The American environmental movement spans several centuries and has been affected by past beliefs and modern ideologies. While first focused on wild lands outside of civilization, this movement now includes urban centers, production activities, and human health. Still, further cooperation is needed to unite mainstream and community-based concerns. Mainstream groups have been critiqued as elitist and overly Caucasian, and tend to focus on the current system of governance instead of alternative means to embrace issues of race, gender, class and social health. These organizations have become fixated on policy-making processes, forcing them to allow concessions on issues vital to alternative groups to create a cordial dialogue with industry and government.