I spent some time on Lemesiur Island with friends Bob, Hank, and LInnea last week. Since then I have been mulling over a few great quotes, which are sitting in me like yeast. If I remember right Mr. Lemesiur was a chef on Vancouver's expedition to Southeast Alaska. Here, it seems, is his recipe for young men trying to find a niche and a right livelihood:
"Conservation as we know it is not an adequate response to an economy that is inherently wasteful and destructive"
- Wendell Berry, "Hell no. Of course not. but . . . " Arctic Refuge: A Circle of Testimony. Edited by Hank Lenfer and Carolyn Servid
"The more I understand hope, the more I realize that all along it deserved to be in [Pandora's] box with the plagues, sorrow, and mischief; that it serves the needs of those in power as surely as belief in a distant heaven; that hope is really nothing more than a secular way of keeping us in line."
- Derrick Jensen, "Beyond Hope" Orion May/June 2006.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Falls Creek Hydro Project Underway
As Greg Streveler (pictured on left) said yesterday, "[Gustavus] wanted a bit of the outside world, and we got it."
The Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project has been approved and construction in in full swing. The picture is of the road to Falls Creek which is now under construction.
To those of you who don't know, this project is being done on Glacier Bay National Park land (and wilderness designated land at that). Bob Christenson (pictured on right) is in charge of environmental compliance for the project.
To get a sense of why this project is happening, read this short article in the Alaska Journal of Commerce. Notice the complete lack of reference to the environmental impacts of this project, and the haughty impatience for a project with very dubious environmental and economic benefits.
The Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project has been approved and construction in in full swing. The picture is of the road to Falls Creek which is now under construction.
To those of you who don't know, this project is being done on Glacier Bay National Park land (and wilderness designated land at that). Bob Christenson (pictured on right) is in charge of environmental compliance for the project.
To get a sense of why this project is happening, read this short article in the Alaska Journal of Commerce. Notice the complete lack of reference to the environmental impacts of this project, and the haughty impatience for a project with very dubious environmental and economic benefits.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Dan's Best of Iowa Part 3: Prairie Reconstruction
Tallgrass prairie once spread throughout central North America, as did bear, elk, bison, and prairie wolf. In Iowa, 99.9% of this ecosystem has been lost to the plow--one of the most drastic and widespread landscape changes in human history. Over 95% of Iowa is now privately owned (the second highest percentage in the nation), the vast majority of which is corn and soybeans destined for consumption by hogs, chickens, and cows in massive confinment feeding operations.
Out of this monumental change has grown an equally unique response. Iowans have come to know, like almost no one else, that it is too late to save many of our "last great places", the call of the Nature Conservancy. Indeed, it is the truly greatest, most unbelievably rich places that disappear first. Such as Iowa.
We can protect Iowa's remaining postage stamp remnant prairies and savannas, but reconstruction is the primary tool for recreating vast swaths of flatland prairie, the kind that you can get lost in, along with a herd of bison. These are the places that will have the power and saliency to truly bring Iowa back to its rightful place as one of America's natural treasures and to finally sink the nail into the coffin of the pessimistic and simplistic idea of ecological sacrifice.
The best example of this kind of restoration is the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge just east of Des Moines. At 8,000 acres and only 15 years, it is one of the most ambitious restoration projects ever, though by no means is it finished.
For now, however, many of the smaller reconstructions that dot the rest of Iowa are more beautiful and diverse. They have given many, many contemplative Iowans a chance to commune with their degraded landscape, and to try to revive it with their attention and intention. For me, prairie restoration has been one of the most hopeful and spiritually salubrious activities I have ever participated in. It has given me a chance to see how Iowans tick and to share in their long vision for the future of this most contentious landscape.
For more information, watch the trailer of the great documentary America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie.
Out of this monumental change has grown an equally unique response. Iowans have come to know, like almost no one else, that it is too late to save many of our "last great places", the call of the Nature Conservancy. Indeed, it is the truly greatest, most unbelievably rich places that disappear first. Such as Iowa.
We can protect Iowa's remaining postage stamp remnant prairies and savannas, but reconstruction is the primary tool for recreating vast swaths of flatland prairie, the kind that you can get lost in, along with a herd of bison. These are the places that will have the power and saliency to truly bring Iowa back to its rightful place as one of America's natural treasures and to finally sink the nail into the coffin of the pessimistic and simplistic idea of ecological sacrifice.
The best example of this kind of restoration is the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge just east of Des Moines. At 8,000 acres and only 15 years, it is one of the most ambitious restoration projects ever, though by no means is it finished.
For now, however, many of the smaller reconstructions that dot the rest of Iowa are more beautiful and diverse. They have given many, many contemplative Iowans a chance to commune with their degraded landscape, and to try to revive it with their attention and intention. For me, prairie restoration has been one of the most hopeful and spiritually salubrious activities I have ever participated in. It has given me a chance to see how Iowans tick and to share in their long vision for the future of this most contentious landscape.
For more information, watch the trailer of the great documentary America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie.
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