An Unexpected Boost to the Life List

When I decided to go birding yesterday, I had no idea I'd be adding two species to my life list.

The plan for the birding outing was just to go for a walk and maybe pick up a few species for my 2025 list. I figured I might see some familiar species that had recently arrived in the early days of spring migration.

Very early on though, the day indicated it would yield much more than I expected. Less than 30 minutes in, I had seen a mountain bluebird, my first ever sighting of that species. As the day continued, I saw more mountain bluebirds and several species that I could add to my 2025 list.

After three hours of birding, I was feeling very happy about the day's results. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anything else on the way back to my car. Then, another life-list addition presented itself. It was a northern shrike. What a day indeed!

I don't add new birds to my life list every day, so I was quite surprised to end up with two new ones in a single outing.

A Soaring Creation

Acts of creation represent an important part of life, and that's especially true when they create habitat for other species.

Now, you may be thinking that creating habitat sounds like a big undertaking. However, when it comes to creating songbird habitat, you might be able to do it right at home.

To make the process for creating songbird habitat easy, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife offers a webpage full of tips and resources. One very simple idea is just to set up a birdbath. If you're looking for something more elaborate, you might try reading through WDFW's list of native plants and adding some of them to your landscape.

Using resources like WDFW's webpage as a starting point, you can then expand the possibilities for songbird habitat through your creativity.

When it comes to creating songbird habitat, the sky's the limit.

Changing our Parameters

As I followed the news of the terrible wildfires in Los Angeles, I thought back to reading How Nature Speaks: The Dynamics of the Human Ecological Condition and its definition of nature.

According to Yrjö Haila and Chuck Dyke, the editors of the book, nature is the parameters of what is possible. The Los Angeles fires and their devastation suggested to me new parameters for what is possible and what is not possible.

It is pretty clear that we can and have changed what is possible in terms of wildfires, droughts, and storms. By releasing tons of greenhouse gases, we have warmed the planet, expanding the parameters and therefore the power and impacts of such phenomena.

In return, our expansion of these parameters has received a response from the phenomena. As Haila and Dyke would argue, our actions sent a message to the climate, and the climate engaged with that communication through its parameters. Specifically, the climate is now putting tighter limits on where and how we can live. The increased likelihood and strength of climate-related disasters means that humans will have to adjust to these new parameters. Some areas will likely no longer support the population sizes they once did; others may prove entirely incapable of fostering human life.

We've changed the parameters for nature, and that includes ourselves.

The Lessons of Initiative 2117's Blowout Loss

If the national Democratic Party cares about winning, it should take a look at the November 2024 election results from Washington state, especially the defeat of Initiative 2117, a proposed repeal of the state's cap on greenhouse gas emissions. 

In an election when most Democrats across the United States struggled, and Republicans took control of the presidency as well as both chambers of Congress, Washington state stood out because of its successes by Democrats and progressive legislation. Washington Democrats won every statewide race handily and increased their majorities in the state House and Senate. In addition, three of the four initiatives backed by wealthy conservatives to repeal progressive legislation went up in flames: An initiative to repeal the state's new capital gains tax received just 36 percent of the vote, another initiative that would have made the state's long-term care insurance optional lost with only 45 percent of the vote, and I-2117 barely reached 38 percent support. Only an initiative to prevent natural gas energy from being disincentivized passed with a slim margin of 3.42 percentage points. That initiative's constitutionality is already being challenged in court.

All told, the legislation Washington Democrats passed to address global warming, wealth inequality, and health care received resounding support, and voters rewarded the party by overwhelmingly backing its candidates for elected office as well. Given that legislation on those three issues consistently receives majority support nationwide, Democrats across the country would do well to take notice of the results in Washington.

The national Democratic Party should also look closer at the results of I-2117. It failed in even traditionally conservative counties, and in the counties where it passed, the margin was unexpectedly close. In only a few counties did it even reach 60 percent support.

How did the climate legislation that I-2117 sought to repeal achieve such thorough support across the state? Answer: The legislation turned the funds from the program's cap-and-invest system into projects that benefitted communities all over Washington. These projects helped those communities prepare for global warming's impacts, including wildfires and extreme weather, and they created local jobs. In other words, the legislation addressed an important issue by making a direct and positive impact on a large number of people. When it came time to vote on the initiative that would have repealed the legislation, the people joined in the campaign against the initiative and voted no. While they were voting against the initiative, they also voted for the candidates from the party who had passed the climate legislation.

That's how a party wins elections: They make a positive impact on people's lives. The question is does the national Democratic Party really want to win?

I Like the Way They Think

For several years, I have been thinking about the possibilities for preserving an area that has special meaning for me, and as it turns out, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife had similar thoughts.

One of my first introductions to outdoor life was fishing in Pacific County in Washington state. Aside from timber companies and people out fishing and hunting, the area had little human activity. It was a special place to get away and fish with my dad.

Over the years, my connection to the area has grown. I have thought it would make a good place for some organization to purchase and preserve for wildlife and recreation. 

To my surprise, when the Department of Fish and Wildlife announced its new round of proposed property acquisitions for 2024, a portion of the area where I fish was included in the list. Of course, the announcement would have made me happy even if I hadn't previously thought about ways of conserving the area, but the fact that they had found a place that I felt deserved protection made the news especially sweet. I submitted my comments with enthusiastic support for the acquisition.

