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123-513: 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 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

246-450: A believe-it-or-not and a breezy travelogue." However, she discovered that her right to review the script did not extend to any control over its content. This led to many scientific inconsistencies inside the film. Despite Carson's requests to resolve these problems, Allen went forward with the script. He succeeded in producing a very successful documentary. It went on to win the 1953 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature . However, Carson

369-416: A book calling into question the paradigm of scientific progress that defined post-war American culture." The overriding theme of Silent Spring is the powerful—and often adverse—effect humans have on the natural world. Carson's main argument is that pesticides have detrimental effects on the environment; they are more properly termed biocides , she argues, because their effects are rarely limited to

492-722: A book. Several years of writing resulted in Under the Sea Wind (1941), which received excellent reviews but sold poorly. In the meantime, Carson's article-writing success continued with her features appearing in Sun Magazine , Nature , and Collier's . Carson attempted to leave the Bureau (by then transformed into the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ) in 1945. However, few jobs for naturalists were available, since most money for science

615-488: A broad audience and helped to focus opposition to DDT use. In 1994, an edition of Silent Spring was published with an introduction written by Vice President Al Gore . In 2012 Silent Spring was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society for its role in the development of the modern environmental movement. Starting in the mid-1940s, Carson had become concerned about

738-640: A chapter, "The Birth of an Island," which won the American Association for the Advancement of Science 's George Westinghouse Science Writing Prize. Beginning in June 1951, nine chapters were serialized in The New Yorker . On July 2, 1951, the book was published by Oxford University Press. The Sea Around Us remained on The New York Times Bestseller List for 86 weeks, was abridged by Reader's Digest , won

861-642: A constant occupation of the land while lawsuits and political actions locally and in Washington D.C., ultimately saved the land. Warner Creek is often seen an example of how the Earth First movement was successful, though most Earth First occupations of timber sales failed. In the summer of 1995, environmental activists attempted to occupy the old-growth timber sale area of Sugarloaf Mountain in Southern Oregon. The Sugarloaf Mountain had been in legal battles for over

984-509: A convoy of activists arrived at Willamette National Forest and set up tree platforms in "Squaw/Three timbersale", a location the group thought was threatened with imminent destruction. While at one point, up to a dozen trees were occupied, on July 10 a clash took down all the trees with platforms except for Ron Huber's after the other sitters had left for an overnight meeting elsewhere. Huber remained at his tree, dubbed Yggdrasil , until July 20 when two Linn County sheriff 's deputies were lifted in

1107-447: A crane box and wrestled him from the tree. After 1987, Earth First became primarily associated with direct action to prevent logging , building of dams , and other forms of development which may cause severe destruction of wildlife habitats or the despoliation of wild places. The change in direction attracted many new members to Earth First, some of whom came from a leftist or anarchist political background or were involved in

1230-401: A decade when the "Rider from Hell" was added in committee to the congressional Crime Bill of 1994, which mandated the logging of thousands of acres of old-growth forest. The United States Forest Service declared an exclusionary zone of 30 square miles in southern Oregon and arrested anyone in the area, including a local woman walking her dog. Over 100 federal agents, supported by helicopters and

1353-540: A dissertation on the embryonic development of the pronephros in fish. In June 1932, she earned a master's degree in zoology. She had intended to continue for a doctorate, however in 1934 Carson was forced to leave Johns Hopkins to search for a full-time teaching position to help support her family during the Great Depression . In 1935, Carson's father died suddenly, worsening their already critical financial situation and leaving Carson to care for her aging mother. At

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1476-409: A group of biodynamic agriculture organic market gardeners, their adviser, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer , other contacts, and their suite of legal actions (1957–1960) against the U.S. Government. According to recent research by Paull (2013), this may have been the primary and (for strategic reasons) uncredited source for Carson's book. Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards of Long Island, New York, contested

1599-419: A handful of new pesticides. However, further health troubles slowed the final revisions in 1961 and early 1962. While writing the book, Carson chose to hide her illness so that the pesticide companies could not use it against her (she worried that if the companies knew, they would use it as ammunition to make her book look untrustworthy and biased). Finding a title for the book proved difficult; "Silent Spring"

1722-548: A long and well-paid article on the topic from Carson, she began considering writing more than simply the introduction and conclusion as planned; soon, it was a solo project. (Diamond would later write one of the harshest critiques of Silent Spring ). As her research progressed, Carson found a sizable community of scientists who were documenting the physiological and environmental effects of pesticides. She also took advantage of her connections with many government scientists, who supplied her with confidential information. From reading

1845-489: A new living situation and studying specific environmental threats. By late 1957, Carson was closely following federal proposals for widespread pesticide spraying; the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) planned to eradicate fire ants . Other spraying programs involving chlorinated hydrocarbons and organophosphates were on the rise. For the rest of her life, Carson's main professional focus would be

1968-498: A new publisher). By this time, Carson's reputation for clear and poetical prose was well established; The Edge of the Sea received highly favorable reviews, if not quite as enthusiastic as for The Sea Around Us . Through 1955 and 1956, Carson worked on several projects—including the script for an Omnibus episode, "Something About the Sky"—and wrote articles for popular magazines. Her plan for

2091-430: A new trend of identifying Earth First as a mainstream movement rather than an organization. In 1992, Earth First's push toward the mainstream movement led to the creation of an offshoot group called Earth Liberation Front . The Earth Liberation Front was formally introduced during the 1992 "Earth First! Round River Rendezvous", where young activists debated the effectiveness of civil disobedience activism tactics in light of

