earth first! newsletter zero (1983)

7/21/2019 Earth First! Newsletter Zero (1983)

1/8

Full citation: Nature More. The Newsletter of Earth First 0, no. 0 (July 1983).

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2/8

To: The Hardcore

From:

Howie

Wolke,

Dave

Foreman

Re:

EARTH :FIRST

Howie Wolke u

box 6 T r

,

Wy 83001

or

The

t ime

has come to

i n j e c t

new v igo r ,

new

'and an old- fash ioned

r ad i c a l ideology in to

the

increas ing ly s t agna t ing environmental movemen

are t i r ed of making

po l i t i c a l

compromises i n order

to

lcrok

r easonab

We

are t i r ed

of always being

on

the

defens ive . And

we a re t i r ed o f l e t t

a

bunch

of corpora te ,

bureaucra t i c ,

and

po l i t i c a l

madmen

force the

environmental

movement to

j u s t i f y pro t ec t i ng a few

meager

t r a c t s

of Americ a's w ild

country .

Someone needs to speak fo r the Ear th

Someone

needs to

t e l l

America wh

kind of la nd p re se rv e system we would

have

had i t h i s nat ion had been

developed over th e

l a s t 200

year s

wi th an ecologica l conscience . Someo

needs

to forcefu l ly

s t a t e

the importance of preserv ing the b io log ica l /

ecologica l d ive r s i ty of our p lane t . And someone needs to say t ha t mayb

no t

too

l a t e .

EARTH FIRST i s

the name of our

new

organiza t ion . We are hoping to

have

so l i a

se t

o f prop osals (a p la tfo rm ,

i f

you wil l )

completed

and ready f

the

na t iona l media by l a t e

next f a l l .

The platform wi l l be l a rge ly

composed of

a

na t iona l

system

of

ECOLOGICAL PRESERVES.

We

have

al ready

drawn

up

a pre l iminary

d r a f t

list pa r t i a l l y

from

our

knowledge

of landf

and

ecosystems,

and pa r t i a l l y

from the

coregions

of

the United

Sta tes

map

by

R.G.

Bailey (1976) which

was by the F orest

Service

with

th e ir i l l e ga l R R I I EIS.

As you

can

see , we wi l l

f ina l ly be

doing what our enemies

have been

\

aCCUSin

g

us of

doing fo r

years :

a ttemptin g to creat.e

wilderness '

Wi t h i

each re se rve ,

a l l

ex i s t ing

developments ( roads ,

towns, nukes, e t c . ) wi l l

be ob l i t e r a t ed by the

same

implements of technology

t ha t

pu t

them

t he r e .

We

in tend to help

n atu re re cla im

the ea r th .

Each preserve wi l l

be l a rge

enough

to

funct ion as a complete

ecosystem,

with a l l known components

,

eint roduced.where

app l i cab le ,

i e .

wolves , bison ,

e tc . I

Fina l l y , we would l i ke

to

assure you t ha t we a re a bs olu te ly s e ri ou s . We

even bel ieve t ha t our

could

eas i ly

be j u s t i f i ed economical ly,

soc ia l ly ,

and b io log i ca l l y with in

ex i s t ing

American soc ie ty

without

even

caus ing its

downfal l .

At the very

l e a s t , our goa ls wi l l

be to :

1 . Make

eXis t ing environmental groupS . and

proposa ls look more reason

2.

the environmental

movement from s t ray ing too

fa r

from

its

in

other

words, from becomming to o c on se rv ativ e.

3.

Raise

the ecologica l conscience of the American

4.

Ins t iga te a Widespread r ad i c a l environmental

movement

in th e 198

t h a t

i s

not ' af ra id to use c i v i l d isobed ience, d emons tr at ion s, e t

as t a c t i c s . Ear th

F i r s t wi l l

remain quas i

l ega l . There i s

grea

po ten t i a l

in

t y ing in to the i n f an t i l e ant i-nuke

movement.

Remember,few

soa t a l

movements

in

h i s to ry

have succeeded

without

a r ad i c a

t im has come.

i s a

d r a f t

p la t fo rm. I f you re

i n t e re s t ed ,

please look

it over

.make

a few We'd also l i ke a few of you to make a committment

' ,with youtwork

d your names to Ea r th

Fi r s t . We're looking fo r

a core

g

o f 7 people (give o r

take

a

few)

to run t h i s

undemocratic

organiza t ion .

