> A new Review has been posted in H-Socialisms. > Wright on Wolfe, 'Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, > and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage' > <https://networks.h-net.org/group/reviews/20161259/wright-wolfe-fires-night-earth-liberation-front-fbi-and-secret-history-eco> > > *Wolfe, Matthew*. *Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the > FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage*. : Viking, an imprint of > Penguin Random House LLC, 2026. 352 pp. $31.00 (cloth), ISBN 9780593654552. > > *Reviewed by* Chris Wright (Hunter College, CUNY) > *Published on* H-Socialisms (September, 2026) > *Commissioned by* Gary Roth (Rutgers University - Newark) > > *Printable Version:* https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=63338 > > Increasingly, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before civilization > collapses. It might happen because of nuclear war, but the more likely > cause is ecological chaos. Carbon emissions continue to rise and global > warming is accelerating; the destruction of ecosystems, from forests to > marine environments, is accelerating; countless species of animals and > plants are going extinct every year because of human activity. A century > from now, when the climate is much warmer than today and nature even more > severely degraded, billions of people may be dying from floods, famines, > scorching temperatures, lack of access to water, wars over natural > resources, the collapse of urban infrastructure, and other catastrophes. > > The global ruling class is doing little else but working to *hasten* the > apocalypse, for example by expanding the use of fossil fuels and maniacally > investing in data center construction. All the pleading of scientists, > activists, and the general public that politicians take decisive action > against global warming has availed little. The question *“*What is to be > done?” has never, in all of history, been more urgent. > > In his new book *Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, > and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage*, the journalist Matthew Wolfe > narrates the history of a group of people in the 1990s and early 2000s who > gave a bold answer to that question: The only kind of action that can meet > the moment is *eco-sabotage*. Arson was their favorite method. The > protection of animals was one of their major interests, so in addition to > burning, say, car dealerships that sold gas-guzzling SUVs, they also > targeted slaughterhouses, lumber companies, a large ski resort that was > planning to expand into an old-growth forest, the university office of a > biologist who was thought to be researching genetic engineering, and even > Forest Ranger stations that were seen as complicit in timber sales. The FBI > branded these people the country’s foremost domestic terrorism threat, and > by 2007 most of them were in prison. > > Wolfe’s book is of interest not only because it is based on incredibly > meticulous research that makes it possible for Wolfe to tell the personal > stories and motives of the core of activists who constituted the Earth > Liberation Front (ELF)—or rather its most active cell, in Eugene, Oregon—as > well as the stories of some of the federal officials and police officers > whom they eluded for years. It’s a gripping and suspenseful tale, told > without bias. But equally importantly, the book raises the same questions > that, in a different way, Andreas Malm’s *How to Blow Up a Pipeline *raised > in 2021: Is economic sabotage in defense of the environment justified, and > if so, what forms of sabotage and under what circumstances? Wolfe doesn’t > answer these questions, but the history he relates demands they be taken > seriously. It isn’t hard to argue that the ELF’s actions were misguided and > accomplished little or nothing, but neither is it hard to argue that some > kinds of eco-sabotage are defensible or even imperative. > > Most readers, in any event, could probably empathize with the ELF > activists (“Elves”) and even respect them for putting their lives on the > line and for strictly adhering to their principles. They were always very > careful to ensure that no animals or humans would be harmed by their > property destruction—although it’s true that risks and uncertainty are > inevitable in cases of arson. The Elves were young and idealistic, mere > teenagers and twenty-somethings who met each other through the anarchist > and radical environmentalist circles in Eugene. They had heard of something > called the Earth Liberation Front in the UK and Europe, a decentralized, > leaderless network of “cells” of anonymous eco-saboteurs, and in 1996 a few > of them decided to start a new cell in the US. For the next five years, a > dozen or so people would be behind most of the ELF incidents that the > government and mass media dubbed “ecoterrorism”—despite the fact that not a > single person was ever killed or injured. > > Given their youth and relative inexperience, the Elves’ achievements were > impressive. Always acting at night, deploying rather sophisticated > incendiary devices they had built themselves, they caused over $100 million > in property damage. In 1998, a single young man—known to his comrades only > as “Avalon”—was able to burn down an entire ski resort at the summit of a > mountain in Vail, Colorado. This act, the most expensive act of > environmental sabotage in US history, is what really raised the ELF’s > profile nationwide. A half-dozen law enforcement agencies, including the > FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Eugene Police > Department, set out to crush the ELF—and made very little progress until > 2004. The Elves were just too good at covering up their tracks, too good at > never making mistakes. They used fake IDs, never discussed previous actions > even with each other, lived double lives, and used code words when talking > about proposed arsons. They were also able to release statements to the > press anonymously, by mailing them to a sympathetic intermediary who had no > idea of the Elves’ identities. > > In fact, it wasn’t law enforcement that brought about the demise of the > Eugene cell; it was disillusionment. By 2001 (even before 9/11), the Oregon > Elves were floundering: They had judged several recent actions to be > misguided failures; interpersonal tensions were flaring; they were > increasingly worried that sooner or later the police would catch them; and > they were profoundly discouraged by their failure to ignite a movement or > even to interfere with the System’s functioning at all. Some of them wanted > to choose their targets more intelligently and carefully; others thought it > was necessary to become more militant and start assassinating people. But > this path horrified most of them and was decisively rejected. In the end, > the cell disintegrated in the months after 9/11. > > One must agree with the Elves’ harsh retrospective self-judgment. Looking > back at the many thousands of extralegal actions of groups like the Animal > Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front between the 1970s and > 2010—most of them fairly trivial, such as spraying graffiti, smashing > windows, slashing tires, gluing locks, and releasing captive minks into the > wild—Andreas Malm concludes that the acts “achieved little if anything and > had no lasting gains to show for them. They were not performed in a dynamic > relation to a mass movement, but largely in a void.”[1] This tends to be > true of anarchist tactics in the tradition of “propaganda of the deed.” > Sometimes they’re counterproductive, provoking authorities to crack down > violently; often they’re merely useless, indicative of an immature politics > of self-expression rather than strategy. Sabotage and violence are unlikely > to be politically effective unless their perpetrators first think carefully > and realistically about their probable consequences in the given social and > political environment. > > Violence can certainly be useful sometimes. Modern history has seen many > governments give concessions to the masses in order to forestall public > disorder and property destruction. Malm gives the examples of the Civil > Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, which were passed in part because of the > threat of spiraling Black violence in cities. He quotes the Australian > scholar Verity Burgmann: “The history of social movement activity suggests > that reforms are more likely to be achieved when activists behave in > extremist, even confrontational ways.”[2] The scholarship of Frances Fox > Piven and Richard A. Cloward, likewise, has shown the great political > utility to mass movements of disruptive tactics.[3] The disruption need not > be violent, but it can be. > > If sabotage of oil and gas pipelines or of data centers or coal mines or > other types of industrial infrastructure occurred on a large scale and in > the context of a social movement, it could potentially affect the economic > and political calculus of the ruling class. One way is simply by > disincentivizing investment in carbon-emitting technology; another is by > motivating policymakers to give concessions to the movement in the interest > of maintaining public order. On the other hand, depending on the political > complexion of the government—if it’s far right, for instance—violent > actions might only motivate a harsh crackdown that harms even the > movement’s more moderate and peaceful wing. And there is always the > possibility that violence will alienate the public to such an extent that > it shifts its support to conservative politicians. > > Politics is inherently unpredictable, and there is no point in making *a > priori *judgments about the efficacy of particular types of tactics. Too > much depends on contingency. All one can say is that it’s necessary to > dramatically raise the cost for the ruling class, or certain segments of > it, of continuing on its present course.[4] This is what the ELF > attempted—especially with regard to animal rights, arguably its highest > priority. Its actions were too few, too unintelligently chosen, and too > politically “in a void” (lacking a supportive movement) to succeed. > > The denouement of the ELF story is tragic. The FBI had come to think Jacob > Ferguson, one of the two founders of the Eugene cell, was somehow involved > in the actions, though it didn’t know any specifics and hadn’t a clue of *how > *involved he was. In 2004, its officials made their move: They managed to > convince Ferguson (mostly by bluffing) that if he didn’t cooperate, he > might go to prison for five years or even longer. This might mean his young > son would grow up without a father. So, after much agonized reflection, > Ferguson decided to cooperate and sell out his comrades. He told > investigators everything, and he agreed to contact some of the Elves—they > had all gone their separate ways—and spend the next year talking to them > about their past exploits while wearing a wire. In late 2005, Ferguson’s > former comrades were arrested. They received sentences varying from three > to thirteen years. > > The Earth Liberation Front, which had cells in many countries, was > abortive in its revolutionary anticapitalist aspirations, but it certainly > wasn’t abortive in the courage its members displayed or the commitment they > showed to worthy principles. *Fires in the Night *is a brilliant and > timely, if not uncritical, homage to the sort of idealism and courage the > world could use more of in these dark days. > > Notes > > [1]. Andreas Malm, *How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a > World on Fire* (Verso, 2021), 155. > > [2]. Cited in Malm, 50. > > [3]. See Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, *Regulating the Poor: > The Functions of Public Welfare *(Vintage Books, 1971), and *Poor > People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail *(Pantheon Books, > 1977). > > [4]. I say “certain segments” because one can raise the cost for complicit > politicians by voting them out of office. Or one can raise the cost for > fossil fuel companies by sabotaging energy infrastructure. Et cetera. > > *Citation:* Chris Wright. Review of Wolfe, Matthew. *Fires in the Night: > The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage*. > H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. September, 2026. > *URL:* https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=63338 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. > <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/> > > Message from a proud sponsor of H-Net: > > [image: Library of Congress Kluge Fellowships] Apply for paid research > fellowships > <https://www.loc.gov/programs/john-w-kluge-center/chairs-fellowships/fellowships/?loclr=hnet> > in the humanities and social sciences at the John W. Kluge Center. Open to > early career scholars. 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