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.

A Friendly Reminder

When I heard the news that Forterra had helped conserve a Girl Scout camp in Grays Harbor County, I thought to myself, "I know that place!"

Sure enough, Camp Klahanee, for which Forterra recently purchased the conservation easement, is the camp I was invited to visit by my cousin's Girl Scout troop in 2006. The news of the purchase brought back memories of my trip to the camp and why I had been invited there in the first place.

In late 2005, at my cousin's request, my mom and I gave a presentation to the troop about Finland. It was a fun evening as we shared information about the country and our experiences there. The next summer, the troop invited us to Camp Klahanee as thanks for our presentation. Set in a forest, the camp is beautiful and quiet. We had a great time at the troop's picnic.

As the Forterra press release explains, "Klahanee" means "friendship" in the Chinook language. Thus, the news was a friendly reminder of some happy experiences from the past and of the importance of conserved land in providing space for community building. Through a partnership with the Polson Park and Museum Historical Society, Forterra has ensured that Camp Klahanee will continue to serve as such a space.

A reminder that our environment offers us opportunities to grow and connect is a great way to end one year and look ahead to another.

Sold Outdoors

The United States National Parks Service (NPS) has proposed a massive entrance-fee hike that carries a cost far greater than its $70 price tag.

According to this news release from NPS, the peak rate at 17 heavily visited parks, including Washington state's Mount Rainier and Olympic, would jump from about $25 to $70 in 2018. NPS argues that the rate hike helps address maintenance costs for the parks.

Without a doubt, we must fully fund and maintain our parks. However, the approach taken by NPS exacts a much heavier toll than the money for an entrance pass. I would pay the $70 because I love these places and because I can afford it, but for many, the price will turn them away, and that's where the real cost emerges.

Are we willing to pay the price for losing our connection
to places like Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park?

We preserved national parks as part of a social, cultural, and environmental trust. They were and continue to be places where we can go and connect with nature and other people more closely. Instituting a prohibitive entrance fee destroys that connection, cutting people off from important human and environmental relationships. Once severed, those bonds wither and fade, leaving our planet and ourselves at risk and opening the door for the possibility of privatized national parks (a great and devastating oxymoron). Violating a sacred trust like our national parks with a privatization scheme would threaten our deepest values.

As I said above, the national parks need full funding, but satisfying their budgets calls for more collective commitment, not less. Consequently, we must reexamine our priorities. Do we want tax cuts, particularly for the richest individuals, at any price, or do we want to have a society that makes us proud and nourishes us by returning the investment we make in it?

Whatever we choose, we'll pay something, but I doubt we can afford the first option.

Common Ground of the Pacific Northwest

Welcome to the land where environmentalists provide more timber jobs than the logging industry.

For years, the increasing mechanization of logging has stripped away tree-falling and mill jobs in Washington state and Oregon. Work that used to require dozens can now be done by a handful. In contrast, this article demonstrates how the environmental movement can increase logging jobs while addressing important environmental issues.

In summary, the story documents how Oregon Wild, a regional environmental group, enlisted loggers and a mill in John Day, Oregon, to thin forests at risk from wildfires. The thinning reduces fuel for the fires. It has also kept John Day's Malheur Lumber mill going, led to the hiring of more mill workers, and produced a 10-year contract for a local logging company.

The impacts of collaboration in this story are amazing. Some of the old hostilities between environmentalists and loggers are still apparent in the article's quotes, but they serve more as testaments to the power of common ground to overcome major political and social obstacles. Perhaps the most powerful realization is that once the ice was broken, innovative ideas like using logging for conservation purposes and developing ongoing partnerships flowed freely. When we are able to let go of positions that keep us apart, we can achieve a lot.

The partnership between environmentalists, loggers, and the mill in Oregon shows how finding common ground and new ideas can revitalize public discussions, help resolve conflicts, and result in a better world.

Finnish-ing off Cars

Maybe my love of ideas, interest in environmental issues, and dislike of cars come from my genes.

Finland has made much news lately for its environmental initiatives. Last month, it committed to a binding 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions. Now, Helsinki, its capital city, makes a move to eliminate the need for individual citizens to own cars. All those plans have left me even more proud of my Finnish heritage.

