The Earth Liberation Army (ELA), similar to the

Earth Liberation Front 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 exploitatio ...

(ELF), is the collective name for anonymous and

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment", commonly known as

ecotage Ecotage ( ) is sabotage carried out for environmental reasons. Cases All damage figures below are in United States dollars. Some well-known acts of ecotage have included: *Circa 1969–1985; ecological activist James F. Phillips, operatin ...

monkeywrenching Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

. The name was first used in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in 1995, which was the first

Earth liberation Earth liberation is an ideology founded by the radical environmental movement and was popularised by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) as well as the Earth Liberation Army (ELA) in the 1990s. History Earth liberation has no universal understandi ...

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

,''Globe and Mail'', Toronto, 12 July 1995. Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. ''Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth'',

Lantern Books Lantern Publishing & Media is an American non-profit book publisher founded in 2020, having acquired the assets of Booklight Inc. DBA Lantern Books in 2019. Booklight was founded in 1999, and first located in Union Square (New York City), before mo ...

, 2006, p. 55. three years after the ELF had been founded in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. ''Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth'',

, 2006, p. 49. The ELA is also a radical, anarchist, leaderless movement, although in contrast to the ELF, the first group did not publish any guidelines. The ELA are considered to be "

eco-terrorist Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence o ...

s" by governments, and are also known to also be active in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(see North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office). It is designated as a terrorist organization by the governments of the United Nations, European Union, United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Greenland, Puerto Rico, Japan, CSTO, Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Israel, United Kingdom, Russia, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and South Korea.

Origins and philosophy

Prior to ELF actions occurring in North America a year later, the ELA were the first to pursue an ''"Earth Liberation"'' action, which happened in 1995, in Canada. Because of the wave of ELF actions that was occurring across Europe, they were considered by the European

Elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

at the time to be "transatlantic cousins", because of the similarity in tactics. The first action was on 19 June 1995, when individuals claiming to be part of the ELA burned down a wildlife museum and damaged a hunting lodge in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Actions

The name was not commonly known by environmental activists until in 1998, when the ELA claimed the arson at

Vail Resorts Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in four countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality o ...

that severely damaged the resort in the Colorado Rockies costing $12 million in damages.waste & abuse - controversy over a temporary dirt road built by Vail Resortsand its effect on wetlands
''BNet'', 27 September 1999.

References

{{reflist Earth Liberation Front Radical environmentalism

Origins and philosophy

Actions

See also

References