.

Please

send your

names/comments to :

Dave Foreman

.

box 1160

Bernal l}

l,o,

N.M.

87004


3/8

J u l y 1980

N TURE MORE

Th e

Ne wsle tte r

o f

E RTH

FIRST

Vol 0 Number 0

There

is pleasure

in

th e p a t h l e s s woods,

There

is a

r a p t u r e

on

th e

l o n e l y

sh o r e ,

There i s s o c i e t y

where

none i n t r u d e s ,

By th e deep s e a ,

and

music in i t s roa.rl

I

lov e no t

man

th e

l e s s ,

but

nature

more,

From th e se o u r in te r v ie ws in which I s t e a l

From a l l I may b e, o r have been

b e f o r e ,

To mingle with

the

u n i v e r s e , and

f e e l

What I ca n n e e r ex p res s

y et

c a nnot

a l l c o n c e a l

- Lord

Byron

-

C onside r t h i s

th e

f i r s t iss u e o f

th e

E RTH FIRST

Ne wsle tte r

made

p o s s i b l e

by

a g r a n t from A. Cosmos B l an k ), but a l s o c o n s i d e r i t

f a i r l y

c o n f i d e n t i a l and not f o r

g e n e r a l c i r c u l a t i o n

o r p u b l i c i t y .

In i t I

would l i k e to

thr ow- out v a r i o u s rambling i de as , q u es ti on s,

nn d

i nt er n al s tr at eg lz in g .

This issue

is

going

to only

50

people

o r

so

who

have

expressed

r e a l i n t e r e s t .

Sin ce I m

r e -

co v eri n g from a wo r se - th a n - u su a l vasectomy, I m i n th e mood

to

do t h i s f i r s t i s s u e .

F i r s t

o f a l l , a t

th e

Round R i v er

Rendezvous, we d id

ha.ve

th e

o r g a n i z a t i o n a l meeting o f

E RTH

FIRST

and

s e l e c t e d a n a t i o n a l

c o o r d i n a t i n g committee which i s to be known

a s

THE CIRCLE OF

D RKNESS I n i t i a l members o f th e CIRCLE a r e l Howie

Wolke,

Wyoming, B art Koe hle r , Wyoming, Bob

Langsenkamp,

Colorado r Mike

R o s e l l e , Wyoming, Susan

Morgan,

Colorado, Randall

Gloege,

Mon-

t a n a , Ron Kezar, New Mexico, Sandy

Marvinney,

On Th e Roadr Mike

Cornola, Montana, Cosmos Blank, Texas, John K oe hle r, South Dakotar

an d

Dave

Foreman, New Mexico. T h a t s 12.

I would l i k e a

w r i t t e n

v e r i f i c a t i o n from each o f

th e

above

t h a t

t h ey do indeed want to be

on th e

CIRCLE. There a re a l s o a few

o t h e r s

who may

want

to

be

on th e CIRCLE but

we

should

keep th e

a s s m al l

as I f , however,

anyone

e l s e

i s

f i l l e d

with

a burning d e s i r e to be a CIRCLE member , l e t me know. A ll

members o f th e CIRCLE must

be approved

by a v o te o f th e

r e s t o f

t

CIRCLE. I

would

s u g g es t a

t h r e e - q u a r t e r s

m a j o r i t y . do

want a t l e a s t

one person

from

th e E as t on th e

CIRCLE. Members

o f th e CIRCLE OF

D RKNESS

must be w i l l i n g to

be

p u b l i o l y

iden-

t i f i e d

with

E RTH FIRST

and oannot be employees o r

o f f i c e r s o f

s t r a i g h t o o n se r v a tio n groups e i t h e r n a t i o n a l o r

l o o a l ) .

Th e

CIRCLE OF

D RKNESS is th e

governing body o f

E RTH

FIRST and w i l l

s e t

polioy

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e

and

i s s u e ) ,

approve memberships,

approve s t a t e o r

l o o a l

gr oups, and run

th e

o u t f i t , as w ell as

s e1 eo t new members o f

th e

CIRCLE.

a l s o

se1eoted an and s e c r e t group

o f a d v iso r s

to

th e CIRCLE.

