Confessions of an Eco-Warrior
Encyclopedia
Confessions of an Eco-Warrior is a book written in 1991 by Dave Foreman.
Dave Foreman was the New Mexico
lobbyist for The Wilderness Society
in the 1970s. Disillusioned by the lack of progress in safeguarding the environment in the United States, particularly after a wilderness inventory by the United States Forest Service
known as RARE II (Roadless Area Review and Evaluation), he was a co-founder of the environmental organization known as Earth First!
(EF) in the 1980s. EF originally mixed innovative publicity, such as rolling a plastic "crack" down Glen Canyon Dam
, with far-reaching wilderness
proposals that went far beyond what the mainstream environmental groups were willing to advocate, and with conservation biology
research from a biocentric
perspective. Later however, after about 1987, EF became primarily associated with non-violent direct action
activities.
Foreman took his inspiration for Earth First! from Edward Abbey
's book The Monkey Wrench Gang
which is a fictional account of a gang of four individuals who take on a pointless yet deeply symbolic effort to destroy and thus halt the machines of human expansion and putative "progress" in the American Southwest.
In 1989 Foreman was implicated in the FBI conspiracy known as THERMCON
wherein four activists in Prescott, Arizona
, who were only peripherally connected with EF, were enticed by undercover FBI agent Michael Fain (alias Mike Tait) who talked them into the destruction of a power line in the State of Arizona. Foreman himself wasn't involved. However he was arrested and indicted along with the four.
His book Confessions of an Eco-Warrior is partly an autobiographical account of RARE II and his disillusionment with the mainstream environmental movement, the early years of Earth First!, the FBI entrapment, and his ultimate disillusionment with what Earth First! became. It is also partly a statement of his views on wilderness and the state of the environmental movement.
In the book he expressed his view that Earth First!, by 1990, had largely run its course, and was starting to attract new members who took the group in a more countercultur
al and left-wing direction than he was comfortable associating with. The defining moments for Foreman, according to the book, were when some activists under the Earth First! banner held a "puke-in" at a shopping mall, when Edward Abbey was subjected to harsh criticism and heckling by some younger newcomers to EF when he attended the 1987 EF rendezvous (Foreman and the other old guard of EF, who revered Abbey, were horrified that he would receive that sort of treatment at an EF gathering), and when some Earth First! funds were diverted to launch a punk-style zine called "Live Wild or Die", which among other things espoused anarchism
and attacked Foreman's and Abbey's views on some controversial issues then being debated within EF.
While Foreman and most of the rest of the old guard of EF severed their ties to the group in 1990, he remains an environmental activist. At the time Confessions was published, he had just launched a new magazine, Wild Earth
(intended as a replacement for the 1980s-era Earth First! Journal), and was soon to launch a new environmental group, The Wildlands Project.
Dave Foreman was the New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
lobbyist for The Wilderness Society
The Wilderness Society (United States)
The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters.-Founding:The society was incorporated on January 21, 1935...
in the 1970s. Disillusioned by the lack of progress in safeguarding the environment in the United States, particularly after a wilderness inventory by the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
known as RARE II (Roadless Area Review and Evaluation), he was a co-founder of the environmental organization known as Earth First!
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
(EF) in the 1980s. EF originally mixed innovative publicity, such as rolling a plastic "crack" down Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second...
, with far-reaching wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
proposals that went far beyond what the mainstream environmental groups were willing to advocate, and with conservation biology
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
research from a biocentric
Biocentrism (ethics)
Biocentrism , in a political and ecological sense, is an ethical point of view which extends inherent value to non-human species, ecosystems, and processes in nature - regardless of their sentience...
perspective. Later however, after about 1987, EF became primarily associated with non-violent direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
activities.
Foreman took his inspiration for Earth First! from Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
's book The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
which is a fictional account of a gang of four individuals who take on a pointless yet deeply symbolic effort to destroy and thus halt the machines of human expansion and putative "progress" in the American Southwest.
In 1989 Foreman was implicated in the FBI conspiracy known as THERMCON
THERMCON
THERMCON was the code name of a FBI operation which was launched in response to the sabotage of the Arizona Snowbowl ski lift near Flagstaff, Arizona in October 1987 by three people from Prescott, Arizona, Mark Davis, Margaret Millet, and Marc Baker...
wherein four activists in Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, who were only peripherally connected with EF, were enticed by undercover FBI agent Michael Fain (alias Mike Tait) who talked them into the destruction of a power line in the State of Arizona. Foreman himself wasn't involved. However he was arrested and indicted along with the four.
His book Confessions of an Eco-Warrior is partly an autobiographical account of RARE II and his disillusionment with the mainstream environmental movement, the early years of Earth First!, the FBI entrapment, and his ultimate disillusionment with what Earth First! became. It is also partly a statement of his views on wilderness and the state of the environmental movement.
In the book he expressed his view that Earth First!, by 1990, had largely run its course, and was starting to attract new members who took the group in a more countercultur
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
al and left-wing direction than he was comfortable associating with. The defining moments for Foreman, according to the book, were when some activists under the Earth First! banner held a "puke-in" at a shopping mall, when Edward Abbey was subjected to harsh criticism and heckling by some younger newcomers to EF when he attended the 1987 EF rendezvous (Foreman and the other old guard of EF, who revered Abbey, were horrified that he would receive that sort of treatment at an EF gathering), and when some Earth First! funds were diverted to launch a punk-style zine called "Live Wild or Die", which among other things espoused anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and attacked Foreman's and Abbey's views on some controversial issues then being debated within EF.
While Foreman and most of the rest of the old guard of EF severed their ties to the group in 1990, he remains an environmental activist. At the time Confessions was published, he had just launched a new magazine, Wild Earth
Wild Earth
Wild Earth was an environmentalist magazine published in the United States by the Wildlands Project between 1991 and 2004.Wild Earth came about when the original Earth First!: The Radical Environmental Journal ceased publication in late 1990. That publication was associated with the environmental...
(intended as a replacement for the 1980s-era Earth First! Journal), and was soon to launch a new environmental group, The Wildlands Project.
Publication
- Confessions of an Eco-Warrior (1991), Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-517-88058-X