Dr. Robert Michael Pyle is a pioneer and legend in invertebrate conservation research and advocacy, as well as an accomplished author and poet. In 1971, he founded the Xerces Society, which has grown into the most influential invertebrate conservation organization in the world.

He is also the author of many books of prose and poetry, and a great storyteller. This is part one of our conversation, part two will be out next week.

This episode was researched and co-hosted by Coast Range Radio volunteer, Griffin Reim!

Show Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Michael_Pyle

https://www.xerces.org/

Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide: https://www.counterpointpress.com/dd-product/where-bigfoot-walks/

The Dark Divide: darkdividefilm.com

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The word fascism gets tossed around a lot these days, but what does that term even mean, and what does it mean to call, for instance, the Trump regime fascist as opposed to, or in addition to, authoritarian, or autocratic? And what about terms like eco-fascism or petro-fascism?

Last fall I interviewed University of Oregon Professor Sarah Wald and we touched on the term ‘eco-fascism’. That sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole on that term and the dangerous myths that many environmentalists may be unwittingly buying into.

Sarah was kind enough to connect me with the Anti-Creep Climate Initiative, a collective working to expose eco-fascism ideas and myths that permeate our culture and media.

Maybe this sounds like an esoteric subject, but I think it has real world importance, because our beliefs and actions are often shaped by stories and myths that are so subconsciously ingrained in us, they become like the air we breathe.

My guests are two of the co-founders of the Anti-Creep Initiative, co-presidents of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, and professors at the University of Connecticut, April Anson and Alex Menrisky.

Send me an electronic mail sometime at coastrangeradio@gmail.com and let me know what you think of the show!

Show notes:

• https://english.uconn.edu/person/alex-menrisky/
• https://april-anson.com/
• https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517918682/everyday-ecofascism/
• https://www.asle.org/wp-content/uploads/Against-the-Ecofascist-Creep.pdf
• https://spencersunshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/40ways.print_.pdf

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Today I’m featuring the second half of my conversation with author, speaker, entrepreneur, and wearer of many more hats, Jamie Workman.

Jamie is most recently the co-author, along with Environmental Defense Fund executive director, Amanda Leland, of the new book, “Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions”, which highlights the under reported success of collaborative, rights-based management in restoring decimated oceanic ecosystems, and the human communities who rely on them, around the world.

It’s an inspiring story. and you can learn all about it in part one of our conversation.

Today in part two, we get into other aspects of his work, including so-called water credit trading systems, his experience as a wildland firefighter and how that shapes his work on bringing more fire (and chainsaws) back to forests, and whether we should, in his words, “Own The Wild”.

Show Notes:

https://www.jamesworkman.com/

https://www.edf.org/sea-change

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Of all the myriad harms modern society is inflicting on our oceans, overfishing is right up there with climate change itself as one of the biggest threats to both marine ecosystems and the billions of people who rely on seafood as a major source of nutrition and income.

The authors of the new book, “Sea Change: unlikely allies and a success story of oceanic proportions”, argue that there is a proven policy that has been working around the globe to rebuild fish populations while also creating sustainable and economically just commercial fisheries.

My guest today is Sea Change co-author, Jamie Workman. Jamie is an activist, author of multiple books, a speechwriter to U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and an all around raconteur.

Jamie and I covered so much ground (or water??) that I am breaking our conversation into two parts.

In part one, we go deep on the devastating impacts of overfishing and why he believes that a collaborative, rights based approach is the path towards recovery and sustainability.

In part two, we’ll get into other aspects of his work, including so-called water credit trading systems, his experience as a wildland firefighter and how that shapes his work on bringing more fire (and chainsaws) back to forests, and whether we should, in his words, “Own The Wild”.

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I have been a vocal critic of the so called “Fix our Forests Act” or FOFA, that is making its way through Congress. I think it is a cynical, bad faith bill that at best, doesn’t address the wildfire issues it purports to solve, and could actually make those issues much worse.

Combined with the attempt to repeal the ‘roadless rule’, which protects vast swaths of public lands from road construction and extraction, and the Trump administration’s Executive Orders on dramatically increasing timber production on public lands, I fear we are in danger of the kind of rampant ecosystem destruction that we haven’t seen since the darkest days of the timber wars.

And I am not alone. The vast majority of environmental and conservation organizations are fiercely opposed to FOFA.

So I was really surprised to see some organizations that I respect lobby hard in support of the bill. One of those orgs is Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a non partisan climate advocacy group that I respect and have worked with before.

I think that disagreeing respectfully and really listening to conflicting perspectives is a key part of civic engagement in a pluralistic society, so I invited them to come on the show and talk through the bill and some of our differences.

Before we get started, I would love to hear from you, yes you! Send me an email sometime at coastrangeradio@gmail.com

Show Notes:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/471

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1462

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/fix-our-forests-name-only

Benefits of Home Hardening for Wildfire

https://grist.org/wildfires/logging-doesnt-prevent-wildfires-but-trump-is-trying-anyway/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/policy/our-fix-our-forests-advocacy-in-2025/

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It is plain for anyone to see that the short rotation, financialized plantation management practiced by the Wall Street investors who own the vast majority of private timberland is destroying our communities and ecosystems.

Coast Range Radio has been highlighting the need for an alternative model of forest management that sustains both economies and ecosystems for years. So when I heard about today’s guest’s research into community forests, I was all ears.

Alexander Harris is the Land and Water policy manager at the bellingham based non-profit ReSources. Alexander recently completed a graduate program in Environmental Policy at Western Washington University, where his research explored how community-driven forest stewardship can help restore watersheds.

(Originally aired 2/26/24)

Research Links/Show Notes:
Restoring The Nooksak Through Community-Driven Forest Stewardship: https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2151&context=wwuet

Referenced in this episode:
https://www.nwcommunityforests.org/
https://stewartmountaincf.org/
https://nisquallylandtrust.org/our-lands-and-projects/nisqually-community-forest
https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Teanaway
https://co.chelan.wa.us/natural-resources/pages/nason-ridge-community-forest
https://www.sightline.org/profile/kate-anderson/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBKlofDmdpo&pp=ygUOamVycnkgZnJhbmtsaW4%3D

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Today we’re joined by Nathan Daniel, Executive Director of the Great Peninsula Conservancy. Nathan has helped guide some of the most ambitious conservation work going on in Western Washington - specifically on Kitsap Peninsula, the forested lowlands between Seattle and the Olympic mountains.

Big thanks to Andy Shoemaker for co-hosting this episode!

https://greatpeninsula.org/

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Are Amazon data centers fueling a water contamination crisis in Eastern Oregon

Rolling Stone recently published a major investigative piece asking that question. But Amazon is far from the only major corporation polluting the drinking water of Morrow County residents, and this crisis has been going on for decades.

Oregon Rural Action has been organizing in and advocating for communities in Eastern Oregon for years. They were heavily quoted in that Rolling Stone article, and they have been a strong voice on this, and other environmental justice issues.

So I’m delighted to be joined by Kaleb Lay, ORA’s research and policy director, and Zaira Sanchez, director of community organizing.

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