Post-election Defense, Hope, and Resistance
Top Image: Down Marsh Fork northernmost poplars; Arctic NWR wilderness addition. (C) Dave Foreman
Note: We are very aware of the grave and serious threats this administration poses. And this letter has little to do directly with incoming admins goals of mass destruction. It is a response to that threat, and we believe that the ground bipartisan relationships and deals to protect nature are still possible, despite Dr. Orange. As do many other organizations publishing on the topic this week. One of our former board members just wrote: “We need to remember that many Republicans have long been conservationists but that Magas are a terrible subspecies.” All duly noted! Everything that was out there before the election is still there. If we can keep it.
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The mood was sour and downtrodden as staff and board members joined our weekly “worker bee” meeting. It was the morning after the election, and I am sure the same scene was repeated nationwide as organizations gathered around one fundamental question: “What now?”
I was not in the mood to talk strategy. It was too soon to discuss adjusting each of our programs. But then I remembered the foundation upon which The Rewilding Institute was built. I thought about all we know in how to get things done under the thumb of unfriendly administrations. And I watched the energy of the meeting shift.
Dave Foreman taught us to be open to working with anyone willing to sit across a table and talk about protecting nature. For a long time, he was a registered Republican. He would constantly remind us that some of the biggest conservation wins in history were due either in part or wholly to Republicans. Dave never saw conservation as a partisan issue. It didn’t make sense to him that only Democrats should care about conservation. A shared passion for conservation was all that mattered; he embraced any opportunity to collaborate with those who cared for their state’s wild legacy.
In October 2019, during the first Trump administration, Dave wrote:
When Republicans Loved Endangered Species
Once upon a time, conservation was bipartisan, with leadership from both Republicans and Democrats at various stages, from the administration of Teddy Roosevelt to that of Richard Nixon and a bit beyond. In the early days of the New Mexico Wilderness Study Committee in the 1970s, many of its leaders, even yours truly, were Republicans. We worked closely with New Mexico’s Republican members of Congress—Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Manuel Lujan, Jr.—on new Wilderness Areas, including a pocketful of areas stoutly opposed by the Forest Service, such as the Sandia Mountains and Chama Canyon Wilderness Areas. When, on my trips to Washington, D.C. for The Wilderness Society and NMWSC, I strode the marble hallways of the Congressional office buildings I always had appointments with the Republican staff of the House Interior Committee to palaver over strategy.
In 1973, one of the great conservation bills was passed with the strong support of Republican members of Congress. The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act was fought by the Forest Service as though it would usher in Armageddon. And yet, its lead sponsor in the Senate was Republican James Buckley (brother of William F. Buckley) and in the House by Republican John Saylor, who had been the lead House sponsor of the 1964 Wilderness Act.
But what of the great bugbear of today’s congressional Republicans (better called Trumpicans)—the 1973 Endangered Species Act?
Today the Endangered Species Act is under threat as never before by Republicans and the Trump administration. But on July 24, 1973, the Senate unanimously approved the Act, followed on September 18 by a House vote of 390-12. It was gladly signed by President Gerald Ford, also a Republican.
In debate on the bill, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), speaking in favor, quoted former Senator Spong who had said that “Extinction is quite literally a fate worse than death.” Stevens added, “I agree.” Senator Marlow Cook, (R-KY) recommended the legislation include “a provision which would prohibit the destruction or modification of the critical habitat of such [endangered] species.” Senator Bill Roth (R-DE), said in support that the Act was a “long overdue piece of legislation,” and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) added, “It is a fact that man has been the culprit in bringing certain species to the point of extinction: it would be a double indictment against humanity to ignore the present situation and allow the destruction of our resource of wildlife to continue.” Senator Charles Percy (R-IL) called for the Senate to act promptly and “hopefully unanimously” on the bill, and it was so. (Read the full Campfire piece here.)
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Dave taught us how much more amenable politicians can become when they get away from the lights and cameras, especially once they are off the campaign trail. Listening to him talk about getting big things done for nature with bipartisan support was a masterclass in the true art of the deal.
The board and staff of The Rewilding Institute primarily come from the tail end of an era where it was possible to work on both sides of the aisle to get things done for wild nature. That’s what I talked about at our meeting when things began to brighten a bit.
After the meeting, I reluctantly logged on to Twitter, prepared to witness democracy bleeding out in real-time. Instead, the first thing I saw was the following tweet from Gary Wockner, a true riverkeeper and the strongest advocate for wild waterways I have ever met.
“Given that Trump has won 2 of the 3 last elections supporting anti-environmental policies, this should be a final wake-up call for the environmental movement to move in a non-partisan direction that works to embrace a more diverse mix of Americans. I encourage green groups and colleagues to focus on our core, non-partisan strengths, including protecting and restoring clean and healthy soils, air, waterways, forests, and wildlife habitat, as well as climate messages and policies that unify rather than divide.” —Gary Wockner
Dave was insistent and masterful in reminding people of our conservation history. It is a useful tool for framing successful arguments around current issues. America’s conservation history is loaded with bipartisan teams pushing through wilderness bills, protecting roadless areas, and endangered species. We can put that framing to good use now, more than ever.
While we aren’t naive about the current political temperature and the differences between today’s GOP and the party it was in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, parties and individuals can still, sometimes, be different things. We realize it is vital to try to work with anyone who shares a modicum of Leopold’s Land Ethic.
The future of our planet hangs in the balance, and the conservation battlefield is the most challenging it has ever been. Still, we at The Rewilding Institute are unwavering in our resolve, pushing forward with all our might. And we are backed by the priceless lessons Dave taught us. We are all in this together.
“Now is the time to restore bipartisan support for conservation! We old geezers for conservation are counting on you, young conservative folk.” —Uncle Dave, in the Sandia Wilderness, listening to the uplifting song of my chickadee friends.
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Other helpful articles & inspiration:
“The Peace of Wild Things,” Wendell Berry
“Deconstructing Today’s Land Grab” Dave talks about the idea of “returning” land to states and defending our public lands.
Dave talks about the importance of public lands here. “[Public] lands are why the United States has a conservation legacy unmatched elsewhere in the world. […] I know of no other country that has such a set-up with its citizens owning and having a strong say in the running of one-third of the country’s land acreage.”
Director of Digital Outreach (D.O.D.O.) for The Rewilding Institute
Host and Producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast
Jack started Rewilding work as Executive Director of Sky Island Alliance in the mid-1990’s, organizing the Sky Island Wildlands Network design, ripping up illegal roads on forest service lands, installing wolf acclimatization pens on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch & conducting howling surveys to help make way for the final stage of the Lobo reintroduction program in the Southwest.
Through the years, Jack has worked with Dave Foreman and the Rewilding Gang to further Rewilding initiatives and education.
