Direct Action

Earth First! is a verb, not a noun. In order to be an environmental movement, you’ve got to move! Direct action means personal, spiritual and strategic efforts to defend the Earth. Earth First! is defined by action, the purpose of which is to:

Halt the Destruction:

Force governments and corporations to stop their exploitive extraction of natural resources. Even the most “symbolic” action can stop the machine.

Raise the Stakes:

Send a clear message to the despoilers: “No more business as usual.”

Attract Media:

You can’t hope to change people’s minds or put pressure on politicians without calling attention to the damage. Demonstrations “demonstrate” to the world that when all of our letters are ignored, our arguments mitigated and our legal appeals denied, we still refuse to accept the accelerating destruction of the Earth. Civil disobedience can expose an issue through print, television and radio media.

Strengthen Resolve:

Direct action is the most empowering event imaginable, a rite of passage that fills the participant with a feeling of effectiveness. We learn to work in concert with others who put the Earth first.

Civil disobedience is a deliberate, thought-out act of conscience, even when decided on spontaneously. Whenever you show up to a demonstration, you risk arrest and physical attack by the police or opponents. Be prepared with nonviolence tactics, media spokespersons and jail support.

Demonstrations

Demonstrations include marches, costumes and street theater that present our position to reporters and make demands of corporate raiders and government pawns. Some Earth First! actions have included 200-pound stumps deposited on rangers’ desks, manure from cattle grazed on public lands stacked against air conditioning vents, protests held outside the homes of timber executives, helium balloons hoisting placards inside convention centers, and 100-foot banners strung above highways, down smokestacks and across the facades of buildings.

To be most effective, a demonstration should be:

Dynamic and Uncompromising:

Have clear intent, tactics and specific targets. Identify the perpetrators by name and target them.

Colorful and Creative:

Create unique and surprising actions that challenge and amuse.

Informative:

Get out the clear goals of your campaign with factsheets and handouts, news releases, songs, skits and chants.

Flexible:

Be ready on a moment’s notice to revise plans as the situation changes, taking advantage of unforeseen opportunities, as in the sudden appearance of an offending executive or an unwanted piece of heavy equipment. Come up with a quick alternative when the governor is not in, when the building is sealed off, when the cops are out in force or when the meeting has moved to another location.

Occupations and Sit-Ins

Take over the boardrooms, offices and even the homes of unresponsive decision makers and bureaucrats. EF!ers have put up tents in land managers’ offices and locked ourselves to their furniture, invaded the homes of industry CEOs and put cardboard on the air conditioning intakes of a district ranger’s office, forcing them to shut down their computers in the more than 100-degree heat.

Blockades

The proper place for an Earth First!er is often directly in the path of the machinery that is destroying the wilderness or your community. This may be a symbolic gesture of defiance; it may also stop them in their tracks. Either way, it is a sure-fire way to take the focus out of the boardrooms and hearing chambers and put it back where it belongs—in the wilderness at the scene of the crime.

Targets can include logging equipment, radioactive waste shipments, livestock trucks, dam sites and mines. Methods include sitting in the road or chaining yourself to cattle guards, gates, doors or equipment. Other actions may call for locking yourself to concrete-filled barrels or raising and sitting in tripods. The longer a blockade lasts, the more effective it is—though even brief, symbolic blockades have proven very effective in building public support.

Treesitting

Treesitting has been used successfully to shut down logging of ancient forests for months, even years, at a time. Earth First!ers have rigged cables to surrounding trees to prevent them from being cut and to cross over to different parts of the canopy. For this you will need experienced help and safety tips, which various Earth First! groups can provide. Workshops are generally held at EF! gatherings.

Nonviolent Direct Action

Nonviolence requires a code of integrity. Everyone involved must agree to a common set of principles or the media and police may focus on the conduct of a few participants rather than the original intent of the action. Be careful who you work with and get everyone to agree to a set of guidelines, whatever your tactics.

At no time should anyone physically or verbally assault anyone or contribute to escalating violence from the police, workers, management or general public at an Earth First! action.

If you are committed not to move—even if it means your arrest—stand your ground. To break and run might defeat the purpose of your action and endanger others. Don’t put yourself in a dangerous position unless you are willing to face danger without moving. Otherwise, choose a less risky method of protest.

No drugs, alcohol or weapons should be carried at the site of any Earth First! action.

Identify potential arrestees ahead of time and have a list of their names and addresses. Pair each of them up with a support person who can be responsible for their keys and identification. Monitor and record their arrest using a camera or video if possible and follow them through the legal process until they are released.

Plan your actions well. Prepare street theater, songs, chants, costumes, signs and handouts in advance. Make a news release for all of the radio, television and newspaper outlets in your area. Stick to a few short paragraphs describing the destruction you plan to stop or the wilderness you propose for protection, making clear the desired result of your actions. It is a good idea to put in a few quotes attributed to one or more of your spokespersons. A good news release should be no more than two pages, although one page is preferred. It is better for the media to call for more information than it is to issue a long, rambling news release.

Send out news releases a few days before your event. Withhold sensitive information until the action occurs. Follow up with phone calls to the media the day before the action. Never assume they’ve read your release. Get the name of the reporter and ask them if they plan to come. You might hint at the more radical (photo opportunity!) aspects of your action, but don’t tip them off to anything that the cops shouldn’t know ahead of time. Don’t promise a more radical scenario than you can really come up with or the press may not cover your future events. Look for the reporters that promised to show up and make sure that they have someone in your group to talk to who is knowledgeable, well-spoken and presentable.

Meet before the action to circle up and focus on the emotional, biological and spiritual motivations for your urgent work. Circle up again afterward to make sure that no one is unaccounted for, discuss what did or didn’t work and plan a time to meet to do it again!

Find out everything you wanted to know about backwoods actions and affinity groups here: Earth First! Direct Action Manual (1st edition)