Essex Editions

Wildeor: The Wild Life and Living Legacy of Dave Foreman

By John Miles and Susan Morgan

On September 19, 2022, Dave Foreman, champion of the wild and Wilderness, passed away at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, surrounded by friends and family. Activist, conservationist, writer, orator, outdoorsman, historian, and friend to many, Dave leaves an important legacy. The public knows him primarily as the head of the spear for Earth First! in the 1980s, but after those wild years he went on to be a co-founder of The Wildlands Project with many prominent wildlife biologists and conservationists, The Rewilding Institute, and other initiatives including the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, now New Mexico Wild.

Dave inspired and mentored many conservationists in his half-century career. He led by example and was uncompromising in his advocacy and defense of wild places and wild life. This book is a compilation from some of his friends and admirers, and the words of those with whom he worked from the late 1960s until his untimely death testify to his influence, his growth, and the reach of his work. He was not able to write his memoir, which he would have titled Wildeor, which he called free, wild, untamed creatures living in nature. Among those offering tributes are writer Terry Tempest Williams, prominent conservation biologist Reed Noss, author and aural historian Jack Loeffler, and Dave’s long-time right-hand man in all endeavors, now Executive Director of The Rewilding Institute, John Davis.

Susan Morgan enjoyed a long career as a conservationist, serving many years as president of The Rewilding Institute. John C. Miles, environmental educator and historian, taught Environmental Studies at Western Washington University for over four decades. Both are now retired in Taos, New Mexico.

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Table of Contents

  1. Foreword
  2. Dave Foreman Remains My Hero, My Truth Teller, and My Conscience by Terry Tempest Williams
  3. An Inspiring Fifty Years by Susan Morgan
  4. Remembering a Father Tree by John Davis
  5. My Support of Dave’s Philosophy by Kirk C. Robinson, Ph.D.
  6. Big Brother Dave by Roxanne Pacheco
  7. Dave Finds His Mission
  8. Remembering Dave Foreman by Camilla Fox
  9. Absolute Truth and Honesty by Lynn Cottin
  10. Earth First!
  11. Dave Foreman & Me: Grizzled Galoots in Cahoots by Bart Koehler
  12. Stand in Front of that ‘Dozer by B.N. Koehler
  13. Back in the Day by Howie Wolke
  14. He Changed the Course of My Life by Brad Meiklejohn
  15. Dave Foreman Absolutely Put the Earth First by Captain Paul Watson
  16. Muses Come in all Shapes – for Dave by Gary Lawless
  17. Stump Sacred by Gary Lawless
  18. Dave Foreman: American by Susan Zakin
  19. Moving the Needle by Andy Kerr
  20. Confessions of an Eco-Warrior
  21. How David Foreman Inspired Me and Our Nevada Wilderness Advocacy Community by Karen (Tanner) Boeger
  22. It’s Hard to Imagine a World Without Dave by Shaaron Netherton
  23. Ode to Dave Foreman by Uncle Ramon
  24. Long Conversations Over the Years by Bruce Hamilton
  25. Foreman on the Front Lines by Art Goodtimes
  26. Dave Foreman Has Gone Back to the Pleistocene by Jamie Sayen
  27. Dave Foreman: A Great Bio-Ethicist Who Stood Strong by Jack Loeffler
  28. A Leap of Faith: The Wildlands Project
  29. Goodbye, Dave, We Love and Thank You… by Kris Tompkins
  30. Dave Foreman’s Legacy by David Johns
  31. Dave Foreman: Advocate for the Big Wild by George Wuerthner
  32. The Big Outside
  33. Dave Foreman: Mentor by Jack Humphrey
  34. A Giant in the Struggle by Sam Hitt
  35. Honoring a Big Thinker by Brian Miller
  36. Healing the Wounds: Goal-Setting
  37. Dave Foreman Shaped My Life as a Conservationist by Reed Noss
  38. I Think Mother Nature Was Crying… by Bob Howard
  39. To Dave by Susie O’Keeffe
  40. Continue to Think Big, Be Bold, Push Boundaries, and Save the Wild… by Kathleen H. Fitzgerald
  41. Population: The Toughest Issue
  42. A Person of Conscience and a Force for Consciousness by Warren Hern
  43. He Spoke for the Wild World by Karen Shragg
  44. The Rewilding Institute
  45. Do We Conservationists De-wild Ourselves?
  46. Campfire Lessons: Further Thoughts on Following Dave Foreman by John Davis
  47. It Was Just Like the Old Days by Jason Kahn
  48. On a Necessary Letter to the Editor of The New York Times by Don Waller
  49. Big, Wild, Connected by Lavinia Currier
  50. Wolves and Wilderness by David Parsons
  51. Hollywood Should Film All Westerns in Spain
  52. It’s in the Mail by Susan Morgan
  53. Bigger Than Life by Eileen Crist
  54. Dave Shared My Love of Maps by Kurt Menke
  55. Dave Foreman, Scholar Extraordinaire by John C. Miles
  56. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
  57. A Towering Presence by Mark Allison
  58. Dave Foreman: Wise Guy by Bron Taylor
  59. A Great One for the Ages by Louisa Wilcox
  60. Afterword: Happy Trails
  61. Dave Has the Last Word
  62. Acknowledgements

