Radical Evolution: Earth First! Journal
Celebrates 20 Years, Looks To Move On, Orna Izakson,
Eugene Weekly
In 1993, the outspoken Earth
First! journal relocated from Tucson to Eugene, Oregon, drawn
by the college town’s active environmentalist community and
creative culture. Orna Izakson tells the story of the radical
journal in Eugene Weekly, and explores both how
geography inspires a movement and vice versa. The journal is now
20, and, after more than seven years in the southern Willamette
Valley, the Earth First! journal will be heading back to
Tucson, Arizona, where it was first conceived. When the Journal
first came to Eugene, the town drew activists in like a magnet, and
Eugene’s picturesque location near recreation wilderness (things
Earth First! set out to defend) didn’t hurt. ‘The Journal provided
a center,’ explains Izakson, ‘a meeting point, a crash pad and a
place to plug in to local campaigns and keep abreast of news from
other bioregions.’ This influx helped boost Eugene’s activist. So,
what will happen when the journal moves on? While some see the loss
of a focal point for political action, others see it as an
opportunity for Eugene activists to start new projects and perhaps
forge a new identity.
–Amanda
Luker
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