Abbey's novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang."

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