2214-480: A number of their own brochures and articles promoting and defending pesticide use. However, Carson's and the publishers' lawyers were confident in the vetting process Silent Spring had undergone. The magazine and book publications proceeded as planned, as did the large Book-of-the-Month printing (which included a pamphlet endorsing the book by William O. Douglas). American Cyanamid biochemist Robert White-Stevens and former Cyanamid chemist Thomas Jukes were among

2337-486: A philosophy put forth by Arne Næss , Bill Devall, and George Sessions, which holds that all forms of life on Earth have equal value in and of themselves, without regard for their utility to human beings . Since 1990, action within the Earth First movement has become increasingly influenced by anarchist political philosophy . This change brought a rotation of the primary media organ in differing regions,, an aversion to organized leadership or administrative structure, and

2460-565: A plastic "crack" down Glen Canyon Dam ) with far-reaching wilderness proposals that reportedly surpassed the actions that mainstream environmental groups were willing to take (relying on conservation biology research from a biocentric perspective). The group's proposals were published in a periodical, Earth First! The Radical Environmental Journal , informally known as the Earth First! Journal . Edward Abbey often spoke at early gatherings, and his inspirational writings led him to be revered by

2583-403: A platform between them 20 feet in the air. The tripod was placed over trenches in which four activists were buried in quick-drying cement. Two additional activists used U-locks to lock their necks to the front axles of responding vehicles. U.S. Forest Service shot at activists and raided the land with a SWAT team armed with M-16s. 27 activists were arrested. William "Avalon" Rodgers , a member of

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2706-597: A protest camp at Twyford Down was started, against the M3 in Hampshire. Whilst Earth First groups still played an essential part, other groups such as the Dongas tribe soon formed. Alongside SchNEWS , such publications as the "Earth First! Action Update", and Do or Die were means of communication between the groups. The movement grew to other road protest camps including the Newbury bypass ,

2829-639: A redwood stump which was carried into California Congressman Frank Riggs ' office in Eureka . HeadWaters was an ongoing protest lasting over a decade, and ending in 2009. The 1990s lawsuit, Headwaters Forest Defense vs. Humboldt County, charged that police officers were using excessive force, including chemical weapons. The first acknowledged death of an Earth First activist occurred on September 18, 1998, in Northern California's Redwood forests. Earth First activist David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain attempted to protect

2952-482: A reversal in national pesticide policy, which led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides. It also inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter . Carson was born on May 27, 1907, on a family farm near Springdale, Pennsylvania , located by

3075-472: 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

3198-538: A ten-year retrospective of the Earth First by two of the founders Jake Bowers and Jason Torrance: We knew EF US's original hardline 'rednecks for wilderness' attitude wouldn't appeal here, so we set out to build a group that combined radical action and social justice to protect Britain's few remaining natural places. Seeing ecological and social justice as one and the same, in addition to organizing along anarchist lines and bringing in other radical and militant struggles, mixed with audacious actions and real radicalism spread

3321-521: A year or so of publication, the attacks on the book and Carson had largely lost momentum. In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President John F. Kennedy 's Science Advisory Committee. The committee issued its report on May 15, 1963, largely backing Carson's scientific claims. Following the report's release, she also testified before a United States Senate subcommittee to make policy recommendations. Though Carson received hundreds of other speaking invitations, she could not accept

3444-406: Is a form of ecodefense ). Often, disruptive direct action is used primarily as a stalling tactic in an attempt to prevent possible environmental destruction while Earth First lawsuits try to secure long-term victories. Reported tactics include road blockades, activists locking themselves to heavy equipment, tree-sitting, and sabotage of machinery. Earth First was known for providing information in

3567-508: Is one of the lawyers featured in the documentary. The documentary Who Bombed Judi Bari? , directed by Mary Liz Thomson, was released in 2012. The filmmakers are offering a $ 50,000 reward for information leading the arrest of the bomber. On March 21, 2011, a U.S. federal judge in California ordered the FBI to preserve evidence related to the car bombing. The FBI was planning to destroy all evidence in

3690-602: Is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease by controlling insect vectors of infection. However, it has heard little of the other side of the story—the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting. Carson further noted that "Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes" and emphasized

3813-607: The A30 and the M11 link road protest in London, where whole streets were squatted in order to slow down the construction work. Later the focus widened to other campaigns including Reclaim the Streets , anti-genetics campaigns, and Rising Tide . More recently, there have been groups such as Peat Alert! and Plane Stupid . The UK Earth First groups differed considerably from the U.S. groups as reported in

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3936-494: The Allegheny River near Pittsburgh . She was the daughter of Maria Frazier (McLean) and Robert Warden Carson, an insurance salesman. She spent a lot of time exploring around her family's 65-acre (26 ha) farm. An avid reader, she began writing stories, often involving animals, at age eight. At age ten, she had her first story published. She enjoyed reading St. Nicholas Magazine , which carried her first published stories,

4059-670: The Book of the Month for October; as she put it, this would "carry it to farms and hamlets all over that country that don't know what a bookstore looks like—much less The New Yorker ." Other publicity included a positive editorial in The New York Times and excerpts of the serialized version in Audubon magazine, with another round of publicity in July and August as chemical companies responded. The story of

