Conservation Confidential: A Wild Path to a Less Polarizing and More Effective Activism

by Mitch Friedman

An absorbing memoir of an environmental activist that draws on wisdom born of decades of experience."   ~Kirkus Reviews



Conservation Confidential recounts the wild path Mitch Friedman took from radical Earth First! activist engaging in controversial protests to the founder and longtime director of Conservation Northwest. The book documents challenges, success stories, and key lessons along the way to helping preserve Northwest ancient forests, peaceably recover wolves in the region, and much more.

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Part memoir, part guide on strategy for activists and liberal citizens, Conservation Confidential offers the distilled wisdom of experience that Friedman searched for as a young activist but couldn't find. These provocative lessons are timely not only for conservation campaigns but for our national political moment at large, extolling the virtues of collaborative tactics that succeed by enacting common values rather than polarizing. Here is the rare instance of an accomplished activist leader challenging his own movement to reject its hubris to better serve both nature and our ailing democracy.



Advance Praise for Conservation



"A legend in the conservation community, with myriad landmark successes over his decades of activism, Mitch Friedman distills the lessons he has learned. Brutally honest, poignantly reflective, and beautifully written, Conservation Confidential is the open-hearted story of a life well-lived."   ~Denis Hayes, CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, author of Cowed, and national coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970

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"Older generations of activists owe it to their successors to pass down what they've learned, a charge Mitch Friedman forthrightly fulfills in these pages! His advice won't please everyone, but it demands engagement from anyone who cares about the wild world around us."   ~Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun and co-founder of 350.org



"This hopeful story, grounded in memoir, shows us a path to saving wild nature-and in so doing, community and democracy. Friedman uses insight, humor, blunders and wins to show us the art of the possible. If you care about nature or ever wondered what makes a conservation group effective, read this book."   ~Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society and former director of the Bureau of Land Management

220 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2025

Reviews

[Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friedman shares his evolution from an an Earth First! activist to to a collaborative conservationist. In the course of his journey, he discovered that it is better to be effective than to seek attention-getting but polarizing direct actions. As Friedman wrote: "Pragmatic progress over identity; doing something is better than being something." I couldn't agree more.

Friedmans track record speaks for the effectiveness of this approach: Loomis Forest prtection, Wolf Recovery in Washington State, Wildlife Over and Underpasses, and consolidating habitat corridors in what was a checkerboard pattern of land management - just to name a few. I had the pleasure of working with Mitch on several of these projects, and always found him to be bold, inspiring, and capable.

I am thankful that he resides in our state and continues to protect our spectacular natural heritage.

[Sissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An upbeat and optimistic adventure that turned rebellious leanings into functional conservation.

[Breeze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time concentrating on this book. The message, a good one, became somewhat redundant so that detailed descriptions (who, what, when, where and how) of different success stories became boring.
Nonetheless, Conservation NW seems like an effective organization whose mission as well as their strategy of bringing all to the table, is one that I support.