Helsinki's initiative shows what happens when people commit to the development of ideas. The city plans to capitalize on the country's innovative approach to technology as it makes its public transportation highly responsive to individual needs. According to this article from The Guardian, by 2025, Helsinki residents will have the ability to coordinate, plan, and pay for all their public transportation use with a single smart-phone app.

The vision Helsinki has for its transportation system challenges the need for private car ownership. By making the necessary changes in its infrastructure and embracing the potential of new technologies, the city will trump the convenience of the car, reducing the environmental impacts associated with transportation.

As a Finn, I'm excited about the thriving, environmentally friendly community Helsinki intends to build, but the great thing about ideas like this is that we don't need DNA to pass them on; all it takes is a blog entry and some forward thinking.

Food Fight the Power

Ron Finley wants people to grab pitchforks and take a stand for a better, healthier, more equal social system.

Finley may only want the pitchforks for gardening, but his work has every characteristic of a revolution. It's just that this revolution begins with food.

In a recent interview with the Sierra Club, Finley called himself a "gangsta gardener." He helps marginalized communities empower themselves through food. The gardens he works to set up put residents in charge of growing their own produce and provide healthy alternatives to the food that's been most accessible to these communities in the past. To visit Finley's Web site and learn more about his projects, click here.

For Finley, the problems of nutrition and health stem from our social structures and institutions. People around the world have recognized the same issues and looked to Finley's work as a strategy for taking back the power of produce.

Do the right thing now means grow the right thing.

Little Library, Big Idea

It was so small, I couldn't miss it.

When I first saw a Little Free Library, I had other things on my mind, but this wooden box placed on top of a post would not be ignored.

Nothing stands out like the odd. In this case, not many libraries fit on the end of a pole, but the clear door of the box revealed books inside, and then, I saw "Little Free Library" written on the wood. That was all I needed. I committed the name to memory and looked it up when I returned home. What I learned about it made me think of the environment.

Little Free Library is a book-sharing project, and like its name suggests, the books are free. No one "checks out" a book, and books have no return dates (in fact, the books might not be returned at all). People simply take and/or leave books.

The program has spread to 50 states and 40 countries, and each library is built from materials in its local community. That's one cool environmental aspect. Another is the idea of book sharing.

Book sharing maximizes an information resource while minimizing the use of natural resources. Of course, traditional libraries mastered book sharing long ago and are great alternatives to buying books. However, I think the Little Free Library offers a neat option for exchanging certain common books like small, inexpensive paperbacks. For more information about the program, click here.

This is one time when it's okay to make some library noise.

It Takes an Online Community

A new online group from the National Wildlife Federation helps with raising children of the digital age to love nature.

The NWF recently launched Wildlife Nation, which people can join to exchange ideas about connecting children with nature. Features of the site include information about wildlife, tips for outdoor activities, and a chance to engage with others who want to make sure children have access to the natural world.

It's good to see the Internet being used to foster more interaction with the environment instead of keeping kids inside. For more information about Wildlife Nation, read the NWF blog post about it here or visit the Web site here.

Just like anything else in raising children, getting outside is all about collective wisdom.

Spokes on a Wheel

Remember the fun of riding bikes with friends? The University of Oregon and the city of Eugene do.

Community planning is crucial to creating bicycle-friendly towns and cities, but producing effective plans is easier when everyone contributes ideas and works toward the same goal. That's what makes the collaboration between the university, students, and the community so great in the Oregon case.

According to this news release from the university, a student group took the initiative to study ways of making a major street on campus safer for bikes. Based on its research, the group proposed an idea, and the university and the city are now working to help bring the plan to life. The proposal has even received a pledge of a $150,000 donation from the parents of a university student who was killed in a bicycle accident in 2008.

The Oregon plan proves yet again that riding bikes is better when friends are around.

Bird of the World

Many birds are international, pretty much disregarding countries' borders, so it makes sense for bird-counting efforts to harness the power of the global community.

This year, the Great Backyard Bird Count and eBird are teaming up to do just that. As this announcement from the GBBC states, the count, which runs February 15-18, will contribute to the overall, worldwide findings for 2013.