We'll have to wait and see if the Department of Fish and Wildlife goes through with the proposal, but I like the way they think, so I have high hopes.

No on Initiative 2117

In recent years, I've gravitated more toward direct action than politics, but every once in a while, something important comes up in politics that requires attention, and Initiative 2117 on Washington state's ballot this fall is one of those important issues.

I-2117 seeks to repeal the state's cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and I think Washingtonians should vote no.

After watching inaction on so many levels throughout my lifetime, I was very happy when Washington state passed its Climate Commitment Act in 2021. On its own, the legislation couldn't stop global warming, but it was one positive step forward. It created limits on greenhouse gas emissions and helped fund projects that would allow Washingtonians to prepare for global warming's effects on our region.

This year, wealthy conservatives introduced I-2117 to repeal the legislation, jeopardizing the pollution standards and the projects that would help mitigate the impacts of global warming.

I'm voting no on I-2117, and if you live in Washington, I hope you will too.

A Strong Sense of Place

One of the things my connection to the environment has given me is an understanding of how valuable a sense of place can be.

A sense of place helps you understand where you belong, and it can guide you to where you're going. In addition, it can provide stability when the rest of the world becomes unstable. The grounding it offers can even keep you out of some undesirable circumstances.

Sense of place can also mean something a little different but equally as helpful. If people are attuned to their surroundings, they can determine if those surroundings are a good fit for them. In essence, people can listen to what places have to say and use that information to make solid decisions and form lasting connections to environment.

Sometimes, when a sense of place is strong enough, a person finds harmony in the world.

Road Trips with a Cat

I may not be a fan of the Seattle Mariners, but I do like it when people help animals in need, so Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz is an MVP in my book.

Muñoz made news recently when he revealed that he'd adopted a cat that now accompanies him when the team is on road trips. The cat had been abandoned by a previous owner in Mexico. After hearing about its situation, Muñoz stepped up to give it a home. He and his wife then made the decision to bring the cat on team road trips because they didn't want to add stress to its life by leaving it in the care of someone else.

Such concern for the cat demonstrates a high degree of empathy. Also, it shows how strong the bond between humans and animals can become.

Muñoz is a pitcher, but he hit a home run by helping this cat.

When Martina McBride Showed Me How to Put My Voice into What I Do

Looking back, I probably couldn't have chosen a better person to teach me how to use my voice than Martina McBride.

In July 1994, I first watched McBride's music video for "Independence Day," a song that called attention to the issue of domestic violence. The powerful message of the song and the intensity of the video's images instantly grabbed ahold of me. Even as a kid, I recognized that the singer had done something special: She wasn't just entertaining people for a living; she was trying to make a difference by putting her voice into her work.

From that time on, I was a fan of McBride. She had an exceptional voice and a social conscience, and she continued making music to make a difference.

When it came time for me to find jobs, I made sure to look for ones that mattered. I couldn't sing like McBride, but I could make a difference with what I chose to do. Jobs that communicated about environmental issues were of particular interest because I had always loved animals and the environment.

I have been fortunate enough to find jobs that I think made a difference in society, and many of them have involved some form of environmental communication. Even this blog is a testament to my desire to use my voice for the environment.

McBride's "Independence Day" is an iconic song that has made a major impact on the world, but its less heralded legacy can be found in the way it taught me how to use my voice 30 years ago.

Thanks, Martina! And happy birthday!

Matters in My Own Hands

My recent experiences volunteering for Conservation Northwest's Cascades to Olympics program have produced a lot of lessons, and one of the most important realizations is the power of action over politics.

Even as a kid, the environment and animals mattered a lot to me, and I wanted to translate that into actions that would make for a better world: less pollution, more environmental protections, and protection of other species.

I suppose it was inevitable that my concern for environmental issues would lead to an interest in politics and how political action influenced the environment. However, I came to place too much emphasis on this aspect of the environmental movement. Because I did so, I became disheartened when the politicians of the United States failed time and time again to address global warming. That disappointment began to weigh on me in very personal ways. Feeling powerless is not a good feeling, especially when important issues like global warming are left unresolved.

In early 2023, I began volunteering to clear wildlife corridors for the Cascades to Olympics program, which highlights the importance of southwestern Washington state for wildlife in the region. By reconnecting portions of habitat, the program helps species get where they need to go and find more suitable habitat as the climate changes.

Almost instantly, I felt better. The physical activity of improving the corridors was a good outlet for my frustration at the country's political failures. It was also a chance to connect with others and build community. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed me to translate my concern for the environment into tangible work that could make a difference right away in a place that meant a lot to me.

While I was volunteering last week, I spoke with Conservation Northwest's project manager, and he noted how a lot of people in the area are becoming interested in helping with the program. He said he thought one reason was that participating in it gave people hope in what otherwise seems like a hopeless situation. That's when I realized exactly why volunteering on the project had made me feel better. I said, "You know, I think working on this project has done more to help animals prepare for global warming than any politician who has ever received my vote."

Political action isn't a waste of time, but when it comes down to what's most important, it's sometimes best to take matters into your own hands.