Contents:
John de Graaf: Founder’s Notes
The Beauty of Flowing Water: Tim Palmer, photographer.
Reflections: Vicki Graham, editor.
Spotlights: Watershed preservation and restoration: Amigos Bravos, CURE, Housatonic Valley Association, Wild Rivers Land Trust
The New Green Deal: John de Graaf
Senate passes big public lands bill
New Blog Post by Isa Fernandez
Reviews
Events
FOUNDER’S NOTES: JOHN DE GRAAF
Hi friends and supporters:
Welcome to our first newsletter edited by Vicki Graham, poet and professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota—Morris! You’ll see immediately what a terrific edition to our team Vicki is. I think she is taking us to the next level—very exciting. If you have ideas for her, please email her at grahamv@morris.umn.edu
Well, it is an unusual winter’s day in Seattle. The falling snow is so thick that visibility is a hundred yards at best and in the past hour, the entire landscape has turned solid white. For many of you, living in northern climes like our editor, Vicki Graham, this would be a mere trifle but for Seattle, which seldom gets any snow at all, it’s a serious weather event and smells suspiciously of climate change, since we had an unusually warm and dry January, close-to-record setting in terms of temperature. But whatever Punxsutawney Phil saw on Groundhog Day, winter has just gotten started here with a bang, and at least two weeks of temperatures 10-15 degrees below normal and several snowfalls on the horizon. Weird weather patterns are as much a part of climate change as global warming.
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TIDY TOWNS
Many American communities are working on beautification, regardless of their political leanings. I’ll be visiting one of them, Greenville, South Carolina, later this month, to take part in the Academy of Leisure Sciences national meeting, where I’ll be joined by professor Iryna Sharaiesvka of Appalachian State University in hosting a meeting of faculty to talk about ways to bring AND BEAUTY FOR ALL into many of our classrooms.
Last month, I had the chance to visit Colusa, California, population 6,000, a lovely and quite conservative community in the center of an almond and pistachio growing region, and meet with representatives from the local library, arts commission and Resource Conservation District to talk about ways to start an And Beauty for All program in their town (where I enjoyed being able to pick ripe luscious oranges from trees right on Main Street, walk on a great trail on the Sacramento River levee, and observe countless birds of many varieties at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge). One great idea came from an arts commission director who is originally from Ireland. He suggested a “Tidy Towns” competition based on a model in use in Ireland since the 1950s, where towns compete to be the most beautiful, sustainable and inclusive. I’m hoping Colusa County will get involved in this! You might consider this for your county as well!
I’ll be starting a new film on February 22nd with an interview of Mayor Bob Sampayan about the efforts to bring beauty to Vallejo, CA. Last month, I met with a team in Vallejo who will assist with the project. I am so impressed by what they are doing.
This leads to what has gotten me most excited this month. Just yesterday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ed Markey and other members of Congress laid out their Green New Deal resolution.
See more about this under GREEN NEW DEAL below…
That’s all folks! May you always walk in beauty! John
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THE BEAUTY OF FLOWING WATER - Photos by Tim Palmer
“Something about the sight of flowing water simply thrills me. Rivers are striking with their windings and whitewater plunges, with their silkiness of foam and bursting bubbles, with their colors that reflect everything around them and that also reveal dark shades of the underwater world with its vivid animation and hidden mysteries. The river moves, and so I'm drawn to its arrival and its passing. Looking for new perspectives with my camera, I've floated, waded, and sat in the water to take pictures. I've scrambled up hillsides, climbed trees for top-down panoramas, and dived as deep as I could go to see what bubbles and bottom-life look like from a fish's eye view. Traveling on a river opens up a whole new world, with an enhanced perspective on the water and with connections that come only by joining the flow and traveling with the current. Whether we're floating in the current, walking along the shore, or just sitting on the bank, the beauty of flowing water can fill our hearts and touch us all.”
Tim Palmer, photographer
Photo by Tim Palmer
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REFLECTIONS—VICKI GRAHAM, editor
Today, in Minnesota, I have wakened to new snow glittering in early morning sun. In my other home, in Oregon, I hear that rain is already bringing forth the first spring flowers. And this has set me thinking about the wild beauty of water and its almost magical ability to shift form.
In these troubling times of drought and wild fires, floods and pollution, species loss and mining disasters, I am inspired by the number of local and state organizations all across the country working to protect and rejuvenate our watersheds. And so this month we are spotlighting four different organizations from four different parts of the U.S. to show what can be done when people of a community work together to preserve and beautify our planet.
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SPOTLIGHTS: WATERSHED PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION
Amigos Bravos:
Amigos Bravos, a conservation organization based in Taos, New Mexico, was founded in 1988 with the goal of protecting the ecological and cultural integrity of New Mexico’s precious water. We envision rivers so clear and clean we can bend to our knees, cup our hands, and drink directly from those waters without fear.