This

group w i l l be known as L M NT

MOJ D

and

c u r r e n t l y o o n s i s t s

o f e ig h t

people who

a re

involved

with

moderate conservation gr oups. L

M NT

MOJ D

w i l l a d v ise

u s,

a c t

as

a

l i n k

with t he c on se rv at io n e st ab li sh m e nt , and r e s t r a i n

o u r

more

eg reg i o u s

and gonzo i d e a s .

L M NT MOJ D i s oon-

f i d e n t i a 1

an d

i t s

e x i s t e n c e should

not

be

spread

ab o u t . I am


4/8

\

s e n d i n g

o u t

a s e p a r a t e

memo th e members o f LMM

t o

th e

CIRCLE

and

LMM. A g a i n , I

w i l l

want

- w r i t t e n

v e r i f i c a t i o n from

e a c h o f

t h e s e e i g h t

p e o p l e . I f anyone e l s e w ants to

on

LMM

l e t me know. A l l members

o f

LA MANTA MOJADA must

be a p p r o v e d

by a v o t e o f

th e

CIRCLE.

We t a l k e d little a b o u t o f f i c e r s o f th e CIRCLE and s e l e c t e d none.

T h e r e

a r e

v a r i o u s a l t e r n a t i v e s . th e CIRCLE c a n be a n a r c h i s t i c

w i t h o u t o f f i c e r s and o p e r a t e b y

th e

d e f a c t o

l e ad er sh ip o f

w h o ev er w i s h e s t o e x er t h i m /h er s e l f , we c o u l d

have

a r e l a t i v e l y

o f o f f i c e r s , we c o u l d th e r e g u l a r t y p e o f

o f f i c e r s

and s e t u p , o r we c o u l d s o m e t h i n g ne w and

W h a t s your

p r e f e r e n c e ?

We

do

a t l e a s t need

some

k i n d

o f t r e a s u r e r to

h a n d l e

th e money.

We

have a lr ea d y r ec ei ve d some

c o n t r i b u t i o n s and we s h o u l d g e t

more

a l o n g

w i t h

m em b ersh ip dues

s o o n . Who w i l l

v o l u n t e e r ? I f

w e - d o n t

g e t a v o l u n t e e r , I ll

t h e money and

go t o

Mexi co. Do we

want a b an k a c c o u n t

o r

s h o u l d t h e t r ea su re r j u st keep it

a l l

as cash? Do we want to

come up w i t h a w e i r d t i t l e f o r

th e

t r e a s u r e r

k e e p e r o f t h e

f i l t h y

l u c r e )

o r j u s t

c a l l

h i m / h e r . t r e a s u r e r ? How s h o u ld o u r

p o l i c y work?

S u s a n

Morgan, I

b e l i e v e , g a l l a n t l y v o l u n t e e r e d t o be e d i t o r o f

t h i s

n e w s l e t t e r .

I am

d o i n g t h i s

o n e b e c a u s e

I m

s i t t i n g

h e r e

w i t h

s o r e

gonads

and

n o t h i n g e l s e t o

d o . B ut

i f

S u s a n i s still

w i l l i n g , I ll t u r n a l l

th e

r e s t o v e r t o h e r . Are you, d a r l i n ?

T h i s

i s s u e

i s

V ol

0 Number 0 b e c a u s e o f

i t s

c o n f i d e n t i a l

n q t u r e .

I t i s

p r i n t e d

w ith s p e c i a l in k t h a t ,

i f x e r o x e d o r

o t h e r w i s e

c o p i e d ,

w i l l

v an is h t h er eb y

r e l e a s i n g a p o i s o n o u s gas

t h a t

w i l l

k i l l

o r maim anyone w i t h i n tw o

hundr ed y a r d s .

