The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has carried out various criminal actions in defense of the environment since 1992. Actions were rarely publicized prior to 1996 and are therefore difficult to find.

1997

11 March 1997, Sandy, Utah: A series of pipe bombs and one firebomb claimed jointly by the ALF and the ELF destroys four trucks and leveled the offices of the Agricultural Fur Breeders Co-Op, causing about $1 million in damage. 14 March 1997, near Eugene, Oregon: Tree spiking at Robinson-Scott timber harvest site in the McKenzie River watershed, Willamette National Forest . Joint ALF / ELF claim. 18 March 1997, Davis, California: The "Bay Area Cell of the Earth X ALF" takes credit for setting fire to the University of California, Davis, Center for Comparative Medicine facility, which was still under construction. 21 July 1997, Redmond, Oregon : Arson attack on the Cavel West meat packing plant. The plant was in the business of slaughtering horses and then shipping the meat to Europe to be sold there. Estimated cost over $1 million. The plant was never rebuilt. Joint ALF / ELF claim. 29 November 1997, Burns, Oregon: Fire at the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Corrals destroys a horse barn, chutes, pens and equipment, and 400 horses are released. ELF and ALF claim joint responsibility. Damages: $474,000.

1998

2 June 1998, Olympia, Washington: The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Damage Control building and another U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife station, miles apart, go up in flames on the same morning. The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front take joint responsibility for both actions. Damages: $1.9 million. 28 June 1998, Boston, Massachusetts: ELF defaces the Mexican Consulate in Boston with red paint in support of the indigenous Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising in the Mexican state of Chiapas. ELF paints blood-red hand prints on the walls, spills pools of red paint on the ground, and paints "VIVA E.Z.L.N." 3 July 1998, Middleton, Wisconsin: Break-in and release of 171 mink and ferrets from United Vaccines laboratory during a daylight raid. Holes are cut in the fence and 310 ferrets and mink are released. Equipment and windows are also destroyed. The slogan 'Independence Day for Fur Farm Prisoners' is painted at the United Vaccines laboratory during the daylight raid. Joint ALF / ELF claim. 10 October 1998, Rock Springs, Wyoming: Saboteurs cut the locks off horse pens at a BLM corral, freeing about 40-100 wild horses. Failed incendiaries are found next to a pickup truck and a building. The ELF and the ALF take joint responsibility.

19 October 1998, Vail, Colorado: The ELF claims responsibility for burning five buildings and four chair lifts at Vail Resorts company's Vail Ski Resort, causing in excess of $12 million in damages. The action came only five days after a court had ruled that Vail could proceed with its planned Category III expansion into the Two Elks Roadless Area, despite the objections of local environmentalists. In a communiqué, ELF claims that the fires were set on behalf of the lynx. "If there is any critical lynx habitat in the state, this is it!" 26 October 1998, Powers, Michigan: About 5,000 mink are released from the Pipkorn farm in the Upper Peninsula. Damages: $100,000. 26 December 1998, Medford, Oregon : Fire ravages the headquarters of U.S. Forest Industries. An ELF communiqué issued weeks later says the strike was payback to the company for razing forests and killing wild animals for profit. Damages: $700,000.

1999

7 August 1999, Escanaba, Michigan: Two fishing boats are set ablaze in the driveway of a veterinarian who once worked as a mink rancher. A garage door is tagged with graffiti high: "FUR IS MURDER. E.L.F." The ELF later claims in an Internet posting it targeted the veterinarian after finding a "Fur is Enough" sign outside his home. Damages: $15,000. 25 December 1999, Monmouth, Oregon: Fire destroys the main office of the Boise Cascade logging company costing over $1 million. ELF claim responsibility in a communiqué. 31 December 1999, East Lansing, Michigan: Arson of the offices of Catherine Ives, Room 324, Agriculture Hall at Michigan State University. The offices were doused with gasoline and set afire. ELF says the fire was set in response to the work being done to force developing nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa to switch from natural crop plants to genetically engineered sweet potatoes, corn, bananas and pineapples. USAID was the major funder of the research and promotional work being done through Michigan State University. ELF spokesmen claimed Monsanto had been a major contributor to funding the program, however the only funding from Monsanto Corp. was a one-time sum of $2,000 to send five African students to a conference on biotechnology. According to local newspapers, the fire caused over $1 million in damage.

