Environmental Lobbyist
When he found his passion was to preserve the environment, he was determined to raise public awareness of environmental harm by methods lawful and sometimes unlawful; for the latter, he accepted the real possibility of paying fines and serving time in prison. To support himself financially, he had to rely on voluntary, charitable contributions to his cause.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
DF’s father was an Air Force Master Sergeant who later worked as an air traffic controller. His mother was a homemaker.
CHILDHOOD AS A CAREER PREDICTOR
DF grew up as a political conservative. In high school, he founded a chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative youth group. He later campaigned for the 1964 conservative candidate for U.S. President, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater (famous for his statement “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” and for one of the most lop-sided losses in US Presidential voting history, losing to Lyndon Johnson, 61% to 39%)
EDUCATION
While attending a junior (2 year) college, DF ran the campus chapter of ‘Students for Victory in Vietnam” and (to his later embarrassment), named J. Edgar Hoover (later found to have promoted FBI agents spying on and trying to disrupt the free speech, protest activities of civilians opposed to the Vietnam War).
After two years, DF transferred to a four-year university, where he earned a degree in history.
MILITARY SERVICE (BRIEF)
Following college graduation, DF enlisted in the Marine Corps, but he lasted just 61 days, a month of that in the brig (military jail) for insubordination and going AWOL (absent without leave). He was released with a discharge then known as “undesirable” (formerly known as “dishonorable”).
(Editor – DF’s brief tenure with military service demonstrates his possibly mature desire to fight for a cause, but also his naïve misunderstanding about anyone in the military is required to accept military discipline, including having to obey commands with which the soldier may not agree. Apparently, DF’s early punishment did not change his goal to prioritize his personal wishes over following commands, so the military pushed him out. Contrast this story with that of a teenager, initially very unhappy about having been forced to leave home to enter a military academy, who decided to accept and excel in military discipline, ultimately elected Governor of his state – see GOVERNMENT – GOVERNOR.)
EARLY ADULT CAREER PATHS – VARIED WHILE ACTIVELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
DF’s first adult job was to serve as a teacher on a Zuni (American Indian tribe) reservation, in New Mexico. Later, always enjoying being outdoors, DF worked as a farrier (horseshoer), before joining the Wilderness Society as its Southwest regional representative.
Next, DF worked as a lobbyist in the Society’s Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) office, until he became disillusioned with some of the environmental compromises which the Society was willing to make to obtain legislative concessions promoting its goals. DF’s complaint: “Environmental groups have become more conservative – instead of a cause, it’s become a career for many people. They just don’t have the ‘fire in the belly’ anymore. That leaves people who want to take a hard line with nowhere to go.”
CAREER PATH BEGINS TO FOCUS ON METHODS TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT
During a hike through the Mexican desert with four friends, DF developed the idea for a ‘grass roots’ movement built around the aggressive protection of the environment for its own sake. He created the name for the movement: “Earth First!” and its motto: “No compromise in defense of Mother Earth.”
The movement borrowed its strategies from the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-industrial Luddites of 19th century England plus radical labor groups like the Wobblies. Their tactics ranged from pointed humor (e.g., dressing in hazmat suits to attract attention outside businesses thought to be harming the environment and once unfurling a 300 foot-long banner, painted to look like a crack, down the side of the Glen Canyon Dam) to destructive (Editor – some might call it ‘domestic terrorism’) such as driving metal spikes into trees to damage chain saws – and potentially kill their operators.)
CHALLENGE – EARNING ENOUGH MONEY TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT YOUR PROTEST ACTIVISM
To earn money for such basic expenses as housing, food, transportation, clothing and dental / medical care (Editor – assuming it’s possible to live without access to social media or the internet if you can’t afford it – amazingly, almost everyone lived like that until the late 1900s), DF did two things: (1) sold memberships in his organization (about 5,000 at its highest level); and (2) sold subscriptions to a magazine published to bring attention to environmental issues.
CHALLENGE – ACTIVE PROTESTS MAY ATTRACT POLICE ATTENTION
Law enforcement became interested in the activities of DF and ‘Earth First’, believing DF and his group were essentially domestic terrorists. Thus, the FBI quietly opened an investigation and planted a ‘mole’ (secret informant) within the organization, pretending to support its mission. DF’s first arrest was based on a charge of conspiring to sabotage power lines in Arizona. (Editor – the 10/3/22 NY Times obituary upon which this story is based, did not include the disposition of those criminal charges.)
Editor – Activists (paid or unpaid volunteer) for any cause, regardless of that cause’s moral / ethical value, must understand that if, in promoting your cause, you are found guilty of breaking a law, you risk paying a fine and/or serving time in jail (up to 2 years) or prison (2 years or longer). So, as criminals are often heard to say: “If you do the crime, prepare to serve the time.”
CAREER SATISFACTION
While DF was branded as an extremist, there was at time a ‘method to his madness:’ DF argued that his stridency gave room to the mainstream environmental groups, or even less-aggressive, direct-action organizations like Greenpeace, to negotiate with governments, both national and international; they could point to him as an extremist alternative “so instead of having to deal with DF, just give us some of the environmental protections he’s advocating.” In that indirect way, DF could claim some degree of career satisfaction.
One of DF’s eventual organizations called on governments and nonprofit organizations to buy large chunks of land and return it to its natural state. He later created an Institute to develop policy ideas to realize that vision.
DF’s activities increased public awareness of harm to the environment due to certain business activities.
