The case for radical environmentalism: save the Earth First!

Dec 1 06:51 UTC 1995

        Sometimes reform environmentalism is ineffective, especialy when
it comes to protecting ancient forests, or stopping dam building projects.
This will only get worse if the congress passes the new gutted versions
of the endangered species act, the clean water act.
        Ofcourse people should try to first use legal means to protect the
environment, but when this fails (and it often does) I think it is more
moral to take direct action than let the forces of greed destroy our
last remaining wild areas.  For example there are only 10% of the old
growth forests left in the Pacific Northwest.  Often times lumber companies
will cut the oldest trees first in a process known as "high grading." 
When this occurs there isn't time to go through the system, often they
will cut the oldest trees out of an area in a couple of weeks. I could
cite numerous examples of when this has occured, but I'll let you do the
homework, check out any current or back issue of the Earth First Journal
                                                       POB 1415
                                                       Eugene Or,
                                                        97440
        Another good source of information is Greenpeace.  For people local
Ann Arbor, Greenpeace has an office on 4th St. near Kerry Town.

response 2 of 6:

Dec 2 17:36 UTC 1995

        Well Earth First! did invent monkeywrenching, Edward Abbey who wrote
"The Monkey Wrench Gang" was a long time Earth Firster!  However, most
Earth First! groups in the last 3 years have disavowed monkey wrenching
because they want to able to work with loggers who are sympathetic to
the overkill of clear cutting.  Judi Bari (Earth Firster! who had her car
blown up by unknown perns) was originaly a labor organizer, she has had
some success working witth loggers in Northern California and Oregon.
        Today direct action means tree sitting, locking yourself to gates
to block logging trucks, etc.

response 4 of 6:

Oct 13 12:08 UTC 1997

Did you miss the Tour-De-Sprawl last week?  I wish I would have known
about it.

response 6 of 6:

Oct 14 11:02 UTC 1997

It was a bicycle tour of Ann Arbor and its surrounds.  First they visited
the Burns Park area and pointed out the close housing on small lots, many
front porches or houses close to pretty narrow streets.  Then they rode
out to the surrounding area where developers are building the community of
today where huge houses are situated far back on large parcels of land
with large Chem-Lawned, mowed expanses of perfect grass on wide roads
sprawl across the land.  They then did a contrast and compare.
 
I have studied this subject some and hope to avoid many of the pitfalls
other sprawl communities face as I build a house on a two acre parcel...