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Rewilding Earth: Best of 2019

By Mark Anderson, David Crews, Eileen Crist, John Davis, Michael Dax, Kenyon Fields, Mark Fisher, Dave Foreman, Dr. Richard Grossman, Randy Hayes, Roger Kaye, Andy Kerr, Gary Lawless, Jon Leibowitz, Paula MacKay, Tim McNulty, Brad Meiklejohn, John Miles, Brian Miller, Susan Morgan, Susie O'Keeffe, David Parsons, Stuart Pimm, Robert Michael Pyle, David T. Schwartz, Chris Spatz, Andrew Thoms, Sophi Veltrop, Kevin Webb, Saul Weisberg, Christopher R. Wilson and George Wuerthner

Rewilding is restoring natural processes and species, then stepping back so that nature can express its own will. In essence, rewilding means giving the land back to wildlife and wildlife back to the land.

Recalling the late great Wild Earth journal, this provocative anthology, edited by Susan Morgan and John Davis, showcases the most notable original articles and art published by Rewilding Earth (rewilding.org) in 2019. Rewilding Earth is an inspiring, informative, and user-friendly manual for how to protect and restore wild places and their residents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Reviews

“Great job on the Best of 2019 publication. I read it cover to cover and loved it. So needed. I could feel Wild Earth in there.” —Joan Maloof, Old Growth Forest Network

“The idea to make the book look like Wild Earth is brilliant. Even the font, page texture, and illustrations are like it. Kudos!” —Eileen Crist 

“Kudos on another great publication. I love what is happening at Rewilding.” —Jon Leibowitz, NWT

“As part of a diminishing tribe who vastly prefers holding words in my hand to allow them to perfuse my being, it is a great relief to have Rewilding Earth in printed form. Words on a screen skitter off my retinas as a swarm of pesky blackflies. Now, with an actual thing in hand, I can step away from the power cord and settle against a tree with written words that blend with the flute sound of Hermit Thrush and the resinous scratch and sniff of spruce bark. This is life; that other is the problem.” —Brad Meiklejohn 

“As a company dedicated to restoring ecosystems, conserving habitat, and regenerating the natural systems that sustain all life, Biohabitats understands the need for the continental-scale wildways. Aligned not only in mission, but also in spirit with the Rewilding Institute, we are proud to support its important work, including the on-line publication Rewilding Earth (rewilding.org) and the organization’s annual best-of anthologies.” —Keith Bowers, Biohabitats

“Kahtoola is proud to be part of Rewilding Earth and the community of groups working to protect and restore wildlands for all native creatures and for responsible recreation. We urge outdoor lovers of all kinds to get a copy of their latest anthology, Rewilding Earth: Best of 2019.  Let’s take on these challenges together.” —Danny Giovale, Kahtoola

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Rewilding Earth Unplugged: Best of Rewilding Earth 2018

By Jo Ann Baumgartner, Douglas Bevington, Kelly Burke, Sandra Coveny, John Davis, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons, Dave Foreman, Sofia Heinonen, John Laundré, Gary Lawless, Nancy Lehrhaupt, Jon Leibowitz, Robert T. Leverett, Lucila Masera, Tim McNulty, Brad Meiklejohn, John Miles, Susan Morgan, David Parsons, Kirk Robinson, Nicole Rosmarino, Terry Spahr, Chris Spatz, Michael Soulé, Nancy Stranahan, George Wuerthner and Suzanne York

Rewilding is restoring natural processes and species, then stepping back so that nature can express its own will. In essence, rewilding means giving the land back to wildlife and wildlife back to the land.