4182-480: The Chesapeake Bay , based on her research for the series, to local newspapers and magazines. Carson's supervisor, pleased with the success of the radio series, asked her to write the introduction to a public brochure about the fisheries bureau; he also worked to secure her the first full-time position that became available. Sitting for the civil service exam, she outscored all other applicants and, in 1936, became

4305-644: The Cullum Geographical Medal (from the American Geographical Society ), and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters . Mike Roselle Mike Roselle (born 1954) is an American environmental activist and author who is a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Roselle is one of the co-founders of the radical environmental organization Earth First! , as well as of Rainforest Action Network ,

4428-755: The Earth First! Journal on the practice of tree-spiking and monkeywrenching (or ecotage), although there is no evidence that Earth First was involved in related activity. In 1990, Judi Bari convinced Earth First in the Northern California and Southern Oregon region to renounce the practice of tree-spiking, calling them counterproductive to an effort to form a coalition with workers and small logging businesses to defeat large-scale corporate logging in Northern California . Police used non-lethal weapons and tactics against Earth First protesters including pepper spray, pain compliance holds, police dogs, and

4551-476: 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 Earth !". The co-founders of the group were called to action during the second " Roadless Area Review and Evaluation " (RARE II) by the U.S. Forest Service , which they considered a sell-out by mainstream environmental advocates. The activists envisioned

4674-771: The Ruckus Society , and Climate Ground Zero . Roselle grew up in Louisville , Kentucky and moved to Los Angeles , California as a child in 1968. During his youth and after his relocation to California, Roselle became more interested in politics. Earth First! was founded in 1980 by Mike Roselle, Dave Foreman , Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Rainforest Action Network was founded in San Francisco in 1985 by Roselle and Randy Hayes. Roselle states that he has been arrested about 50 times in his career; he says that "it's hard to remember them all anymore." He participated

4797-443: The U.S. Bureau of Fisheries , and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award , recognition as a gifted writer and financial security. Its success prompted the republication of her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941), in 1952, which was followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955 — both were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy explores

4920-618: The Washington A16, 2000 protest, alongside environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill and United Steelworkers of America president George Becker . Roselle is the co-author of his biography, Tree Spiker: From Earth First! to Lowbagging: My Struggles in Radical Environmental Action (2009) . This biographical article about a United States activist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an environmental activist or conservationist

5043-631: The White House Conference on Conservation in May 1962; Houghton Mifflin distributed proof copies of Silent Spring to many of the delegates and promoted the upcoming New Yorker serialization. Among many others, Carson also sent a proof copy to Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas , a longtime environmental advocate who had argued against the court's rejection of the Long Island pesticide spraying case (and who had provided Carson with some of

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5166-656: The counterculture . Dave Foreman has suggested that this led to the introduction of activities such as a " puke -in" at a shopping mall, a flag burning , the heckling of Edward Abbey at the 1987 Earth First rendezvous, and back-and-forth debates in the Earth First! Journal on topics such as anarchism, with which Foreman and other Earth First members did not wish to be associated. Most of the group's older members, including Dave Foreman, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, Christopher Manes, George Wuerthner, and Earth First! Journal editor John Davis, became increasingly uncomfortable with this new direction. This tension reportedly led several of

5289-688: The threat of guns in attempts to coerce the protesters to abandon their lock downs. The movement in the United Kingdom started in 1990, when a group in Hastings , Sussex organised an action at Dungeness nuclear power station in Kent . It grew rapidly, and many groups formed, with or without the EF name, over the next years. The first major Earth First action happened in December 1991 at Port of Tilbury and focused around

5412-452: The "Cove-Mallard Coalition". With the aid of a nearby landowner, a former land developer turned activist, Earth First occupied the forest. As a result, Earth First succeeded in saving most of the threatened wilderness area. Over 350 people from 12 countries were arrested and the project was reduced from its initial plan of 200 clear-cuts and the construction of seven new roads, to 37 clear-cuts and two new roads. In June 1993, Earth First halted

5535-448: The "EF! Action Update" has been joined by the "EF! Action Reports website" and a yearly Earth First national gathering. At the first gathering in Sussex the debate focused on the use of criminal damage as a protest technique. Earth First decided to neither 'condemn nor condone' criminal damage, instead it focused more on non-violent direct action techniques. Some people at the gathering coined

5658-419: The "Lost Woods." In early 1957, a family tragedy struck for the third time when one of her nieces she had cared for since the 1940s died at the age of 31, leaving her 5-year-old son, Roger Christie, an orphan. Carson took on the responsibility for Roger when she adopted him, along with caring for her aging mother. Carson moved to Silver Spring, Maryland to care for Roger and spent much of 1957 putting together

5781-533: The 1952 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the John Burroughs Medal , and resulted in Carson being awarded two honorary doctorates. She licensed a documentary film based on it, The Sea , whose success led to republication of Under the Sea Wind , which became a bestseller. With success, came financial security; in 1952, Carson was able to give up her job in order to concentrate on writing full-time. Carson

5904-569: The EF ideal to other countries and helped morph the US movement. Earth First member Mark Davis was sentenced in Federal court to six years in prison for malicious destruction of property at the Fairfield Snowbowl Ski Resort near Flagstaff, Arizona , in concert with David Foreman, Ilse Asplund, Margaret Millett, and Mark Baker. Davis had been charged with "using a torch to cut around the base of

6027-535: The Earth Liberation Front, who alongside the rest of his ELF group was also arrested and were serving life sentences in federal prison for crimes that involved property damage. Rodgers was a long term Earth First activist, and one of the occupation activists of Free Cascadia/Warner Creek Oregon and the Cove/Mallard Idaho protests for years and one of four who constantly camped out in snow-caves monitoring

6150-508: The USDA's Agricultural Research Service responded to the criticism by Carson and others with a public service film, Fire Ant on Trial ; Carson characterized it as "flagrant propaganda " that ignored the dangers that spraying pesticides (especially dieldrin and heptachlor ) posed to humans and wildlife. That spring, Carson wrote a letter, published in The Washington Post , that attributed

6273-639: The United States to the Willamette National Forest of Western Oregon . After finding road blockades (carried out by Corvallis -based Cathedral Forest Action Group) were not an efficient form of protection against logging, Marylander Ron Huber and Washingtonian Mike Jakubal devised tree sitting as a more effective civil disobedience alternative. On May 23, 1985, Mike Jakubal led the first Earth First tree sit. When U.S. Forest Service law enforcement official Steve Slagowski arrived, Mike Roselle , Ron Huber, and others were arrested for sitting at

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6396-404: The advice given by the director of Holland's Plant Protection Service: "Practical advice should be 'Spray as little as you possibly can' rather than 'Spray to the limit of your capacity' ... Pressure on the pest population should always be as slight as possible." Carson and the others involved with the publication of Silent Spring expected fierce criticism. They were particularly concerned about

6519-432: The aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). They compiled their evidence and shared it with Carson, who used it, their extensive contacts, and the trial transcripts as a primary input for Silent Spring . Carson wrote of the content as "a gold mine of information" and says, "I feel guilty about the mass of your material I have here" and makes multiple references to Pfeiffer and his correspondence. By 1959,

6642-542: The aggressive tactics of the chemical industry representatives, which included expert testimony that was firmly contradicted by the bulk of the scientific literature she had been studying. She also wondered about the possible "financial inducements behind certain pesticide programs." Research at the Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health brought Carson into contact with medical researchers investigating

6765-465: The argument she made in Silent Spring was that even if DDT and other insecticides had no environmental side effects, their indiscriminate overuse was counter-productive because it would create insect resistance, making them useless in eliminating the target insect populations: No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself

6888-416: The base of the tree in support. The first "tree-sitting" lasted less than a day—Jakubal came down in the evening to look over the remains of the forest that had been cut down around him, and was arrested by a hidden Forest Service officer—but the tree-sitting concept was deemed sound by Earth First! members. Huber, Jakubal, and Roselle demonstrated the concept at the June 14 Washington EF Rendezvous; on June 23,

7011-650: The birth defect-causing drug thalidomide broke just before the book's publication as well, inviting comparisons between Carson and Frances Oldham Kelsey , the Food and Drug Administration reviewer who had blocked the drug's sale in the United States. In the weeks leading up to the September 27, 1962, publication, there was strong opposition to Silent Spring from the chemical industry. DuPont (a main manufacturer of DDT and 2,4-D ) and Velsicol Chemical Corporation (exclusive manufacturer of chlordane and heptachlor ) were among

7134-667: The book's scientific claims; public opinion soon turned Carson's way as well. The chemical industry campaign backfired, as the controversy greatly increased public awareness of potential pesticide dangers, as well as Silent Spring book sales. Pesticide use became a major public issue, especially after the CBS Reports TV special The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson that aired April 3, 1963. The program included segments of Carson reading from Silent Spring and interviews with several other experts, mostly critics (including White-Stevens); according to biographer Linda Lear , "in juxtaposition to

7257-415: The car of Earth First activist Judi Bari , injuring Bari and fellow activist Darryl Cherney . Bari and Cherney were arrested due to suspicions by the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation that they had been transporting a bomb that had accidentally exploded. Bari contended that extremists opposed to her pro-environmental actions had placed the bomb in her car in order to kill her. The case against them

7380-461: The case. The bombing remains unsolved. Most activists of Earth First have previously participated in more moderate forms of environmental and political activism, including protest marches and writing letters to politicians. 'Fawn", an Earth Firster in the United States, grew up as a Republican, in a middle-class family. Most members of Earth First identify as decentralized , locally informed activists whose ideas stem from communitarian ethics . One of

7503-671: The closing of the Telluride Ski Resort in Mountain Village, Colorado using a chemical to write messages on 11 greens, such as "Earth First!", "Hayduke lives" and "Ron you pig". In relation to the incident, the Telluride Times Journal received a letter signed "Earth First" stating that the ski lift had been sabotaged with a welding gas applied to the lift cable that weakens the metal. A gas pipeline in Aspen Colorado

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7626-523: The construction of the Noble Road by erecting elaborate multi-layered barricades, which included U.S. Forest Service vehicles. These barricades were constructed in one night, during which activists traveled 17 miles through the mountains dodging law enforcement patrols who had been informed of the planned demonstration. The first tripod lockdowns occurred at this incident, which involved three 30 foot logs, tied together and placed upright, with an activist tied to

7749-470: The cover. The final writing was the first chapter, A Fable for Tomorrow , which Carson intended as a gentle introduction to what might otherwise be a forbiddingly serious topic. By mid-1962, Brooks and Carson had essentially finished the editing and were laying the groundwork for promoting the book by sending the manuscript out to select individuals for final suggestions. Biographer Mark Hamilton Lytle writes that Carson "quite self-consciously decided to write

