Conservation professionals & activists are reeling as Donald Trump makes one presidential proclamation after another—from opening the Arctic Ocean to offshore drilling.. to cutting the size of Bears Ears National Monument, to building a wall that will stop the transborder flow of wildlife.
While we must defend our waters, lands, wildlife habitats and biodiversity hotspots, it is critical to know that many conservation actions are moving ahead by means other than those that Trump can even recognize, let alone sabotage.
I’m talking about grassroots conservation initiatives that engage folks of all political persuasions, faiths, races and ethnicities.
I’m talking about the restoration of food biodiversity, which is in truth many different efforts, but it is building the community-based collaborations that we will need to heal many of the divides in our country once the scare tactics of the Trump administration cease.
“You don’t just sit there, whimpering, the old woman barked, wagging her finger at me.
You go out and get your hands dirty, plant a tree, fill in a gully where a shallow stream bed used to be,
sow seeds, take your elderly neighbor for a walk or a push in his wheelchair;
let him remember how this landscape was before you were even born, so you know what to do next.
Now get off your butt & get out there: there’s a wounded world waiting to be healed & I’ve just made you its doctor! ”
-Brother Coyote
