The Wilderness Society Between 1973 and 1980, he worked for
The Wilderness Society as Southwest Regional Representative in
New Mexico Earth First! In April 1980, Foreman and friends Howie Wolke, Ron Kezar, Bart Koehler, and
Mike Roselle took a week-long hiking trip in the
Pinacate Desert. It was during this trip that Foreman is believed to have coined the phrase "Earth First!" The group used
direct action tactics, and in contrast with the cautious lobbying efforts of the established environmental organizations, "
monkeywrenching"—industrial sabotage traditionally associated with labor struggles—would become the chief tactic of the
Earth First! movement in the 1980s. influenced by the movement's
Northern California-based members, including Roselle (who was based in
Berkeley) and
Judi Bari (of
Mendocino County). After less than a decade, Foreman left Earth First!, disillusioned by the changing character of the organization. Foreman described himself "a redneck for the environment" and objected to the left-wing, social justice-oriented approach of younger environmental activists who had joined the group. Roselle, in turn, denounced Foreman as "an unrepentant right-wing thug." In 2003, Foreman was criticized for his
anti-immigration statements, such as when he said, “letting the USA be an overflow valve for problems in Latin America is not solving a thing. It’s just putting more pressure on the resources we have in the USA." He later sought to clarify his statements by saying, "While I still believe that massive and unlimited immigration into any country is a serious problem, I do not support beefing up the Border Patrol and the other agencies that try to keep Latin Americans out of this country. I do not think that this is a realistic or ethical response to the underlying problem." He went on to say, "While I agree that the population question can be approached in narrow, racist, and fascistic ways, I strenuously reject the idea that any and all ecologically-grounded concerns about
human overpopulation are racist and fascist. Is it racist and fascist, for example, to propose making birth control methods and devices, including the French
abortion pill and sterilization, freely available to any woman or man in the world who desires them?" Some of the goals of the Wildlands Network have been characterized as "lofty scientific ideals" since it could take 100 years to realize some outcomes. Its founders, including Foreman, replied that they "did not want to compete with existing conservation groups. They wanted to create a framework those groups could work within and a clearinghouse for information and science." ==Philosophy and sense of the sacred==