7872-412: The cult of the balance of nature," while former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson , in a letter to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower , reportedly concluded that because she was unmarried despite being physically attractive, she was "probably a Communist ." Many critics repeatedly asserted that she was calling for the elimination of all pesticides. However, Carson had made it clear she

7995-435: The dangers of pesticide overuse. Silent Spring , Carson's most influential book, was published by Houghton Mifflin on September 27, 1962. The book described the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment, and is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement . Carson was not the first or the only person to raise concern about DDT, but her combination of "scientific knowledge and poetic writing" reached

8118-427: The definite rating of a "chemical carcinogen." Carson predicted increased consequences in the future, especially as targeted pests develop pesticide resistance . At the same time, weakened ecosystems fall prey to unanticipated invasive species . The book closes with a call for a biotic approach to pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides. Regarding DDT, Carson never called for an outright ban. Part of

8241-536: The early critics of Earth First's change in tactics later accused the FBI of deliberately introducing the concept of Non-Violence to the group. In various parts of the United States, individual citizens and small groups form the base for grassroots political actions. These may take the form of legal actions, including protests , timber sale appeals, and educational campaigns or civil disobedience , including tree sitting , road blockades , and sabotage (also called " ecotage " by some Earth First members, who claim it

8364-663: The early movement. An annual gathering of the group was known as the Round River Rendezvous, with the name taken from an Ojibwa myth about a continuous river of life flowing into and out of itself and sustaining all relations. The rendezvous is a celebration with art and music, as well as an activist conference with workshops and recounts of past actions. Musicians such as Dana Lyons, Judi Bari, Daryl Cherney, Joanne Rand, Bart Koehler, Casey Neill and others performed regularly on Earth First! promotional roadshows as well as at gatherings, protests and blockades. Another project led by

8487-460: The elite US Army Ranger-trained law enforcement squad known as "Camo-Feddies," arrested hundreds of activists. The environmental activists engaged at all levels of protest with numerous public and illegal demonstrations by Earth First, protests at government offices locally and in Washington D.C., tree-sits in active logging zones, and even an attempted helicopter pad lock-down to immobilize logging helicopters. One tree from Sugarloaf timber sale, which

8610-783: The ever-increasing destruction of the planet by human activity. Elders of the Earth First movement gave their blessing to this newly formed strike team known as ELF. ELF became the extremists of the environmental movement, just as the Earth First movement itself had been when it was created a decade earlier. Earth First protests commonly involved occupations of forested timber sale areas and other threatened natural areas. In these protests, dozens of people physically locked their bodies to trees, bulldozers, and desks using specially created lock boxes (metal tubes reinforced with rebar) through which protesters threaded their arms, or using bicycle U-locks in order to lock their necks to other objects. The HeadWaters campaign in Northern California aimed to protect

8733-437: The evidence for the toxicity of a wide array of synthetic pesticides was clear-cut, though such conclusions were very controversial beyond the small community of scientists studying pesticide carcinogenesis . By 1960, Carson had more than enough research material, and the writing was progressing rapidly. In addition to the thorough literature search, she had investigated hundreds of individual incidents of pesticide exposure and

8856-449: The first to respond. DuPont compiled an extensive report on the book's press coverage and estimated impact on public opinion. Velsicol threatened legal action against Houghton Mifflin and The New Yorker and Audubon unless the planned Silent Spring features were canceled. Chemical industry representatives and lobbyists also lodged a range of non-specific complaints, some anonymously. Chemical companies and associated organizations produced

8979-594: The first two years of their friendship..." According to one reviewer, the pair "fit Carolyn Heilbrun 's characterization of a strong female friendship, where what matters is 'not whether friends are homosexual or heterosexual, lovers or not, but whether they share the wonderful energy of work in the public sphere.'" According to her biographer, Linda Lear , there was a disagreement about the final arrangements for Rachel. Her brother, Robert Carson, insisted that her cremated remains be buried beside their mother in Maryland. This

9102-685: The forest by trespassing inside an active logging site. During the logging operations, a large redwood was cut down by a Pacific Lumber logger and fell upon Chain, who died instantly. Between 1992 and 1998 took place the largest timber sale in United States Forest Service history, the Cove-Mallard timber sale of 6,000 acres in Idaho near the Nez Perce National Forest . The group of EarthFirst activists focused on this area were called

9225-486: The founders to sever their ties to Earth First in 1990. Many of them went on to launch the magazine, Wild Earth , as well as the environmental group, the Wildlands Project . On the other hand, Roselle, along with activists such as Judi Bari , welcomed the new direct-action tactics and leftist direction of Earth First. Starting in the mid-1980s, Earth First increasingly promoted and identified with " deep ecology ",

9348-403: The gamut of cancer-causing chemicals. Of particular significance was the work of National Cancer Institute researcher and environmental cancer section founding director Wilhelm Hueper , who classified many pesticides as carcinogens . Carson and her research assistant Jeanne Davis, with the help of NIH librarian Dorothy Algire, found evidence to support the pesticide-cancer connection; to Carson,

9471-542: The government's exact spraying practices and the related research. Carson began the four-year project of what would become Silent Spring by gathering examples of environmental damage attributed to DDT. She also attempted to enlist others to join the cause, such as essayist E. B. White and several journalists and scientists. By 1958, Carson had arranged a book deal, with plans to co-write with Newsweek science journalist Edwin Diamond. However, when The New Yorker commissioned

