Larry Glass, NEC Board President
Caroline Griffith, NEC Executive Director
Fire
A recent study appearing in the publication Nature shows tree density in parts of the Klamath Mountains is at a record high, and at risk of serious wildfires. The study, which was a collaboration between
scientists and Indigenous tribes, attempts to construct a 3,000 year timeline that suggests that parts of the forest are much denser than ever before, meaning they are at higher risk of severe wildfires. This research is part of a growing effort to combine Indigenous knowledge, in this case historical accounts and oral histories from Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribal members, with Western scientific data to improve understanding of ecosystem histories.
The research shows that the tree density in this region of Klamath Mountains started to increase as the area was colonized, partly because the European settlers prevented Indigenous peoples from practicing cultural burning. In the twentieth century, total fire suppression became a standard management practice, and fires of any kind were extinguished or prevented. In some areas, the tree density is higher than it has been for thousands of years, owing in part to fire suppression.
Including Indigenous voices in research is crucial for decolonizing conventional scientific methods. According to Frank Lake, a respected US Forest Service research ecologist and a Karuk descendant, it, “becomes a form of justice for those Indigenous people who have long been excluded, marginalized and not acknowledged.” Going a step further and centering Indigenous people in forest management practices can help right an historical wrong and move us closer to bringing balance back to these ecosystems. On July 7, the Biden Administration did just that when it named the Karuk Tribe’s Natural Resources Department Director, Bill Tripp, to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The commission, which is tasked with coming up with recommendations to prevent, mitigate, manage and recover from wildfire, will benefit from Tripp’s traditional knowledge of cultural fire practices which were passed down from his great grandmother.
The Supreme Court
With the EPA effectively eviscerated by the Supreme Court (see article on page 3), the already-existing disproportionate effects of pollution on people of color will only get worse. Studies show most people think poverty is why pollution disproportionately affects people of color, despite evidence that institutional racism is the major cause.
Research over the years has shown that people of color and poor people are significantly more likely to live in areas of high pollution. This is because of the deliberate construction of polluting industries in or right next to these communities.
The public continues to identify poverty as the main cause of environmental inequalities, instead of blaming the more obvious and uncomfortable structural racism. Unfortunately, this is in part based on the widespread belief in the United States that everyone has equal opportunities and that existing inequalities aren’t due to race. Instead, some Americans think that the only barriers facing marginalized racial groups are personal choice, responsibility and hard work, and that people could get out of harmful living situations by simply working harder.
This fundamental lack of understanding that racism is causing environmental inequality undermines efforts to fix those disparities, even when race is the biggest predictor of exposure to pollution.
The Supreme Court’s other bombshell decision, to overturn Roe v. Wade, will likewise have a disproportionate effect on those who are already experiencing the effects of race and class in America, especially those who live in pollution hotspots. Legal experts warn that overturning Roe will affect more than just abortion access and will also impact reproductive healthcare and the healthcare that pregnant people are able to receive. When we consider that pregnant people living in areas of high pollution, whether from traffic emissions, agricultural pesticides, or petrochemical plants, are not only more likely to be Black, Asian, Hispanic or Latino but are also more likely to experience pregnancy complications, then we can start to see the dire implications of these two decisions. The recent session of the Supreme Court highlights that we need to do all that we can at a state and local level to protect bodily autonomy and the rights of people and nature to exist and persist.
Ecotopia
Maybe it’s time to rethink the 1975 proposal by Ernest Callenbach called Ecotopia, which was based on California, Oregon and Washington breaking off from the United States to form their own country!
This concept has come up again after the January 6 coup attempt and stacking of the Supreme Court. Things that once seemed unthinkable now have everyone worried; the step-by-step disenfranchisement of women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, basically anybody who’s not a white Christian male or a corporation seems set to lose rights.
To be real, states and territories don’t technically have rights to just secede. There are no plans, no lines in the Constitution saying how it can be done, but in times like these it can be a comforting thought to entertain.