Amigos Bravos has been recognized nationally for our dedication to conservation issues that focus on three key areas: Protecting and Restoring Watershed Health, Holding Polluters Accountable, and Building a Water Ethic and Stewardship for the Future.
This past summer, Amigos Bravos, was able to get important restoration work done in two of our ten Rio Grande Wetland Jewels—important wetland systems that Amigos Bravos has identified as priority areas for protection and restoration.
With the help of 70 volunteers and multiple contractors, we were able to build a large cattle exclosure in the La Jara Wetland Jewel and construct over 30 erosion control structures in the Midnight Meadows Wetland Jewel.
Other notable work includes:
- Restoring the Red River downstream from the Chevron/Molycorp mine declared “dead”
in the 1990’s
- Reintroducing 33 river otters back into the rivers and streams of New Mexico
- Holding the Los Alamos National Lab accountable for their toxic pollution through litigation; LANL is now tasked with cleaning up 400 of their worst radioactive dump sites.
For more information on Amigos Bravos and our work visit: https://amigosbravos.org/
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CURE: Clean Up the River Environment
CURE is a rural convener. We work in the areas of climate, energy, rural democracy, water, and connecting people with nature. As a nonprofit organization long rooted in the movement for rural social justice, we work to move people to action and build power within rural communities through inclusive conversations, hands-on learning, and civic engagement. Since CURE’s founding in Montevideo, Minnesota twenty-seven years ago, our mission has been to protect and restore resilient rural landscapes by harnessing the power of citizens who care about them.
Minnesota waters are under threat and in “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” water is taken for granted. CURE believes the future of our water depends on grassroots engagement, bold action, and progressive policies. This has led us to embark on the creation of a Water Ethic Charter for Minnesota. A Water Ethic Charter (WEC) is a community-driven statement of principles about how water resources should be cared for, managed, and used.
The first year of the WEC project will be rooted in the Indigenous communities of the Dakota and Ojibwe people. Mni Wiconi. Nibi Bimadiziwin. Water is life. We believe water is a basic right for current and future generations and this drives CURE’s commitment to this work. For more information, visit cureriver.org
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HOUSATONIC VALLEY ASSOCIATION
The Housatonic Valley Association protects the woods and waters of the entire Housatonic River watershed, approximately 2,000 square miles in Western Massachusetts, Western Connecticut and Eastern New York.
The rural northern sections of the watershed are truly spectacular, offering recreation, mountain trails, sightseeing, fishing, history, quaint New England main streets and incredible natural beauty just a short drive from Manhattan. Along its southern reaches, the watershed becomes more urbanized – with highways, large residential developments, and expanding parking lots. But even here, the river and its smaller tributaries connect people to nature in their own backyards.
Uniting the entire watershed and its communities behind common goals of protecting woodlands and clean water is the core of HVA’s approach. The watershed faces multiple interrelated challenges: climate change, polluted storm water runoff, habitat loss and uncontrolled development. HVA’s focus on treasured natural spaces – woods and waters – mutually benefits residents, wildlife, and local economies.
In just one program example, HVA’s Still River Watershed Connections unites several towns, the local school systems, and area businesses to restore one of the most polluted portions of the entire watershed. High school students get “green jobs” training while learning river science, removing invasive species and planting buffers that protect streams and ponds from runoff. Learn more about HVA at hvatoday.org
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WILD RIVER LANDS TRUST
Founded in 2000 and expanded in 2014, the Wild Rivers Land Trust currently serves a 2.2 million-acre area encompassing the 130-mile portion of the southern Oregon coast from Tenmile Lake to the Oregon/California border and from the Pacific Ocean to the headwaters of ten rivers and two major stream systems (12 watersheds).
In partnership with local landowners and communities, the Wild Rivers Land Trust fosters voluntary protection of clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, working forests, and farms and ranches through conservation, restoration, collaboration and education. The land trust takes a holistic approach to conservation in this region, from “Summit to Sea Stacks,” recognizing the connectedness and influence of coastal ecosystems by the Pacific Ocean.
Recently WRLT acquired two private inholdings in the Rogue Siskiyou National Forest, saving them from clear cuts. These will be held by the U.S. Forest Service as late successional forest reserves and managed for coho salmon, marbled murrelet, and spotted owl habitat. They will become true public lands for all to use. WRLT also sponsors tree planting activities, involving the community in restoration and beautification of these lands.
WRLT also works with landowners to form conservation easements. Camp Myrtlewood, for example, is an active eco-forestry program that provides educational opportunities for guests of the Camp. The Camp is used extensively throughout the year for retreats and school programs, with a trail system that allows guests to enjoy the old growth timber groves, Myrtle Creek, and upland prairie areas. For more information, visit wildriverslandtrust.org
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NEW GREEN DEAL: JOHN DE GRAAF
THE GREEN NEW DEAL—GET INVOLVED FOR BEAUTY’S SAKE!
