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ELF go-between backs claim He says group had him send notes twice before that turned out to be true By MARK FREEMAN and MELISSA SCHUKAR A Portland environmental activist and go-between for a eco-terrorist group says he believes the group is telling the truth when it claims responsibility for the Dec. 27 arson of a timber company office in Medford. Twice before, the Earth Liberation Front has contacted Craig Rosebraugh to have the Portland man release communiques claiming responsibility for fires like the one at the U.S. Timber Industries office. And both times, the claims were eventually considered legitimate, Rosebraugh said. "I figure this is just another example of their work," Rosebraugh said in a Monday telephone interview. "I think it's just a matter of time before police confirm it as an ELF action." Investigators Monday remained coy about the validity of the group's claim that members used buckets of a diesel/gasoline mixture with cigarette igniters to burn the company's Whittle Avenue corporate offices. "It's a good lead, but I can't say if it's a legitimate claim or not, at this point," Medford police Detective Steve Edson said. The fire was arson, "But I can't say with certainty if they're the ones who did it or not, even though they seem to be taking credit for it." Rosebraugh said ELF members may have "chosen" him as an information conduit because of his work with environmental causes through the Animal Liberation Front and so-called "Liberation Collective." Rosebraugh said he does not know the names of his ELF contacts, nor would he divulge how the group contacts him. But members twice before asked him to release information about ELF actions, he said. The first was in November 1997, when the ELF claimed responsibility for a fire at the Bureau of Land Management's wild horse corral in Burns, Rosebraugh said. The second was October's $12 million arson blaze at a Vail, Colo., ski resort, he said. In both instances, Rosebraugh said, the incidents later were officially blamed on the group. Who or what the group also is remains a mystery. Most mainstream environmental groups say they don't know much about the group. Reporters and others who have tracked the group speculate the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front are actually the same group; a story in the December issue of Outside Magazine about the Vail fire stated, "News from ELF is often disseminated through the spokespeople for the Animal Liberation Front. ... Lacking a hierarchy or fixed membership, ELF and ALF are more akin to monikers than movements. ..." Katie Fedor, who calls herself a spokeswoman for the Minnesota-based ALF and did not return calls Monday, was quoted in the Denver Post in October as saying the ELF isn't really a group. She said anyone who commits nonviolent acts against companies perceived as endangering the environment can claim the action was committed under the umbrella of the ELF. The group never has released a headquarters phone number, address or e-mail address. Rosebraugh is the only person linked to the group who has discussed specific events publicly. The group was formed in 1992 in Brighton, England, as a spinoff of the environmental group Earth First! Members of both the ALF and ELF have claimed responsibility for fires, vandalism and releases of mink and horses since 1996. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA