Conserving Public Lands

Speaking of public lands, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WSDNR) announced on August 26 a new approach to forest management that will help conserve public forests in the state.

After I wrote my last two blog entries about the threats posed to public lands by private interests and the need to preserve those lands, the announcement from WSDNR that it will conserve 77,000 acres of forest owned by the state, including all remaining 10,000 acres of older forest, called for a third post.

In the past, WSDNR has often sided with private interests in the choices it's made about Washington's forests, meaning Tuesday's announcement represented a substantial and welcome shift in policy. As my earlier posts argued, a renewed effort to protect public lands is much needed these days, so WSDNR's new policy comes at a crucial time. It's a big win for environmental advocates and defenders of the public good, and hopefully, it's a step toward a better future.

Conserving the forests covered by the new policy also helps address global warming. The older forests can store carbon, and they give WSDNR the ability to sell carbon credits, proving that protecting public lands pays off environmentally and economically.

I wish to thank WSDNR and Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove for instituting this policy. Upthegrove became commissioner in January after winning election in November 2024, and so far, he has demonstrated the vision and courage to lead the department and defend public lands. Thank you for protecting the public interest through conservation.

Protecting Public Lands

My last entry ended with a call for supporters of the public good to summon their strength and defend public lands against exploitation by private interests. Just a few days later, I found myself on a hike with a group that has already joined that fight.

I didn't have the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition of Washington (LFDC) in mind when I wrote last month's blog entry, but it was clear early on in their hike through a forest that had been hastily sold for clearcutting by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WSDNR) that the organization's environmental work was exactly the kind of thing I meant.

The LFDC employs two strategies that are particularly important in protecting public lands. First, they challenge forest sales that violate WSDNR's own policies regarding the preservation of old growth timber. For example, after the sale of the forest I was touring had been fast-tracked late in 2024 by Hilary Franz, WSDNR's outgoing commissioner, LFDC asked for and received a restraining order against the logging of the forest. The organization is now in court to overturn the sale.

The second important strategy LFDC uses is bringing people together to protect these public forests. By organizing and guiding the hikes through the forests, LFDC establishes relationships and collective power around the issue of protecting public lands. The hikes also help connect people with these shared forests.

If we are going to succeed in pushing back against the private exploitation of our public lands, we should look at the model used by LFDC for guidance.

Plundering Public Lands

The effort to turn public money, resources, and programs into gains for private interest has reached a fever pitch in the United States, resulting in an onslaught of efforts to plunder public lands.

After first establishing a footing in American politics in the 1970s, the neoliberal project to turn everything public into a money-making scheme for corporations and the wealthy has grown into an insatiable colossus, setting aside any pretext of benefiting the public through "trickle-down economics" and grabbing anything it can instead. The recent attempts by the U.S. Congress to sell off millions of acres of public land demonstrate the level to which this greed has risen.

We've certainly seen many strategies for turning things that belong to the public into windfalls for the rich. The undermining of public education with charter schools, many of which are controlled by hedge funds would be one example. The rush by the George W. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations to sell off public lands for oil and gas exploration would be another. On a smaller scale, many municipalities have sold infrastructure and utilities to private companies, which pillage the resources and jack up prices on citizens.

Over the years, politicians from both the Republican and Democratic parties have become increasingly eager to facilitate this neoliberal plundering. The fervor exhibited during the recent attempt to sell off the public lands shows how rabid the supporters of this approach have become. Although this push was turned back, I doubt it will be last such effort.

With the greed of private interests so strong, supporters of the public good need to summon all their strength and defend what we have left.

Long Time, No See but Suddenly Heard

I experienced a remarkable moment this week when I heard a common nighthawk.

Before this week, my last sighting of a common nighthawk occurred in 2021. However, the moment I heard the bird's call on Tuesday evening, I knew what species it was without even looking. 

After I thought about it, I realized that the instant recognition of the sound showed how special the common nighthawk's call is to me. I must know it by heart. As a result, despite the fact that I don't hear it on a regular basis, I can immediately snap into awareness of it.

I've always loved common nighthawks. They have a unique look and a mesmerizing sound. Perhaps the irregularity with which I see them contributes to their specialness, yet I am still astonished at how quickly that call the other night pulled me into its world. It's as if common nighthawks have claimed a place in my unconscious.

A long time passed for me between sightings of common nighthawks, but the sudden impact of hearing the bird's call is timeless.

Wrong Way for Wolves

The wolf population is headed in the wrong direction in Washington state.

According to a recently released report from the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), in 2024, Washington's wolf population dropped by 9.5 percent. The 2023 report counted 254 wolves, but the total fell to 230 in 2024. This dramatic decline sends the state's wolf recovery in the wrong direction and is very disconcerting.

To make matters worse, the number of breeding pairs in the state plummeted by 25 percent from 24 in 2023 to just 18 last year. In other words, the current population is already faltering with ominous questions arising about its ability to regenerate itself in the face of high mortality rates.

WDFW has a lot of work to do to ensure the health of the state's wolf population. The 2024 trends cannot continue.

We are clearly a long way from wolf recovery in Washington.

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.