9594-542: The great majority of them. Her health was steadily declining as her cancer outpaced the radiation therapy, with only brief periods of remission. She spoke as much as she was physically able, however, including a notable appearance on The Today Show and speeches at several dinners held in her honor. In late 1963, she received a flurry of awards and honors: the Audubon Medal (from the National Audubon Society ),

9717-533: The human sickness and ecological damage that resulted. However, in January, a duodenal ulcer followed by several infections kept her bedridden for weeks, greatly delaying the completion of Silent Spring . As she was nearing full recovery in March (just as she was completing drafts of the two cancer chapters of her book), she discovered cysts in her left breast, one of which necessitated a mastectomy . Though her doctor described

9840-600: The importation of tropical hardwood. The second major action, the Merseyside Dock Action , attracted between 200–600 people who occupied Liverpool docks for two days. This action coincided with the Earth First roadshow, in which a group of UK & US Earth Firsters toured the country. Other early campaigns also focused on timber-yards, most notably the Timbmet yard in Oxford. There are now various regional Earth First groups,

9963-502: The last old-growth redwood forests, Headwaters Grove (now known as Headwaters Forest Reserve ) 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of forest from logging by the Pacific Lumber Company . Charles Hurwitz and his company Maxxam, Inc. purchased Pacific Lumber Company in 1985, and planned to liquidate its assets including these old-growth forests . In May 1987, sawmill worker George Alexander lost several teeth and fractured his jaw when

10086-587: The material included in her chapter on herbicides). Though Silent Spring had generated a relatively high level of interest based on pre-publication promotion, this became much more intense with the serialization in The New Yorker , which began on June 16, 1962, issue. This brought the book to the attention of the chemical industry and its lobbyists and a wide swath of the American populace. Around that time, Carson also learned that Silent Spring had been selected as

10209-402: 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!". Earth First was founded on April 4, 1980, by Dave Foreman , Mike Roselle , Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. During the group's early years (1980–1986), Earth First mixed publicity stunts (such as rolling

10332-518: The most aggressive critics, especially of Carson's analysis of DDT. According to White-Stevens, "If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth." Others went further, attacking Carson's scientific credentials (because her training was in marine biology rather than biochemistry) and her character. White-Stevens labeled her "...a fanatic defender of

10455-692: The next book was to address evolution . However, the publication of Julian Huxley 's Evolution in Action —and her own difficulty in finding a clear and compelling approach to the topic—led her to abandon the project. Instead, her interests were turning to conservation. She considered an environment-themed book project tentatively titled Remembrance of the Earth and became involved with The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups. She also made plans to buy and preserve from development an area in Maine she and Freeman called

10578-582: The only logging of Noble Road in the winter of January to March 1995 in 12-foot deep snow and sub-zero temps. During Free Cascadia, a mass occupation organized by Earth First at the Warner Creek timber sale in Oregon, 50-plus activists continuously occupied the burnt forested mountains of Oregon for a year in 1994-1995. They endured bad weather and law enforcement raids. Their barricades which were dug in reinforced trenches, forts with watchtowers, and tree-sits enabled

10701-507: The organization at this time was the creation of Earth First! Foundation , a tax-deductible fund which was established to provide financial support for research, advocacy and education by Earth First activists. The fund was later renamed the Fund for Wild Nature in 1991. In the spring of 1985, a nationwide call to action against the logging company Willamette Industries , published in the Earth First! Journal brought Earth First members from around

10824-517: The possibility of being sued for libel . Carson was also undergoing radiation therapy to combat her spreading cancer and expected to have little energy to devote to defending her work and responding to critics. In preparation for the anticipated attacks, Carson and her agent attempted to amass as many prominent supporters as possible before the book's release. Most of the book's scientific chapters were reviewed by scientists with relevant expertise, among whom Carson found strong support. Carson attended

10947-473: The procedure as precautionary and recommended no further treatment, by December, Carson discovered that the tumor was malignant and the cancer had metastasized . Her research was also delayed by revision work for a new edition of The Sea Around Us and by a collaborative photo essay with Erich Hartmann . Most of the research and writing was done by the fall of 1960, except for the discussion of recent research on biological pest controls and investigations of

11070-478: The recent decline in bird populations—in her words, the "silencing of birds"—to pesticide overuse. That was also the year of the "Great Cranberry Scandal": the 1957, 1958, and 1959 crops of U.S. cranberries were found to contain high levels of the herbicide aminotriazole (which caused cancer in laboratory rats), and the sale of all cranberry products was halted. Carson attended the subsequent FDA hearings on revising pesticide regulations; she came away discouraged by

11193-608: The relationship, but much of their correspondence was carefully guarded. Some believe Freeman and Carson's relationship was romantic in nature. One of the letters from Carson to Freeman reads: "But, oh darling, I want to be with you so terribly that it hurts!", while in another, Freeman writes: "I love you beyond expression... My love is boundless as the Sea." Carson's last letter to Freeman before her death ends with: "Never forget, dear one, how deeply I have loved you all these years." Shortly before Carson's death, she and Freeman destroyed hundreds of letters. The surviving correspondence

11316-570: The rocky shores of Sheepscot Bay in Maine. Early in 1953, Carson began library and field research on the ecology and organisms of the Atlantic shore. In 1955, she completed the third volume of her sea trilogy, The Edge of the Sea , which focuses on life in coastal ecosystems, particularly along the Eastern Seaboard . It appeared in The New Yorker in two condensed installments shortly before its October 26 book release by Houghton Mifflin (again

