MARGO HILL (SPOKANE)
Eastern Washington University
associate professor of urban regional planning
We need to touch the earth. On the reservation growing up, we ran in the mountains and played in the rivers and collected eagle and hawk feathers. Kids now are wrapped in the digital world. I want my grandkids, when I have some, to be out in the world, touching Mother Earth.
When I think about going into court for water adjudication or water-quality standards, I think about how this river is connected to our aquifer — how we all need clean drinking water and a place to walk and think and be. We as parents have to unplug as well. Once we’re in touch with the water and nature, we will understand the value and how important it is for our health. There is so much we can learn from what is right here.
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This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘We need to touch the earth’.
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