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.