See my reply to Wally, which addresses some of your points. As far as
religion having no place in environmental concerns, I take strong issue
with that. I suggest that you read Stephen Lansing's work on the
millennium-old rice irrigation system on the island of Bali, which is
managed mostly through a well-established Hindu temple system. The
entire, elaborate, religiously managed system nearly collapsed in the
1980s when scientific principles (the Green Revolution) were introduced
(hybrid rice, mechanized ag, pesticides) to try to increase production
for an export economy. Fortunately Lansing and others saw what was
happening and mitigated a lot of the damage.
There are any of a number of studies by my colleagues that show how
local communities, informed strongly by religious values, have engaged
in sustainable practices. Some of the studies come from the Amazon
basin. Walter Goldschmidt did such a study in California in the 1940s,
called "As You Sow." One town was fairly cohesive and locally oriented,
while the other was influenced by the "religion" of the dollar. Granted
that most of the studies I have in mind are not "world" religions -
Christianity, Islam, and others that have fueled colonial doctrines.
I also don't want to paint "native peoples" as some kind of "original
environmentalists." Humans in almost all places and in almost all times,
at least since the invention of the city-state, have overused their
ecosystems: Maya, Zapotec, Aztec (Aztec society's collapse was speeded
by the encounter with the Spanish), Easter Island, the Norse in
Greenway.... Jared Diamond's book, "Collapse," is an interesting
presentation of numerous well-studied examples.
I'm saying that Sierra's response appears to make unsupported
assumptions. You offer some of the additional information that I would
require before signing onto an action alert like the one where this all
started. No fan of world religions myself, I also can present
counter-evidence that religious values can inform environmentally
friendly practices. This really isn't a debate about "religion" as such,
and if religion enters at all, it's because certain religious tenets and
practices encourage environmental destruction. But not all.
Leland Searles
Air Quality Program Director
Iowa Environmental Council
521 E. Locust St., Suite 220
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
515-244-1194 ext. 204
www.iaenvironment.org <http://www.iaenvironment.org>
www.facebook.com/Iowa.Environmental.Council
<http://www.facebook.com/Iowa.Environmental.Council>
About the Iowa Environmental Council:
The Iowa Environmental Council actively works in public policy to
provide a safe, healthy environment for all Iowans. We focus on public
education and coalition building to give Iowans a voice on issues that
affect their quality of life. For more information contact the Iowa
Environmental Council or visit www.iaenvironment.org
<http://www.iaenvironment.org> .
Please do not print this email unless it is absolutely necessary. Spread
environmental awareness.
From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phyllis Mains
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 3:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sierra Club Alert-Glacier Bay
Leland you are misinformed about Sierra Club's "outmoded view of
wilderness" The alert is not about stopping egg hunting, but about
stopping activities in sensitive areas that should not be disturbed.
Sadly both natives and non natives think they can plunder all species
regardless of the consequences. Because there are gull eggs just
outside the park boundaries within Huna Tlingit traditional territory
there is no excuse to open a National Park to egg hunting. Are you
willing to open the area to native egg collection just to see if it will
cause harm? Natives in Izenbek National Wildlife Refuge want to have a
road built through the heart of world class waterfowl habitat so they
can take advantage of more oil drilling. And Please--"A carefully
managed (by native religious views or otherwise) resource us is not
necessarily a bad thing". Well we've seen the destructive side of
religion and religion has no place in environmental matters. There is
little wilderness left and humans are doing everything to exploit it for
personal gain. And American tax payers paid National Park Service to
assist them to successfully collect gull eggs on one of the non-park
sites! Sierra Club was the original defender of wilderness and we owe
what we have to those that went before us. It up to us to keep those
areas protected and continue to protect wilderness for the health of the
planet and future generations. Phyllis
Opening Glacier Bay to egg gathering is also completely unnecessary.
Just outside the park boundaries and within Huna Tlingit traditional
territory are a half-dozen traditional gull egg collection sites of the
tribe. In a demonstration project in 2001 and 2002 the National Park
Service assisted tribal members to successfully collect gull eggs on one
of these non-park sites. This proved that NPS facilitation of such
non-park collection trips is a "reasonable and feasible" alternative to
opening the park.
Apparently Sierra Club's position is based on an outmoded view of
"wilderness" that has been appropriately deconstructed by, among others,
Gary Snyder, William Cronon, Jim Igoe, and many others. Humans have been
using resources on most of the world's landscapes for millennia. The
essential problem is to distinguish sustainable from nonsustainable
practices. Is there any demonstration that native egg collection will
cause harm to the gull population? That species of gull is one of the
most plentiful in the Pacific Northwest. A carefully managed (by native
religious views or otherwise) resource use is not necessarily a bad
thing.
Leland Searles
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To
unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv
Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club
Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features
the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]
Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp
Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
|