11439-486: The saw he was operating struck an 11-inch spike and fragmented, sending shrapnel into his face. This incident, which occurred at the Cloverdale Louisiana-Pacific mill in northern California, is alleged to have been caused by tree-spiking by Earth First! members, but no conclusive evidence has been found to prove this. In 1997, as part of the ongoing HeadWaters Redwoods protests, activists locked themselves to

11562-400: The scientific literature and interviewing scientists, Carson found two scientific camps when it came to pesticides: those who dismissed the possible danger of pesticide spraying barring conclusive proof, and those who were open to the possibility of harm and willing to consider alternative methods such as biological pest control . She also found significant support and extensive evidence from

11685-405: The second woman hired by the Bureau of Fisheries for a full-time professional position, as a junior aquatic biologist. Using her research and consultations with marine biologists as starting points, she wrote a steady stream of articles for The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers. However, her family responsibilities further increased in January 1937 when her older sister died, leaving Carson as

11808-611: The sole breadwinner for her mother and two nieces. In July 1937, the Atlantic Monthly accepted a revised version of an essay, The World of Waters , that she originally wrote for her first fisheries bureau brochure. Her supervisor had deemed it too good for that purpose. The essay, published as Undersea , was a vivid narrative of a journey along the ocean floor. It marked a major turning point in Carson's writing career. Publishing house Simon & Schuster , impressed by Undersea , contacted Carson and suggested that she expand it into

11931-553: The spraying of private land. Landowners on Long Island filed a lawsuit to have the spraying stopped, and many in affected regions followed the case closely. Though the suit was lost, the Supreme Court granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future; this laid the basis for later successful environmental actions. The Audubon Naturalist Society also actively opposed such spraying programs and recruited Carson to help make public

12054-513: The subject of so much subsequent debate, Carson only briefly mentions the topic: In laboratory tests on animal subjects, DDT has produced suspicious liver tumors. Scientists of the Food and Drug Administration who reported the discovery of these tumors were uncertain how to classify them but felt there was some "justification for considering them low grade hepatic cell carcinomas." Dr. Hueper [author of Occupational Tumors and Allied Diseases ] now gives DDT

12177-471: The subject unappealing; she published nothing on DDT until 1962. Carson rose within the Fish and Wildlife Service, and in 1945 was supervising a small writing staff. In 1949, she was appointed chief editor of publications, which allowed her increased opportunities for fieldwork and freedom in choosing her writing projects; however, it also entailed increasingly tedious administrative responsibilities. By 1948, Carson

12300-519: The target pests. DDT is a prime example, but other synthetic pesticides come under scrutiny, many of which are subject to bioaccumulation . Carson also accuses the chemical industry of intentionally spreading disinformation and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically. Most of the book is devoted to pesticides' effects on natural ecosystems. However, four chapters also detail cases of human pesticide poisoning, cancer, and other illnesses attributed to pesticides. Regarding DDT and cancer,

12423-487: The term Earth Liberation Front (ELF), which became a separate movement and spread back to the US. Actions involving criminal damage often happened under cover of night, typically done under an ELF banner and attributed to elves and pixies , or the Earth Liberation Faeries, giving a distinctly British feel to the movement. Major growth in the direct action movement started with a concurrent focus on roads, and

12546-581: The top of her class of 44 students. In high school, Carson was said to have been somewhat of a loner. Carson gained admission to Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University , in Pittsburgh , where she originally studied English but switched her major to biology in January 1928. She continued contributing to the school's student newspaper and literary supplement. She was admitted to graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1928, but

12669-497: The top pylon of the main chair lift at Snowbowl on October 25, 1988." The resort attack, sabotage at Energy Fuels' Canyon uranium mine (6 miles southeast of Tusayan, Arizona ), and attempting to cut down power-line towers leading to the Central Arizona Project aqueduct, were characterized as dress rehearsals for attacks on nuclear plants. On August 10, 1991, vandals identifying themselves as members of Earth First forced

12792-558: The urging of her undergraduate biology mentor Mary Scott Skinker, Carson secured a temporary position with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries , where she wrote radio copy for a series of weekly educational broadcasts called Romance Under the Waters . The series of 52 seven-minute programs focused on aquatic life and was intended to generate public interest in fish biology and the bureau's work, a task that several writers before Carson had not managed. Carson also began submitting articles on marine life in

12915-504: The use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the military funding of science since World War II . However, the United States federal government 's 1957 gypsy moth, now called spongy moth , eradication program prompted Carson to devote her research and her next book to pesticides and environmental poisons. The gypsy moth program involved aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil , including

13038-415: The valley's only road to protect the area. A female Earth First activist known as "Ocean" held the road for a day as police attempted to remove this human-and-cement blockade, allowing Earth First to dig in farther down the valley. This was the start of two-year-long occupation protest, during which a pickup truck was turned into a lock box to block the only bridge to the valley. In 1990, a bomb exploded in

13161-422: The whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths. Late in the 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially some problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides . The result was the book Silent Spring (1962), which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented share of the American people. Although Silent Spring was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, it spurred

13284-468: The wild-eyed, loud-voiced Dr. Robert White-Stevens in white lab coat, Carson appeared anything but the hysterical alarmist that her critics contended." Reactions from the estimated audience of ten to fifteen million were overwhelmingly positive, and the program spurred a congressional review of pesticide dangers and the public release of a pesticide report by the President's Science Advisory Committee . Within

13407-411: The works of Beatrix Potter , the novels of Gene Stratton-Porter , and in her teen years, Herman Melville , Joseph Conrad , and Robert Louis Stevenson . The natural world, particularly that of the ocean, was the common thread of her favorite literature. Carson attended Springdale's small school through tenth grade, and then completed high school in nearby Parnassus, Pennsylvania , graduating in 1925 at

13530-606: The writer as well as the woman." She found this in Freeman. The two women had common interests, nature chief among them, and began exchanging letters regularly while apart. They shared summers for the remainder of Carson's life and met whenever else their schedules permitted. Concerning the depth of their relationship, commentators have said: "the expression of their love was limited almost wholly to letters and very occasional farewell kisses or holding of hands". Freeman shared parts of Carson's letters with her husband to help him understand

13653-490: Was a four day long tree-sit by a local father and son Earth First team, required 9 log trucks to carry it out in sections. This tree was estimated to be over 400 years old and took twenty-seven minutes to cut down using a 7-foot chainsaw. Earth First responded by immediately occupying the nearby timber sale known as China Left in early October 1995 to defend the old-growth forest and the last wild salmon spawning grounds in Oregon. EF activists used dragon lock-boxes on both ends of

13776-430: Was against her wishes to be buried in Maine. In the end, a compromise was reached. Carson's wishes were carried out by an organizing committee, including her agent (Marie Rodell), her editor (Paul Brooks), and Dorothy Freeman. In the spring of 1964, Dorothy received half of Rachel's ashes in the mail sent to her by Robert Carson. In the summer of that year, Dorothy carried out Rachel's final wishes, scattering her ashes along

13899-400: Was conducted mainly through letters and during summers spent together in Maine. Over 12 years, they exchanged around 900 letters. Many of these were published in the book Always, Rachel , published in 1995 by Beacon Press . Carson's biographer, Linda J. Lear , writes that "Carson sorely needed a devoted friend and kindred spirit who would listen to her without advising and accept her wholly,

14022-448: Was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence. Bari died of cancer in 1997, but her federal lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland, California police resulted in a 2002 jury verdict awarding her estate and Darryl Cherney a total of $ 4.4 million. A documentary movie about the court case, entitled The Forest for the Trees , was released in 2006. It was directed by Bernadine Mellis, whose father

14145-460: Was focused on technical fields in the wake of the Manhattan Project . In mid-1945, Carson first encountered the subject of DDT , a revolutionary new pesticide—lauded as the "insect bomb" after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki —that was only beginning to undergo tests for safety and ecological effects. DDT was one of Carson's many writing interests at the time, but editors found

14268-769: Was forced to remain at the Pennsylvania College for Women for her senior year due to financial difficulties; she graduated magna cum laude in 1929. After a summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory , she continued her studies in zoology and genetics at Johns Hopkins in the fall of 1929. After her first year of graduate school, Carson became a part-time student, taking an assistantship in Raymond Pearl 's laboratory, where she worked with rats and Drosophila , to earn money for tuition. After false starts with pit vipers and squirrels , she completed

14391-486: Was initially suggested as a title for the chapter on birds. By August 1961, Carson finally agreed to the suggestion of her literary agent Marie Rodell: Silent Spring would be a metaphorical title for the entire book, suggesting a bleak future for the whole natural world, rather than a single chapter title about the literal absence of birdsong. With Carson's approval, editor Paul Brooks at Houghton Mifflin arranged for illustrations by Louis and Lois Darling, who also designed

14514-465: Was inundated with requests for speaking engagements, fan mail and other correspondence regarding The Sea Around Us , along with work on the script that she had secured the right to review. She was very unhappy with the final version of the script by writer, director, and producer Irwin Allen ; she found it untrue to the atmosphere of the book and scientifically embarrassing, describing it as "a cross between

14637-545: Was not advocating the banning or complete withdrawal of helpful pesticides but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals' impact on the entire ecosystem. In fact, she concludes her section on DDT in Silent Spring not by urging a total ban but with advice for spraying as little as possible to limit the development of resistance. The academic community, including prominent defenders such as H. J. Muller , Loren Eiseley , Clarence Cottam , and Frank Egler , by and large, backed

14760-457: Was published in 1995 as Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952–1964: An Intimate Portrait of a Remarkable Friendship , edited by Martha Freeman, Dorothy's granddaughter, who wrote at publication: "A few comments in early letters indicate that Rachel and Dorothy were initially cautious about the romantic tone and terminology of their correspondence. I believe this caution prompted their destruction of some letters within

14883-486: Was sabotaged turning off heat to 3,500 people on December 29, 2020. The perpetrators wrote "Earth First!" on the pipeline. Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist , writer, and conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) are credited with advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement . Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in

15006-400: Was so embittered by the experience that she never again sold film rights to her work. Carson met Dorothy M. Freeman in the summer of 1953 on Southport Island, Maine . Freeman had written to Carson welcoming her to the area when she had heard that the famous author was to become her neighbor. It was the beginning of a devoted friendship that lasted the rest of Carson's life. Their relationship

15129-585: Was working on material for a second book and decided to begin a transition to writing full-time. That year, she took on a literary agent, Marie Rodell ; they formed a close professional relationship that would last the rest of Carson's career. Oxford University Press expressed interest in Carson's book proposal for a life history of the ocean, spurring her to complete by early 1950 the manuscript of what would become The Sea Around Us . Chapters appeared in Science Digest and The Yale Review , which published

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