Anyone can participate, and it's exciting that this year's event will connect the whole world. For more information, click here. Then, go out and make every bird count.

Wild at Heart

I grew up in one of the coolest regions of the world, right on the doorstep of the Olympic Mountains in Washington state. As a result, I am more accustomed to seeing wild lands around me than buildings.

I'm pretty sure that most of the people who know me would say the natural setting fits me perfectly. The combination of freedom and nature resonates with me and shows the value in protecting the quality of life in the area.

For the last few years, the Wild Olympics Campaign has sought to further protections for the Olympic National Park. Additionally, the campaign has been building a community of people who want to share the experience the park has to offer. This week, Wild Olympics released a video about its work. Check it out below:

Wild Olympics for Our Future from Wild Olympics on Vimeo.

The Wild Olympics Campaign is a great effort to connect people with each other and the environment. At its heart is the idea of maintaining the wild spirit that defines the Pacific Northwest and the inhabitants of the region. For more information on the campaign, click here.

Environmental Communication Technology

In my last entry, I talked about breaking down barriers and embracing new approaches to addressing environmental issues. Today, I want to talk about how new forms of communication can help with this.

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, you might have noticed that I recently added another blog to my blog list. That blog is The Net Naturalist, which you can access through the blog list or by clicking here. It is run by Danielle Brigida, who coordinates social media for the National Wildlife Federation. Brigida uses the blog to highlight new social media and nature-related apps along with tips for using these technologies to connect with nature and promote environmental issues.

The following video explains how Brigida is also using social media to help transform the NWF:



As a longtime follower of the NWF and someone who is interested in communication, I like that the organization is branching out to form new relationships. These connections will likely help the NWF achieve its goals and contribute to a healthier planet.

The Center of it All

It's funny how a certain idea or topic will pop up in a number of places all around the same time.

Taylor's checkerspot

The idea I've been running into a lot in the last couple of days is that solving our problems requires people from seemingly different walks of life and perspectives coming together.

On Thursday night's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, President Bill Clinton talked about how his Clinton Global Initiative focuses on finding solutions by identifying the different strengths people have and putting them in the same room. Many of these solutions revolve around environmental issues.

Then, this morning, I read an article from the National Wildlife Federation about programs that unite conservation groups, communities, and local farms. These programs emphasize both conservation and local buying and commerce. By working together, people address many problems and strengthen the health of their communities and local environment.

Oregon spotted frog

Finally, tonight, I came across a Huffington Post article about prison inmates in Washington state helping endangered species. The story would be great even if it only involved the inmates and the endangered species, including the Taylor's checkerspot and the Oregon spotted frog. However, it's so much more than that. It involves the military, some institutions of higher learning, the Oregon Zoo, nonprofit groups, the National Science Foundation, and many agencies, and they are all working together to address species' population declines.

These are the kinds of things that we are capable of if we look past our self-imposed limitations and barriers. They make for a better world and stronger communities, and at the heart of it all, we find a stronger commitment to the environment.

It's Gone

Last month, I spent some time talking about bicycles and our communities here and here. Today, TreeHugger ran an article on similar topics.

The part of the article that stood out the most for me was the following video about how people, including police, hardly bat an eyelash at someone stealing a bike:



Some of the pieces of the video would be funny if they weren't so sad. What struck me was that we can lose pride in our communities to the point where we won't even say a word when we see them filled with wrongdoing.

I am becoming convinced that with every bike that rolls away in the wrong hands, we have a little of our own sanctity stolen as well.

This New House

I'm not really much for plugging housing developments. The truth is that each time I see a new one, I get a little sad. I hate seeing natural spaces bulldozed and built and paved over.

With that perspective in mind, I will share some information my sister sent me. It concerns a community called the Garden Atriums. You can visit the community's Web site by clicking here.

From what I can tell, Garden Atriums is a gated community (not my favorite kind). However, it is based on some interesting principles that I think could be good, especially if applied in other areas.

First, Garden Atriums has a community garden, which brings food production close to home and gives the community a central space that will hopefully make for stronger connections between residents. Also, its homes feature less lawn space, decreasing the need for water, fertilizer, and mowing.

