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ELF, (Environmental Life Force) the radical environmental
cadre was formed in 1977 in Santa Cruz, California. In the 1990's, the Earth Liberation Front
copied the
ELF acronym. Using arson as a tactic, this new incarnation
of ELF has caused millions of dollars in property loss and placed the lives of firefighters at risk. According to the
FBI, the new group has become the leading domestic terrorist organization.
Recent arrests indicate that the "new" ELF is
traveling down the same ill-conceived path taken by
the original ELF over a quarter-century earlier. The following photos and news clips are from
the early days of the original ELF...
Above: fundraiser tee shirt graphic by AWEST in
1978
Below: A copy of a 1985 note to ELF founder,
John Hanna from Earth First! founder, Dave Foreman.
Hanna had written to Foreman requesting financial
assistance to conduct research on the
SS Columbia Eagle hijacking in Cambodia in 1970. In exchange
for financing, Hanna offered exclusive rights to
publish an account of the ELF eco-guerrilla
defense unit which disbanded in 1978. In the
1990's, members of Earth First! copied the ELF acronym
and started the Earth Liberation Front. |
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| Photo: Bill Lovejoy/Santa Cruz Sentinel |
John Hanna, aka "The Old Elf", Skipper of the Research
Vessel Ed Ricketts, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State College, in Santa Cruz harbor, 1978.
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ABOVE: The Old ELF in Dutch Harbor,
Alaska. July, 2010 |
Above from: "OPEN ROAD", vol #4, Aug. 1977, Vancouver, B.C.
"Our
earth can't be "liberated" - it's not some experimental lab animal that needs to be set free. Earth needs to be nurtured;
she needs to be protected and defended. Arson and willful destruction has nothing to do with being an environmental
activist. An environmentalist must - by definition - act in harmony with the Life Force." Old
Elf, 2003
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| Elfin Talisman by John Phillps/ Metalwork by Tom Van Horn |
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"We have probed the earth, excavated
it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it, chopped down its forests, leveled its hills, muddied its waters
and dirtied its air. That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis,
we would have been evicted long ago." ROSE BIRD, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
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| Photo: Nancy Foote/Greenpeace |
The late Dr. Robert Van Den Bosch, professor of entomology and chairman
of the Division of Biological Control, U.C. Berkeley, and
John Hanna at an anti-pesticide rally in San Francisco, 1978.
Above -
John Hanna today
"Man has lost the capacity to foresee
and forestall. He will end by destroying the earth." Albert Schweitzer
Questions? Comments? e-mail to:originalelf(at)juno(dot)com
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