Editing Earth First! (section)

{{Short description|Environmental advocacy group}}
{{Infobox organization
|name = Earth First!
|abbreviation = EF!
|logo = Earthfirstmonkeywrench.png
|founded_date = 1980
|founder = [[David Foreman|Dave Foreman]]<br />[[Mike Roselle]]<br />[[Howie Wolke]] <br />[[Bart Koehler]]
|location = Active in over 19 countries
|origins = [[Southwestern United States]]
|focus = Environmental protection
|method = [[Direct action]], [[Ecotage|Eco-sabotage]]

|homepage = {{URL|http://earthfirstjournal.news}}
}}

'''Earth First!''' is a [[radical environmentalism|radical]] [[Environmental movement|environmental advocacy group]]<ref>[https://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/jarboe021202.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation - Congressional Testimony] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021002120937/http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/jarboe021202.htm |date=October 2, 2002 }}</ref> that originated in the [[Southwestern United States]]. It was founded in 1980 by [[Dave Foreman]], [[Mike Roselle]], Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Lerner|first=Michael A.|date=1990-04-15|title=The FBI vs. the Monkeywrenchers: The Eco-Guerrillas of Earth First! Say They're Saving the Planet, The Government Calls Them Criminal Saboteurs.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-15-tm-2077-story.html|access-date=2020-11-13|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Radical Environmentalists: Who Are These People And What Are They Doing Here?|url=http://www.zachbardon.com/compendium/out.php?t=academic/environs|work=zachbardon.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Introducing Earth First!|url=http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/radical-environmentalisms-print-history/introducing-earth-first|url-status=live|website=Environment & Society Portal|date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702233812/http://www.environmentandsociety.org:80/exhibitions/radical-environmentalisms-print-history/introducing-earth-first |archive-date=2018-07-02 }}</ref>

Inspired by several environmental writings, including [[Rachel Carson]]'s ''[[Silent Spring]]'', [[Aldo Leopold]]'s [[land ethic]], and [[Edward Abbey]]'s ''[[The Monkey Wrench Gang]]'', a small group of environmental activists composed of [[Dave Foreman]], ex-[[Yippie]] [[Mike Roselle]], Wyoming [[The Wilderness Society (United States)|Wilderness Society]] representatives Bart Koehler and Howie Wolke, and [[Bureau of Land Management]] employee Ron Kezar, united to form Earth First. While traveling in Foreman's VW bus from the [[El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve]] in northern Mexico to [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], the group pledged, "No compromise in defense of [[Mother Nature|Mother Earth]]!".

The co-founders of the group were called to action during the second "[[Inventoried roadless area#Roadless Area Review and Evaluations (RARE)|Roadless Area Review and Evaluation]]" (RARE II) by the [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]], which they considered a sell-out by mainstream environmental advocates. The activists envisioned a revolutionary movement, with the goal to set aside multi-million-acre ecological preserves all across the United States. Their ideas drew upon the concepts of conservation biology, which had been developing for over twenty years by notable scientists like [[E. O. Wilson]]; however, mainstream environmental groups were slow to embrace the new science. These events and ideologies coalesced after a grueling hike, as the men were headed toward Albuquerque. After "Foreman called out 'Earth First!', Roselle drew a clenched fist logo, passed it up to the front of the van, and there was Earth First!".<ref name="lowbagger1">Wolke, Howie,  [https://web.archive.org/web/20141110092013/http://www.lowbagger.org/foundersstory.html Earth First! A Founder’s Story], Lowbagger.org</ref>