Recalling the late great Wild Earth journal, this provocative anthology showcases the most notable original articles and art published by Rewilding Earth (rewilding.org) in 2018. Rewilding Earth Unplugged, edited by Susan Morgan and John Davis, is an inspiring, informative, and user-friendly manual for how to protect and restore wild places and their residents.

Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook. Listen to a sample from the audiobook introduction narrated by Sarah McEnerney.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Rewilding Distilled by John Davis

Wildlands Philanthropy
Bringing Back the American Serengeti by Nicole Rosemarino
Filling the Arc of Appalachia: Restoring Wildness to Southern Ohio by Nancy Stranahan
Safeguarding an Adirondack Wildlife Corridor for Wildlife and People by Jon Leibowitz
Rewilding Argentina: Park by Park by Sofia Heinonen & Luli Masera

Original Ecosystems
Eastern Old-Growth Forests Then and Now by Robert T. Leverett
Working to Restore the American Chestnut by Sara Fern Fitzsimmons

Wildlands Defense
Deconstructing Today’s Great Land Grab by Dave Foreman
The Attack on the National Park System by John Miles
Forest Protection in the Trump Era by Douglas Bevington
BLM Under Trump and Zinke: A Disaster for Public Lands by George Wuerthner

Population
Why Family Planning Is Good for People and the Planet by Suzanne York
Daring to Tell the Truth about Sustainability by Terry Spahr

Poetry
The Good News by Gary Lawless
Through High Still Air by Tim McNulty

Coexistence
The Saga of the Mexican Gray Wolf (El Lobo) by Dave Parsons
Wildlife Governance Reform: Where to Begin by Kirk Robinson & Dave Parsons
Fostering Wildlife-Friendly Farming and Recognizing Biodiversity as Critical to a Fully Functioning Farm by Jo Ann Baumgartner
Bowman Divide Critter Crossing by Brad Meiklejohn
WANTED: Missing Cat by Sherry Nemmers
The Killing Roads by Sandra Coveny

Rewilding Initiatives
Mogollon Wildway Ramble: Field Notes from Scouting a Proposed National Scenic Trail by Kelly Burke & John Davis
Following Alice the Moose: Notes from an A2A Reconnaissance Hike by John Davis
Facing the Challenges of Dam Removal in Alaska by Brad Meiklejohn
Rescuing an Endangered Cactus: Restoring the Santa Fe Cholla by Nancy Lehrhaupt
Puma Recovery for Eastern Wildways: A Call to Action by Chris Spatz & John Laundré
A National Corridors Campaign for Restoring America the Beautiful by Michael Soulé

Rewilding Bookstore
Rewilding at Many Scales: A Book Review Essay by John Miles

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40×41: Midlife Crisis Postponed

By Geo Davis

Are you 100% content with middle age?

Geo Davis’s visual and verbal mash-ups explore midlife’s merciless mockeries, paradoxes, baits and booby traps, veering erratically between hubris and humility, trepidation and temptation. Unflinching. Self-deprecating. Slightly unnerving.

This is middle age lived inside out.

Equal parts anesthetic, narcotic, stimulant, and placebo, 40×41: Midlife Crisis Postponed just might offer an alternative to the train wreck waiting around the next bend. Then again, it just might hasten the train wreck!

Warning: If you’re living a kickass midlife — meeting or exceeding your goals and thriving emotionally, physically, sexually, financially, professionally, and creatively — this book is not for you. Kudos! And if your middle aged skin is thin or you’re searching for a step-by-step guide to midlife self-improvement, this book is definitely not for you either. Sorry. And good luck.

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