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- there is a largely ignored ecosystem, such as B.C.'s marine
ecosystems, garry oak meadows, ponderosa pine forests, or
grasslands, the time is ripe for Earth First! involvement.
2. When mainstream groups seriously start to compromise on key
elements of an issue. Earth First!'s hard line presence will help
to keep other groups from compromising too much by giving them
more room to manuevre in dealing with the opposition. Earth
First! makes mainstream groups look more moderate, otherwise the
mainstreamers are considered "radical" and are marginalized.
3. When there is a need for direct action. When all other
channels have been used and have failed, and that special
ecosystem is about to be ravaged, Earth First! needs to step in
and buy time until legal means and political pressure halts the
destruction. However, the use of the Earth First! name is not
necessarily the best for all actions, especially if the issue is
already in the media spotlignt and doesn't require Earth First!'s
name to draw sufficient attention to it. Using the Earth First!
name may sometimes, or often, alienate potential supporters.
Remember: it is not the environmental movement that counts, just
the environment.
When you choose an issue, stick to it until you've achieved
some concrete results. Jumping around on the issues map does
little to further any of the issues at all. Concentrate on a pet
issue or a couple campaigns, while lending support to other's
campaigns.
Establishing an Earth First! Chapter
To start an Earth First! chapter, all it takes is one or a
couple dedicated people to build up the group and organize
actions. Good places to recruit members are canvassing crews of
environmental groups like Greenpeace, through interested people
signing up after slideshows and other events, and through word of
mouth to other environmentalists. You'll need to rent a postal
box to be listed in the Earth First! Journal directory for anyone
to send mail to - using your own address gives intelligence
sources a~d hostile opposition members the opportunity to monitor
and harass you.
At the beginning of the initial meetings, go around the
circle and have everyone introduce themselves (first names only),
their interests, and perhaps their past experiences. This helps
to break the ice. Go out of your way to be openly friendly to all
new members to make them feel welcome. Ask them what they're into
and make it known that their help and participation is needed.
Too many Earth First! groups break up because new members fail to
come back, often due to an underlying, unfriendly, "more radical
than thou" atmosphere. Before every meeting, think of actions and
campaigns to do and all the necessary details to achieve them.
Never go into a meeting planning to brainstorm from scratch - there
will usually be uneasy silence with the only result being
plans to meet next time. Lead the group when necessary, but don't
dominate. Not only divide up tasks so that everyone has something
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