Earth Liberation Army

The Earth Liberation Army (ELA), similar to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment", commonly known as ecotage or monkeywrenching. The name was first used in Canada, in 1995, which was the first earth liberation direct action in North America, three years after the ELF had been founded in England. The ELA is also a leaderless movement, although in contrary to the ELF, the first group did not publish any guidelines. The ELA are considered to be "eco-terrorists" who use violent tactics, and are also known to also be active in the United States.

Origins and philosophy

 * Further information: Earth Liberation Front, Earth liberation and Radical environmentalism

Prior to ELF actions occurring in North America a year later, the ELA were the first to pursue an "Earth Liberation" action, which happened in 1995, in Canada. Because of the wave of ELF actions that was occurring across Europe, they were considered by the European Elves at the time to be "transatlantic cousins", because of the similarity in tactics. The first action was on the 19th June 1995, when individuals claiming to be part of the ELA burned down a wildlife museum and damaged a hunting lodge in British Columbia.

Actions
The name was not commonly known by environmental activists until in 1998, when the ELA claimed the arson at Vail Resorts that severely damaged the resort in Washington, D.C. costing $12 million in damages.

In 2012 a video (http://vimeo.com/43364460) appeared on-line showing an anti-circus action in Spain in which the ELA accronym was used both in the video title and in the graffiti sprayed in the action itself. In the absence of any alternative meaning (in Spanish or English) we may asume that this was another incarnation of the Earth Liberation Army.