In December 2005 the FBI rolled up "the Family," the Earth Liberation Front cell responsible for a string of 1990s and early-2000s arsons against timber companies, wild-horse corrals, and the Vail ski expansion — some $40 million in property damage that had injured no one. The break came through Jake Ferguson, a heroin-addicted participant turned wired informant, and the Bureau leveraged the first arrests into a cascade of cooperation deals. Bill Rodgers, accused as a cell organizer, died by suicide in his Arizona jail cell within weeks of arrest.

The government branded the case "the No. 1 domestic terrorism priority" — language previously reserved for lethal violence — and sought terrorism sentencing enhancements for arson. Daniel McGowan, who refused to inform on others, received seven years with the enhancement and was assigned to a Communication Management Unit; non-cooperating defendants Jonathan Paul, Nathan Block, and Joanna Zacher drew similar treatment, while cooperators received a fraction. Operation Backfire fixed the Green Scare's rules: property destruction as "terrorism," cooperation as the price of leniency, and the informant as the movement's central vulnerability.