Fires in the Night

Facing the end of the world as we know it, what kind of resistance is justified?

In the early hours of October 28, 1996, a driver in rural Oregon spotted flames rising from a federal ranger station, where a cryptic phrase was found: “EARTH LIBERATION FRONT.” Over the next decade, the Earth Liberation Front carried out the most audacious series of politically motivated arsons in American history. Their targets—car dealerships, slaughterhouses, lumber companies, a $12 million Vail ski resort—were chosen to send a message: if the government wouldn’t halt the destruction of the natural world, they would. Despite causing no deaths, the ELF was branded the foremost domestic terrorism threat in America and became the target of one of the FBI’s largest investigations.

Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage is the story of the ELF’s rise and unraveling, drawing on years of original reporting, interviews, and thousands of pages of unreleased investigative files.

Join the New America Fellows Program for a conversation about Fires in the Night. Copies of Fires in the Night are available for purchase here.

Editorial disclosure: The views expressed in this book and event are solely those of the author and speakers. They do not reflect the views of New America, its staff, fellows, funders, or board of directors.