F o r

y o u r own

s a f e t y , do

n o t

copy

o r f u r t h e r d i s s e m i n a t e t h i s i s s u e . I v e

t e n a t i v e l y e n t 1 . t l e d th e n e w s l e t t e r

NATURE

MORE from B y r o n s

poem

b u t it

c o u l d a l s o be

c a l l e d MAN

THE

LESS,

PATHLESS

WOODS

LONELY SHORE o r

a n y t h i n g

e l s e

ENERGY

COUNTRY What do

yo u

l i k e ? Maybe

we s h o u l d

have

a

c o n t e s t

t o

name

it

A

b o t t l e

o f T o o t h s S h e a f S t o u t

t o

th e w in n e r. S u sa n , i f sh e

d o e s

a c c e p t t h i s m i s s i o n , c an

f i g u r e

o u t

th e

r e s t .

We a l s o need a

l e t t e r h e a d and

p r e s s r e l e a s e fo rm s. T h e se s h o u l d

have o u r

logo

g r e e n

f i s t ) . I would

s u g g e s t t h a t we u s e

a q u o t e

from

Byron

I lo v e n o t man

t h e

l e s s , b u t n a t u r e more)

on th e

l e t t e r h e a d . I n s t e a d

o f

haVing a n a d d r e s s

on

t h e l e t t e r h e a d , I d

s u g g e s t

we

l e a v e

it b l a n k an d

l e t

th e c o r r e s p o n d e n t u s e h i s / h e r

own.

How

a b o u t , t h o u g h , l i s t i n g th e members

o f

t h e

CIRCLE

and

t h e i r

s t a t e s o n th e l e f t margin? W h o l l t a k e c h a r g e o f

d e s i g n i n g

t h e s e g e t t i n g them p r i n t e d ? Should

we

g e t

s PO

b o x somewhere

t o

be t h e

o f f i c i a l

permanent

a d d r e s s

o f EARTH

FIRST?

Where?

W h o l l

do

i t ?

What a r e

we g o i n g

t o do

a b o u t t h e

b a s i c h o r s e s h i t

o f

o r g a n i z a -

t i o n ? I t h i n k a l l o f u s

would

p r e f e r

t o a v o i d

t h e

e n t a n g l e m e n t s

o f th e system a s much

a s p o s s i b l e

b u t w h at o f it do we need f o r

t a x -e x e m p t i o n , e t c . ? O r do we e v e n

want

to

be

t a x - e x e m p t ? Do

we

c o p y w r i t e

th e

name

EARTH FIRST? Do we e v e r

gag

want

t o

i n c o r p o r a t e ? W r i t e yuk a c o n s t i t u t i o n o r

byl aw s? Do we

t r y

to g e t a b u l k m a i l i n g p e r m i t i f we

e v e r

g e t

more

t h a n 200

members)?

I s

t h e r e

anyone

who

w ant s to h a n d l e

t h e s e c o n c e r n s

o f

B abyl on?


5/8

A

membership form i s a t

the

end

of

t h i s

newslet ter . I have

a r b i t r a r i l y

se t

memberships

a t

ten

bucks. However, membership

fees may be waived for low-income types i f they pledge act ion

for E RTH FIRST.

L e t s

not go

overboard

on

t h i s , though. I f

you have the

l e t t u c e , send i t in . All of

you know

what i t costs

to get a new

organization

going. I f you don t

send

in a

mem

bership

(with or

without money you don t get no

mo

s t u f f

from E RTH

FIRST.

Contributions

in

excess

of

10

are most

welcome.

I w i l l

t r y

to d r a f t a general E RTH FIRST

brochure

including

membership applicat ion

next

month

and

send

i t

out for review. Do you have

suggestions

for

i t ? Do

yo u

want to review

the draf t?

Do

you want

to help on

layout

and

graphics?

Included in

t h i s

brochure

w i l l be

our s ta tement of

pr inc ip les .

Any

ideas on

t h i s ?

Future

members

by t h e i r signa-

ture w i l l be req uired to endorse t h i s statement of pr inc ip les .

By the way, membership in E RTH

FIRST

i s

conf ident ia l and our

membership w i l l

be

keep

s e c r e t .

We need ideas

for projects

for E RTH FIRST. A l i s t of some

ideas

i s

enclosed. Send

in

to me as well as comments

on

those

l i s t e d .

All

projects

w i l l

be

approved

by

the

CIRCLE.

