Comments on: The Wooden Shoe Conspiracy Lives

By: Dennis

Dennis — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:48:25 +0000

I was at both the Thursday talks and spoke with him for a few minutes after each of them. There are issues I’ll never agree with him on, but it was great to have a chance to speak with someone who, among contemporaries, probably helped shaped my world view more than anyone through the kind of material that was published in Earth First Journal and Wild Earth.

amb, my sense is that he has no major interest in ecojustice, ecoimperialism or any other human-centered issue. He leaves that for environmentalists, as opposed to conservationists which he considers himself.

By: Dudeman

Dudeman — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 05:58:18 +0000

He didn’t address eco-imperialism? Oh NO!

By: gerg

gerg — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:54:00 +0000

amb – sounds awesome. most everything i’d expect a knowledgeable, forward-thinking and passionate environmentalist to cover… looking forward to tonight.

By: amb

amb — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:34:31 +0000

just heard him speak at EnviroThursday at Mac—his distinction between the conservation and environmentalism movements was well-taken, and he admitted he has lost credibility in lobbying over the years. he side-stepped a question about eco-terrorism (arguing the definition of ‘terrorism’ has morphed so much it hardly means anything anymore) and almost acknowledged that conservation could be viewed as a bourgeois luxury (almost). he touched on whiteness, internationalism and conservation, but did not address justice issues nor eco-imperialism. maybe he will tonight at patagonia?

By: gerg

gerg — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:10:08 +0000

I’m going to the Patagonia store event tonight, anyone else? If so, shoot me a note!

greg.seitz / gmail

By: srhcb

srhcb — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:24:46 +0000

Oh, some day, maybe tomorrow, the Sun will either burn out or explode and life on Earth will end anyway.

It’s a fact.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 01:43:16 +0000

Foreman’s also speaking at Macalester Wednesday night at 7:30 in the John Davis lecture hall in the Campus Center on “Rewilding North America” and Thursday at noon in Olin Rice 250 on “Conservation in the 21st Century”. I can’t get into their website at the moment to give a link. I’m coming down from Duluth to attend both the Thursday talks. I have far more respect for Foreman’s vision than Dudeman’s.

By: gerg

gerg — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:03:05 +0000

Clearly this is not the forum for academic debate

You give yourself a lot of credit.

Wilderness is not essential to the United States psyche; subjugation of wilderness is.

Ah, the role that wilderness plays in our collective and individual psyches. A sound basis for public policy if there ever was one.

Thanks for playing.

By: Dudeman

Dudeman — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:53:47 +0000

Clearly this is not the forum for academic debate, but let me run this up the flagpole and see who salutes:

Wilderness is not essential to the United States psyche; subjugation of wilderness is.

By: tony

tony — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:49:20 +0000

I have to agree with gerg, the Heritage Institute is not a respectable scientific organization, and the author of this study has also claimed to be an expert in such diverse fields as disaster relief and transportation systems. The source cited for the 5% developed figure is conveniently not linked to in the Heritage article (despite most other sources containing a link) and a quick glance at the summary data from that report shows that many of the lands classified as something other than developed are indeed altered by humans and can't be considered 'wilderness'.