The first draft of the Green New Deal is an impressively comprehensive document and folks will find things to criticize in it, but I hope you’ll pay attention because we are already losing much of the beauty of the world to global warming—glaciers are melting rapidly around the world, vast swaths of beautiful forest in California and elsewhere have been lost to massive fires, and corals, including the stunning Great Barrier Reef, are bleaching and dying around the world. The Green New Deal resolution seeks to guarantee clean air and water, healthy food and greater access to nature to all Americans. It goes well beyond technological fixes (though they are included) to advocate environmental restoration, sustainable farming and management of soil, reforestation and other actions to reduce carbon outputs and sequester already existing carbons from the atmosphere.
In my own view, it should also mention the impacts of excessive consumerism and offer a new index to replace GDP in telling us how well we are doing. But it’s a big step forward. The resolution is inspirational and aspirational, without getting into programmatic details. As such it is open to all of us to help shape into specific legislation. Pundits say the first concrete proposals will come in the area of infrastructure improvement, including things as creating a 21st century energy grid to store and distribute the new electricity generated from alternatives to fossil fuels.
This infrastructure should include more than new highways and bridges. The resolution agrees, and mentions high-speed rail, for example. But it should also include rebuilding cities to make them both more sustainable and more people-friendly (more parks, gathering spaces, etc.) as the City Beautiful Movement advocated a century ago. And we should urge Congress to make the changes in infrastructure beautiful as well as utilitarian, as Vallejo, CA mayor Bob Sampayan, former Seattle City Council president Nick Licata and I argued in this piece for the National League of Cities.
So I would encourage you to use the new energy around the Green New Deal to create a local group in your community to think of how to be part of the program with local infrastructure improvements based on the theme of the right of everyone to live, work and play in beautiful (and sustainable) surroundings. This is an idea conservatives and liberals can come together around. I have been having some very good conversations with American conservatives who are drawn to our beauty campaign, and who, even if they may be uncomfortable with some of the federal government aspirations of the Green New Deal, are excited about both beauty and sustainability, local foods (a key point in the GND), land stewardship, and community building.
SENATE PASSES BIG NEW PUBLIC LANDS BILL
Some great news from the Senate on Feb. 12—passage by a whopping 92-8 majority of the public lands bill, including permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, so important for local conservation, beatification and park projects.
Thanks to all who supported it!
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NEW BLOG POST BY ISA FERNANDEZ
Isa Fernández, MPA, is a Legacy Corridor Business Alliance Program Manager at Westside Development Corporation in San Antonio, Texas, and is a freelance photographer and a peace and justice advocate. She serves on the board of directors of Take Back Your Time. Her blog, “Ugly and Unsafe: Let’s Regulate the New Electric Scooters,” calls attention to the dangers of unregulated use of electric scooters in cities.
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REVIEWS:
New York Times Magazine, January 13, 2019: “Beauty and the Beasts,” by Ferris Jabr. In this beautifully illustrated article, Ferris Jabr explores new theories of the evolution of beauty, challenging standard explanations of natural selection. Scientists are now suggesting that “beauty does not have to be a proxy for health or advantageous genes. Sometimes beauty is the glorious but meaningless flowering of arbitrary preference.” Animals, like humans, may have an innate sense of beauty! Much of this article is based on interviews with scientists Richard Prum (The Evolution of Beauty), Molly Cummings, and Michael Ryan (A Taste for the Beautiful), all worthy of further reading.
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EVENTS:
The documentary REDEFINING PROSPERITY: THE GOLD RUSHES OF NEVADA CITY, about how one California town brought liberals and conservatives together in the fight to save a beautiful river will be screened in Decorah, Iowa’s Oneota Film Festival in early March. Decorah is a lovely town set among limestone bluffs near the Mississippi River in Northeastern Iowa with a lively arts community.
Redefining Prosperity will also be screened at the Wenatchee, WA public library on April 16, at the Moscow, Idaho community co-op on April 17, and at the Twisp, WA public library on April 18. If you live in one of those beautiful towns I hope to see you there and have a conversation about And Beauty for All!
Kathleen Dean Moore: “A Call to Life: Variations on a Theme of Extinction”
From the website: “A powerful call to action on global warming and mass extinction, ‘A Call to Life’ is a collaboration between concert pianist, Rachelle McCabe, and writer/philosopher, Kathleen Dean Moore. Harnessing a formidable piece of music to address formidable global issues, McCabe performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s "Variations on a Theme from Corelli," giving voice to humanity's grief and ferocious hope. Moore weaves words between the variations, creating a work of art that opens people’s hearts without breaking them.” riverwalking.com
Schedule:
February 22, 2019. Performance, “A Call to Life,” Northern Voices Speaker Series, 7:00pm, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks.
March 10, 2019. Performance, "A Call to Life," 3:00pm, Recital Hall, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
March 27, 2019. Performance, “A Call to Life,” 7:00pm, Trinity United Methodist Church, Port Townsend, WA.
Kathleen Dean Moore is an advisor and supporter of And Beauty for All. Book this amazing performance for your community, school, or organization by contacting carol@tscwg.net
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