These projects

a te

the

blood

of the o u t f i t . Remember

humor.

s

you know, our

Wilderness

Preserve l i s t

i s the focus

of

our

platform. Bowie i s

t rying to

clean up the l i s t t h a t

went

out

in

our f i r s t

memo. Send him your suggestions for addit ional

or a l t e r n a t i v e preserves and comments on the o r i g i n a l 35. We

need volunteers to

adopt

c e r t a i n preserves and

produce

a map,

write-up,

e t c . for

each.

s

soon

as we have

t h i s

preserve l i s t

in good

shape

we

can

release i t

to

the

media.

I f you do not

have a

copy of

the

o r i g i n a l l i s t of preserves and wish one,

send me unless you re broke

and

ll shoot

a copy

o f f to

youo

I

am

planning

several

r i v e r

t r i p s

next year and

hope

t h a t

act ive

members of E RTH FIRST w i l l be able to go with me. The t r i p s

are

Rio

Grande, Texas, in March, San

Juan,

Utah, in

May,

and

main Salmon,

Idaho, sometime in

summer. Each

t r i p

w i l l l a s t \

about

a week and w i l l coincide with

the

f u l l moon.

Let

me know

i f you re in teres ted . Also, Howie and

Roselle

are coming down

here

in

September for

a 100 mile backpack through the G ila Wil-

derness with Ron and me. This

might

be a good opportunity for

some of the lead ers of E RTH FIRST

to

get together in maybe

northern New Mexico for

a

meeting. Let me

know i f

you re

in -

te res ted a t l e a s t of you in Colorado).

E RTH

FIRST PROJECTS

LEG L

DEFENSE

FUN

1. Creation Myths Sui t - Radical c h r i s t i a n s have

f i l e d

s u i t in

several

s t a t e s

demanding tha t Genesis be taught in high school

biology

classes

along with evolution as a theory of the o r i g i n

of l i f e . E RTH

FIRST w i l l

sue demanding

t h a t

other

creation

myths also be

taught

(such

as the Earth

being carr ied

around

on

the

back

of a

giant

t u r t l e ) . I have

jus t

ordered a

book on

native

American creation myths, by the way,

Bob.


6/8

2. I I - what i s the s t a t u s of the Montana

sui t?

J.

Overgrazing - f i l e

s u i t

against the

Tonto Nat iona l Fo re st

for allowing the overgrazing which led to the

floods

t h i s

winter in

Phoenix.

An Arizonan needs to take t h i s on.

FUNDING

1.

EARTH FIRST

Calendar

- This

i s

a

gonzo calendar.

The

pic-

tures (photos

or

drawings) should be su it ab ly b iz a rr e, I have

one of

me

standing on

my r a f t p issin g in to Lake Foul, for

example.

We will l i s t a l l EARTH FIRST re l ig ious

holidays of

course

f u l l moon s o l s t i c e s ,

aphelion,

e t c . ) and

conservation

dates

(Aldo

Leopold s birthday, signing

of

the Wilderness Act,

e t c . ) , but, we p a r t i c u l a r i 1 y want gonzo dates l i k e S i t t i n g B u l l s

victory over

Custer ,

Mt. St.

Helens

erupt ion, death

of

Las

Cruces

Jeep

Club leader Fred HUff, the

outbreak

of the Black

Death

in

London,

and

the Teton

Dam collapse. You

get

the

idea.

Send me

s t u f f .

could make big bucks from

t h i s .

Radical Foundations

-

does

anyone

know

of any t h a t might

fund us?

Mother

Jones

had a

sho rt piece about

some

recent ly .

need someone in charge

of

fund r a i s i n g .

Who ll volunteer?

J. Ads - When

i s

avai lable ,

we should take out c l a s s i f i e d ads

in Outside,

Mother

Jones, etci Tired of

Namby-pamby

Environ-

mental

Groups? Join

the

Radical

Wilderness

Preservation Or-

gaftizationl EARTH FIRST. Write for info.

4.

Membership

Brochure

- should

get

our b rochu re

printed as

soon as we

can

and

d i s t r i b u t e

i t a t

conservation

meetings,

Earth Day f e s t i v i t i e s , backpacking

s t o r e s ,

and

in

response to inquir ies from our ads .

