Dear HCN,
As an activist and a
writer, I am dismayed by the acrimony being flung by enviros toward
enviros around the West regarding the recent decision by Judge
Downes in the wolf reintroduction case. The editorial in The New
York Times by Thomas McNamee, as well as pieces appearing in High
County News, raise charges of purism, directing acrimony at Audubon
and the Earthjustice Legal Foundation. Several things disturb
me.
1. It’s absolutely amazing to me that the
co-plaintiffs are never mentioned in any of the articles – as if
the grassroots organizations Predator Project, the Gray Wolf
Committee and Sinapu don’t exist and are non-players on the
wolf-reintroduction stage. All these groups have moved the wolf
issue on a variety of fronts. And in the West, one could make a
strong argument that these groups are the cutting-edge players –
not Audubon. What this all smacks of, even in the dispensation of
acrimony, is that the grass roots don’t count. And I maintain that
it is this attitude by national groups that got us into the current
mess.
2. Why is it when enviros lose one, there
is a feeding frenzy on the enviros? Neither Tom Skeele of Predator
Project, nor Doug Honnold of Earthjustice, wanted wolves removed
from central Idaho or Yellowstone. The obvious villains – the
hyper-conservative judiciary in Wyoming and the Farm Bureau – are
skating from scrutiny. Instead of directing the rage against our
own, we must direct it against the true
villains.
The reality is that the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, with their experimental, nonessential
designation, as well as the Nez Perce Tribe, set up all sorts of
palliatives for ranchers objecting to wolf reintroduction.
Defenders of Wildlife set up a compensation fund for any livestock
losses experienced by ranchers. However, this was still not enough
– and nothing ever will be.
We need a new
paradigm for activism. Instead of nattering neo-liberalist attempts
to build weak, easily broken alliances with our enemies, we must
make strong alliances with each other. If one of us steps out on a
different path, the burden should be on that person to sell their
program to the rest of
us.
Charles
Pezeshki
Troy,
Idaho
Charles Pezeshki is
director of the Clearwater Biodiversity
Project.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Let’s not blame each other.
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