The grassroots ecological restoration movement — not the habitat mitigation engineering profession — has shifted the paradigm in the American Conservation Movement from one of “lock-it-up protectionism” to joyous hands-on participation in the restorative processes of natural, self-renewing communities.
We do not feel the isolation of the bitter and lonely environmentalists of the past; we feel that sensuous satisfactions of getting our hands in the dirt to plant trees or sow seeds, to re-meander streams or harvest rainwater off slopes.
We are co-creators with Nature, that is, with the Creative Spirit of the universe — not passive victims or fatalistic bystanders anymore. “Each time we plant a seed, we plant ourselves in place.”
Brother Coyote, OEF