MEMORIALS

should get repr ints of the

Dry

Country News piece

on

Vic-

t o r i o Day for

d i s t r i b u t i o n . Other past

events also lend

them-

selves

to such action as

weIll

a plaque renaming Oliver Lee

State

Park

in

New Mexico the JUdge

Fountain State

Park,

a

l

monument

to the

heroes of the Johnson County War in Wyoming

e t c . You a l l

ought

to have some

great

ideas.

PRESS

RELEASES

We

should

have press

re leases

ready

to

go on various issues.

For

example,

we

could

have one

proposing

t h a t

s t a t e

lands

be

returned to the Federal government. The next there i s any

noise

about the Sagebrush Ripoff , we send

i t

out t o a l l

the

media and

get

some

a t t e n t i o n .

This type

of

thing

should

have

a l i t t l e

background

information

with i t . Langsenkamp

might

be

able to

work

the s t u f f

up

for the Sagebrush issue. The r e s t of

you

should

be

able to

come up

with other

good

ideas .

also

need

to develop a good media

l i s t to send

Press

releases

are

one

of

the

major ways

we

can gain pub lic

exposure

and notorie ty.

Will

someone

volunteer t o coordinate

our media

hype?

\


7/8

BLM

1. Fire

Gary Wicks how about a campaign by E RTH FIRST

to

demand that

Gary

Wicks,

BLM

State

D irector in Utah, be

f i red

for screwing

up

the

wilderness

review in

Utah?

2.

Prosecute

Cal

Black

how

about

a campaign

to

demand that

Cal

Black

and

other

southeast

Utah

pol i t icos

who

bulldozed

a

road into

a WS

to

celebrate

July

4

be

prosecuted and

sent to

ja i l?

We

should

have had a

press

re lease ready on t h i s by

the

way.

W TER

PROJECTS

For the water projects

b i l l in,1981, E RTH FIRST

could present

a

pet i t ion

to

Congress,

signed

by thousands

nation-wide,

demanding tha t Glen Canyon

Dam

be dismantled and Lake Foul

drained.

Done

r ight we could

get mucho public i ty

and

at t rac t

new members

as

well

as give the

porkbarrel

boys a

kick in the

caljones.

DIRTY TRICKS

How

about

a brochure by our

own

G

Gordon

Liddy

Professor

of

Pol i t i ca l Activism, Bob

L on

ways of

thwarting

wilderness

destruct ion

that

might not

be

found

in

the

polysci textbooks?

Of

course

we would

not

advocate

any

of th is

i t would

be for

entertainment

purposes only

These

are

merely

some

ideas

to get your

depraved

brains going.

CIRCLE should develop a detai led l i s t of p ro je cts fo r us

to choose

from. Once

we develop

a

l i s t

and set

pr io r i t i e s we

can

assign projects

to E RTH FIRST

members.

The

only way E RTH FIRST

wil l get

off

the

ground

is

i f

each of

you

s i t

down some evening,

drink

a

beer , read

a few

pages

Hunter

S Thompson, Ed

Abbey, Jerzy

Kosinski,

or

VS Naipal to

in

the

mood and respond to the

questions in

th is news-

l e t t e r

Tel l

me

what you think.

How should

we

be organized?

What wil l you do? What

do you

think of

the

projects suggested?

What projects can you suggest? Send me names and addresses of

others

who might

be

in teres ted Get

dithyrhambic

I \

One

f ina l

notel Howie Wolke

and

I should p robably apologize for

our egregiously obnoxious

behavior

at the Round River Rendezvous.

We also should p robably apologize for our

egregiously obnoxious

behavior

the

next time

we

get

together.

S t i l l

more

f inal ly l

ask

Howie, Mike

Roselle,

or me

about the chr is t ian crusader

tha t

attacked

us in

the

Cowboy

Cafe in

DuBois for bei ng invo lved

in

witchcraft

Happy

Tra i l s

Dave

Foreman

PO Box 38

Glenwood,

New

Mexico

88039 505 539-2645

\


8/8

EARTH

FIRST

MEMBERSHIP APPLIpATION

Name

_

Phone

6

Address

_

City

Zip

_

I enclose

1 or

more

___

I request a waiver

of dues

and

wil l

work my butt off instead __

RETURN TO DAVE FOREMAN PO BOX 38

GLENWOOD

88 39

COMMENTS

.

\

earth first! newsletter zero (1983)

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