The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for burning this house under construction and other sites near Bloomington, Indiana. Photo courtesy Herald-Times, by Jeremy Hogan.
An eco-terrorist group is becoming more active in the Midwest.Until recently, the secretive ”Earth Liberation Front” had chiefly beenactive in Western states, but for the last several months has beenmakingits presence felt in university towns in Michigan and Indiana. TheGreatLakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on the spate of attacks:
Transcript
An eco-terrorist group is becoming more active in the Midwest. Until
recently, the secretive “Earth Liberation Front” had chiefly been active
in
western states, but for the last several months has been making its
presence
felt in university towns in Michigan and Indiana. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on the spate of attacks.
The Earth Liberation Front has gained national attention since 1997
through
a number of violent actions in the west. Including the burning of a
12-million dollar resort complex under construction in Vail, Colorado.
But, in the past several months the group has begun attacking sites in
the
Midwest. The ELF claimed responsibility for burning an animal research
facility at Michigan State University last new year’s eve. The arson
caused
400-thousand dollars in damage.
Since January, the group has begun hitting sites around Bloomington,
Indiana, home of Indiana University. The first major target was a large
house under construction. This WTIU TV report included comments
from the
owner as he stood in front of his burned home, and the vandalized
construction sign in the yard.
“On it is scrawled ‘NO SPRAWL’ and ‘E.L.F,’ the Earth
Liberation Front, an Oregon-based group that is known for burnings and other
acts against those it considers harmful to the environment. HOMEOWNER ‘I
think that they need to come forward and solve these things the right ways
which is in the court of law, not by violence.’”
The people responsible for the fire have not been caught. They
anonymously
relay press releases about their actions through a spokesperson named
Craig
Rosebraugh. Rosebraugh is based in Portland, Oregon. But, he recently
visited Indiana. Rosebraugh told public tv and radio reporters the
motivation for the ELF’s actions is clear. He said the environmental
movement can no longer rely on legal tactics alone to save the earth.
“Obviously, these are not working. Something else has to be
done. And I would argue, as folks involved in the E.L.F. would argue, direct
action in the form of economic sabotage, targeting entities destroying our
environment, working hand-in-hand with above ground legal tactics is the way
to go now.”
Besides the house arson, the ELF also claimed responsibility for a
half-million dollars worth of damage to heavy equipment used to work
on a
controversial highway extension near Bloomington. And about a month
ago, the
ELF faxed a statement to media outlets saying trees marked for cutting
at
the Yellow Wood Indiana State Forest near Bloomington had been
sabotaged.
Large metal spikes were driven into the trees to make logging
dangerous.
[start woods sound] John Winne is the assistant property manager at the
forest.
“Some conservation officers and the property manager went out and
checked it with a metal detector and found a total of 60 trees that were
spiked.”
Since then timber companies and construction firms have added security.
[hammering sound] if the purpose of the ELF actions is to halt
construction, it’s apparently not working. Construction sites are still
active. The contractor is rebuilding the house that was burned earlier
this
year. He’s mounted security cameras on the trees at the job site to try
to
prevent any future sabotage. And, he’s wary of people visiting. He would
not
grant an on-tape interview, only saying he’d lost weeks of work and
now has
added security costs.
The president of the local building association, John Dovenmuehle says
while
homebuilders and construction company owners continue building
despite the
threat of violence, they’re worried.
“There’s concern that there’s gonna be retaliation again back
to them, that their buildings might be burned, their houses might be burned,
or that their families might be in danger.”
Dovenmuehle says contractors in the area are also confused. They don’t
understand why they’ve been targeted.
“We’re always in compliance with our building codes. Our
contractors go to great lengths trying to learn about greenspace, trees,
landscaping. We’re definitely very concerned about the environment. We just
really go the extra mile.”
Mainstream environmentalists acknowledge the Bloomington, Indiana
area
contractors are doing a better job than in some other places. But the
environmentalists say sprawl is still a problem around Bloomington,
and
environmental damage still occurs because of development.
Allison Cochran is the director of the Bloomington-based environmental
group, Heartwood. Cochran says she does not condone the violent
actions.
But, she says because many environmentalists feel government planners
and
contractors show little regard for the environment, she understands
how some
people could be pushed past the point of reasonable protest.
“People are deeply disillusioned with our government, with leaders.
They see a lot of posturing and catering to industry and corporate control.
And so, I can’t help but think that these kinds of activities rise out of
that sense of powerlessness.”
For their part, county officials say they’re using progressive planning
Strategies, that they’re incorporating greenspace in their plans and
protecting the environment.
The fall-out from the ELF’s violent actions is ironic. The sabotaged trees
it hoped to save will be cut down and destroyed so future timber
cutters are
not hurt by the spikes. More lumber and natural resources were used to
rebuild the burned house. And, perhaps the most damage has been done
to the
environmental movement in the Bloomington area. Environmentalists are
split
over the ELF’s actions. Some people who’ve worked together on
environmental issues for decades are now not speaking because of
differences
over whether violence is an option to stop environmental destruction.
Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating the Earth Liberation Front’s
actions as domestic terrorism.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.