Earth First in the United States

Earth First in Environmental Law

This radical environmental group with no paid staff, organizational structure, or formal leadership prefers to be called a movement. Founded in 1980 by David Foreman and others, Earth First! sees the system of environmental regulation as flawed and corrupt. A clenched fist is its symbol; its motto is “No compromise in the defense of Mother Earth.”

Earth First! members advocate direct action against property and machinery. This practice is called monkey wrenching, after a book called The Monkey Wrench Gang, written by Edward Abbey and published in 1976. (Its plot involved efforts to blow up a dam and free a river.) In 1985 Foreman published a related book, Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Morikeywrenching.

He left the movement in the early 1990s. He stated in his book, Confessions of an EcoWarrior, that he no longer believes Earth First! represents his views. It has moved toward “anticapitalist rhetoric and an overwhelming emphasis on direct action to the exclusion of other traditional Earth First! techniques.” [p. 219] He continues to believe in conservationism and biocentrism.

Earth First! has been associated with numerous direct actions, such as spiking trees (to make logging them impractical), sabotaging oil exploration equipment, and ramming whaling ships. Members have also engaged in sitins and chained themselves to trees. However, according to spokespersons, the organization does not engage in direct action as a group and does not necessarily endorse it. Even so, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has targeted members of Earth First! in many investigations. In one undercover operation alone, the FBI spent two million dollars to gather evidence against Foreman and others.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.