Earth First! is a radical environmental group which Dave Foreman, Ron Kezar, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and Bart Koehler founded in 1980 as an alternative to more mainstream groups such as the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society. The group favors a hands-on approach to saving the environment and considers their efforts a movement, not just an organization. Their motto, “No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth,” demonstrates the group’s aversion to political compromise in pursuit of their goal to defend all the earth, not just to preserve some parts.

Earth First! encourages their members to go out and take action to defend the earth. In 1981, for example, leaders of Earth First! staged a crack in the Glen Canyon Dam by rolling black plastic down the face of the dam. Members have taken more extreme action as well, like those arrested in 1990 for plotting sabotage at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant. They were later given prison sentences for their actions. Despite disagreements over the aggressiveness of such tactics, Earth First! continues to support efforts they feel will protect the earth and encourage environmental activism.