Another interesting idea is the use of atriums with plants at the center of the houses. This provides some innovative ways of creating climate control and challenges the barriers that traditionally separate human dwellings from nature. Additionally, the houses generate the power they need with solar energy.

I like that Garden Atriums seems to take sustainability seriously, but I would like to see someone try to incorporate the ideas from this community in one that already exists. If renovation and rejuvenation projects borrow from Garden Atrium's inspiration, the need for brand new developments will hopefully decrease.

Our Communities, Our Lives

In my last post, I talked about how Turku, Finland, had created a community where bicyclists felt comfortable leaving their bikes unchained, and that entry got me thinking a little more about what the city had done.

Essentially, Turku made it easy for people to use bikes as a primary mode of transportation. In other words, bicycling was a valued priority. Another priority was an emphasis on outdoor activity in general. Aurajoki, a key river of the Turku area, flows through the city and has been turned into the center point for walking and bicycling. Well-maintained paths line both sides of the river, and they are used frequently. Check out the photos below:

My guess is that these paths are used for cross-country skiing and other snow-related activities in the winter.

Overall, Turku has committed to and created a safe, healthy, and environment-connected community for its residents. Clearly, their design for the area intentionally focused on these concerns, and once the heart of the design was identified, they set about making it a reality.

The message is that environmental efforts are about our desires for a high quality of life and a healthy environment. If think those things are indeed priorities, we have to make them happen.

Bike Ownership

A bicyclist from Portland, Ore., is finding some YouTube fame for tracking down his stolen bike and helping police arrest the alleged thief. Check out the news article.

This story interests me for two reasons. First, it reminds me of my trip to Finland. While in Turku, the country's fifth largest city (178,784 people as of 31 January 2012), I was impressed with the number of bikes in use (even on really rainy days) and that very few people locked up their bikes. I only remember seeing one bike chained to something. The rest of the parked bikes, as you can tell from the pictures below, were simply left with the belief that they would be there when the owners returned.

When I saw these bikes in Finland, I thought about how different it was for bicyclists in the United States, and I realized that the Finns truly had ownership over their community. They had created and maintained a situation where they could feel safe and connected enough to trust people.

That brings up the second reason Oregon's YouTube bike saga interests me. The man whose bike was stolen expresses a strong sense of ownership of the bike, and it is clear he wants to fight for a community where that ownership is respected. US society may not yet have developed a culture in which a bicyclist can leave a bike unattended without worrying about it, but the more people show that we will not accept a culture where bike ownership is not respected, the closer we will be to enjoying the benefits of bicycling. Without question, that is the type of community we should all have.

Online Garden Party

Spending time in the garden is much different and vastly preferable to being online. However, online resources can make for a better gardening experience.

Online communities have formed around the subject of gardening, and TreeHugger shares some of them here. These communities offer information and connections that help gardeners do what they love.

App Reporting

One of the most disheartening experiences I have when I'm out in nature is finding a place where people have dumped their trash.

The dump sites ruin the land, break my connection with nature, and leave me feeling powerless. After all, the offenders get away, and the number of dump sites is increasing.

However, technology might be providing a way to fight back. As TreeHugger reports, a new smart phone app allows people to report illegal dump sites. If tools like this are used successfully, I think they could help cut down on dumping by providing information to law enforcement and letting dumpers know they are being watched.

I also think the app can be a tool that empowers us to "build our environment," which is an idea I blogged about last week. For those of us who enjoy the outdoors, the environment is our community, and it would be great to take it back from those who are ruining it with their trash.

Building Our Environment

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what it takes to have a healthy environment and strong communities.

I have realized that both require vision and focused efforts to see that vision come to life. Once the desired goal has been expressed, we must take ownership of its building and maintenance. In other words, if we want something to happen, we must make it happen.

This story from BirdNote provides a great example of what I mean. (When you check it out, you can also take a look around BirdNote's new Web site, which is fantastic.)

Of course, improving our environment and our communities means hard work, but if we really want to transform our relationships to each other and to nature, the work will be worth it.

For more ideas about communities and the environment, check out this blog from the Natural Resources Defense Council's Kaid Benfield.