2000

23 January 2000, Bloomington, Indiana: Arson destroys a partially built luxury home. Investigators found a message spray-painted in black on a sign near the house: "No Sprawl ELF." The ELF later issues a communiqué saying it torched the home because it was in the Lake Monroe Watershed, which provides drinking water to the city of Bloomington. Damages: $200,000. 9 February 2000, Saint Paul, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, ELF Crop Destruction, $1,000+ in damages. 24 March 2000, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Highway 55 reroute, $500,000 in damages done to construction equipment. 30 April 2000, Bloomington, Indiana: At least six pieces of logging and heavy construction equipment are sabotaged and a trailer full of wood chips is set ablaze at a road construction site just outside the city. A communiqué from the Earth Liberation Front states its plan was to punish those developing wooded areas around Bloomington, which "have turned what was once forested land into parking lots, luxury houses for rich scum and expanded roads." Damages: $75,000. 20 July 2000, Rhinelander, Wisconsin: Vandals hack down thousands of experimental trees, mostly poplars, and spray-paint vehicles at a U.S. Forest Service research station. The ELF claims the attack was against bioengineering, although researchers say the trees were naturally bred (not bioengineered) to grow faster and resist diseases. Damages: $1 million. 9 September 2000, Bloomington, Indiana: Fire erupts at the headquarters of the Monroe County Republican Party Committee headquarters. Investigators say a flammable liquid was poured on the building and ignited. The arson was a reminder, according to the ELF communiqué, that the ELF would not sit quietly as politicians pushed for plans to extend Interstate 69. Damages: $1,500. 18 October 2000, Shoals, Indiana: Vandals find four pieces of heavy logging equipment in the Martin State Forest and cut hoses, slash seats, destroy gauges and pour sand in the engines, fuel tanks and radiators. They leave spray-painted graffiti including, "Earth Raper," "Go Cut in Hell," and "ELF." Damages: $55,000. 27 November 2000, Niwot, Colorado: Arson hits one of the first luxury homes going up in a new subdivision. The ELF later sends a note, made of letters clipped from magazines, to the Boulder Weekly newspaper: "Viva la revolution! The Boulder ELF burned the Legend Ridge mansion on Nov. 27th." The underground group explains in a follow-up communiqué that the arson was driven by defeat of a statewide ballot measure to control growth. Damages: $2.5 million. 9 December 2000, Middle Island, New York: Fire erupts in a Long Island condominium under construction. The ELF claims responsibility, saying the homes were "future dens of the wealthy elite." The group, announcing "an unbounded war on urban sprawl," claims it checked for occupants—human and animal—in 16 condos before setting incendiaries in them. Damages: $200,000. 19 December 2000, Miller Place, New York : A Long Island house under construction goes up in flames. "Building homes for the wealthy should not even be a priority," the ELF writes in its communiqué. "Forests, farms and wetlands are being replaced with a sea of houses, green chemical lawns, blacktop and roadkill." Damages: $50,000. 29 December 2000, Mount Sinai, New York : Three Long Island luxury homes under construction are set ablaze, and a fourth is spray-painted with graffiti: "If you build it we will burn it." The ELF issues a communiqué saying: "Recently, hundreds of houses have been built over much of Mount Sinai's picturesque landscape and developers now plan to build a further 189 luxury houses over the farms and forests adjacent to Island Estates...This hopefully provided a firm message that we will not tolerate the destruction of our island." Damages: $160,000.

2001 21 May 2001, Seattle, Washington: ELF sets off a firebomb that caused $7 million in damages at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. Lacey Phillabaum and Jennifer Kolar pleaded guilty to the attack in 2006. Bill Rodgers, who was "considered to be one of the top organizers of the ELF and a hands-on participant who allegedly help set the fire bombs inside the UW horticulture center," later commits suicide in an Arizona jail. Justin Solondz, who allegedly helped assemble the fire bombs and joined Rodgers in setting them is now a fugitive. Briana Waters, a student at The Evergreen State College at the time of the bombing, was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to six years in prison.

2002

26 January 2002, St. Paul, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Microbial and Plant Genomics Research Center soil testing lab and construction trailer burned down, construction equipment, including a bulldozer damaged, $630,000 damages. Claimed by ELF. 29 January 2002, Fairfield, Maine: ELF announced they had sabotaged a "Biotech Park" in a communiqué that read:

12 February 2002, Washington D.C.: FBI testimony before the House Ecoterror Hearing.

Domestic terrorism is the unlawful use, or threatened use, of violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States (or its territories) without foreign direction, committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives...During the past several years, special interest extremism, as characterized by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), has emerged as a serious terrorist threat. The FBI estimates that the ALF/ELF have committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, resulting in damages in excess of 43 million dollars.

24 March 2002, Erie, Pennsylvania: Hundreds of trees spiked in Wintergreen Gorge, crane, generators and pumps torched, other equipment monkey wrenched, $500,000 damages Claimed by ELF. 12 May 2002, Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania: 200 mink released from Mindek mink farm Claimed by ALF and ELF. 11 August 2002, Irvine, Pennsylvania: A device, containing gasoline, was thrown onto the roof of the Northeast Research Station in the Allegheny National Forest. The ensuing fire caused nearly $700,000 in damages. An e-mail from ELF's office said:

While innocent life will never be harmed in any action we undertake, where it is necessary, we will no longer hesitate to pick up the gun to implement justice, and provide the needed protection for our planet that decades of legal battles, pleading protest, and economic sabotage have failed so drastically to achieve.

and that

all other US Forest Services administration and research facilities, as well as all Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) buildings nationwide should now be considered likely targets.

September 2002, Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania: more than 50 mink released Mindek mink farm Claimed by ALF and ELF.