For those of us who still read, we got a suggestion from a reader, triggered by the comments of Ken Brower regarding the paradigm shift from bio-centric to anthropocentric in US conservation over the last 40 years.
When change is not cataclysmic but takes place over a number of years, humans tend to lose track of how much change has occurred. So from time to time its good to refresh the memory.
I have been concerned about the changes in US conservation/preservation for quite a long time.
I remember in the late 1990’s there was one organization in Wyoming that was founded as a kick ass organization [that will remain unnamed], willing to make enemies. The founder and a long line of Executive Directors did fierce battle to protect our public lands in Wyoming but starting in the mid 1990’s the approach started to change with the influx of funding from the big foundations. Out were the days of fierce battles and in was ‘collaboration’ and an anthropocentric view.
The transition was well on its way but the founder asked if I would join the board in an effort to turn the tide. I made attempts over about a year but neither he nor I was successful. It was already too late.
Over the years since I have seen kick ass organizations get transformed into anthropocentric ‘collaborators’ all over the west, with only a few kick ass organizations remaining.
Some say ‘you have to keep up with the times’ and ‘people don’t care about conservation/preservation except as it affects their recreation. Maybe I am a dinosaur but I don’t buy it.
Take Back Conservation – Dave Foreman
For one hundred years a network of lovers of wild places has fought to save wild things for their own sake, and has worked to set aside National Parks, Wilderness Areas, and other protected areas as the strongest tools to save wild things. But now, warns renowned environmentalist Dave Foreman, this old network of wilderness and wildlife conservationists is being undermined and weakened by “environ-resourcists” — those who say conservation is about people, not wild things. In the second in the “For the Wild Things” series, Dave Foreman shows those who love wild things why and how they need to TAKE BACK CONSERVATION.
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The Great Conservation Divide: Conservation vs. Resourcism on America’s Public Lands
Dave Foreman tells the story of the increasingly harsh and bitter fight between two warring conservation movements, vying over the fate of the last wild things in North America during the Twentieth Century. He lays out our hard choice between a Twenty-first Century world wholly dominated by Man or one where we not only save the last wild things, but also build upon growing rewilding efforts and networks.
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Man Swarm: How Overpopulation is Killing the Wild World
Now at well over eight billion and counting, renowned visionary conservationist and global thinker Dave Foreman helps us understand that only by stabilizing and reducing human population can we stop wrecking our home – Earth.
And it is being driven by one species – Us.
Read Man Swarm, and you will know the truths about overpopulation and population growth. In this book, Dave Foreman:
o Lays out the overpopulation crisis in the United States and worldwide
o Shows how overpopulation is the main driver of the extinction of wildlife, wildlands and the creation of pollution, including destructive greenhouse gases
o Smartly challenges those who don’t believe that the overpopulation crisis is real
The first edition, Man Swarm and the Killing of Wildlife reached the conservationist community; in this new and updated edition, Man Swarm: How Overpopulation is Killing the Wild World, Dave Foreman and editor Laura Carroll expand the readership, from those in their reproductive years to educators, governors, Congresspersons, and even world leaders.
Overpopulation is Solvable.
Are you a lover of the Earth’s natural world? Man Swarm shows why you need to be very concerned about overpopulation, gives you tangible ways to be part of the solution, and will inspire you to take action.
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