Editing Wise use movement (section)

===Grassroots or front groups===

Environmental activists have argued that the wise use movement is orchestrated largely or entirely by industry. [[David Helvarg]]'s book ''The War Against the Greens'' contends that the wise use movement is not a collection of grassroots uprisings, but a set of [[astroturfing]] movements created by big business. [[Carl Deal]], author of ''The [[Greenpeace]] Guide to Anti-Environmental Organizations'' also makes the same claim: that wise use groups give the appearance of being popular [[grassroots]] movements, but are actually [[front organization]]s for industry groups with a financial interest in the movement's agenda. [[Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.]] also described this conspiracy against the environment by wise use organizations in his 2004 book ''Crimes Against Nature.''

These critics have largely portrayed so-called "grassroots" groups as being front groups and rural Westerners as serving as dupes for extractive industries and their interests. However, while corporate power played an important role in the wise use movement, the relationship between rural westerners and extractive industries was not a result of individual citizens blindly accepting corporate narratives; instead, wise use was an alliance between groups with similar goals regarding private property rights and access to public lands.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} Corporations also were better able to connect with rural residents because, according to James McCarthy, "[c]orporations were in fact often more sensitive to the region's cultural politics than many environmentalists and so were better able to engage culture for instrumental purposes."<ref name=mccarthy/>