Уильям Д. Форман: Американдық табиғат қорғаушысының өмірі мен қызметі

American environmentalist (1947–2022)

William David Foreman (October 18, 1946 – September 19, 2022) was an American advocate for the conservation of wild lands and wildlife. He was a co founder of three organizations: Earth First!, the Wildlands Project, and the Rewilding Institute. A prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement beginning in the 1980s, his advocacy and actions shifted in the early 1990s into collaborations with professionals in the field of conservation biology. His father was a United States Air Force sergeant and later an air traffic controller. Foreman attended San Antonio Junior College before transferring to the University of New Mexico, from which he graduated in 1967 with a degree in history.

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."

Foreman formerly lived in Tucson, Arizona. He married Debbie Sease in 1976; they subsequently divorced. He married Nancy Morton in 1986, and she died in 2021. Foreman died in Albuquerque on September 19, 2022, from interstitial lung disease at the age of 75. He remained active in environmentalist causes until his death.