OPINION: Choosing to follow a wilder, more Earth-friendly path

Nearly half a century has passed since I worked on a geology exploration crew in Alaska’s Brooks Range, our team’s assignment to seek out economically rich deposits of metals like copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold. By the end of my first summer in the Arctic wilderness, it had become clear that many of my values differed from those of my co-workers, some them close friends.

Most of my bosses and buddies seemed to despise groups like The Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club and considered them the evil enemy. The vehemence of their criticisms shocked me, though perhaps it shouldn’t have. Such “d*** environmentalists” wanted to preserve much of the Arctic in parks and refuges, “locking out” those who wanted to develop Alaska’s rich resources.

Many of my colleagues considered such efforts a direct threat to their livelihoods. I, on the other hand, couldn’t see what was so wrong about those groups. It seemed they were trying to do some good.

Newly out of grad school, I was naïve enough that I didn’t realize many Sierra Clubbers would likely feel the same disgust toward me, simply because I was part of a field crew hunting for metal deposits in the Arctic wilds.

My green ethic was still largely unformed, a vaporous thing still years away from taking solid shape. But I did know this: Environmentalists weren’t my enemies.

At the time, I was uncertain enough to keep my feelings and attitudes to myself. But over time, my discomfort grew. And eventually I’d have experiences (recounted in the book “Changing Paths”) that made it clear wilderness was far more valuable to me than the discovery of any mineral deposit, no matter how rich. And I would seek a new direction, a different path.

Memories of those long-ago and life-changing days have recently surfaced in the wake of stories I’ve been reading. The first I’ll mention is Kathleen Dean Moore’s new collection of essays, “Earth’s Wild Music,” which is both a celebration of the wild Earth and its miraculous community of life, and a lament over the huge losses that our life-giving and enriching home planet is suffering.

Like me, Kathy Moore calls herself a nature writer (as well as a philosopher and activist). Also like me, she believes that “all members of the Earth community have rights.” In an essay titled “The Silence of the Humpback Whale,” she referenced the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. Issued in 2010, the declaration (among other things), defined the inherent rights of our planet and all its “beings,” which include ecosystems, natural communities, species, “and all other natural entities which exist as part of Mother Earth.” It also provides a list of “Obligations of human beings to Mother Earth.”

I won’t say more here about Kathy Moore’s book except to note that I find it to be both inspired and inspiring writing. And I’d recommend that curious people check out both her book and the universal declaration; the latter can easily be found through an online search.

The second “reading” that I’ll share comes from the online site, DailyGood.org, which every day shares “news that inspires.” I have found that to be true and highly recommend the site. One recent posting featured a conversation (in both audio and written transcript) that the online publication “Emergence Magazine” arranged with acclaimed Indian author Amitav Ghosh. Though best known for his novels, Ghosh has also written nonfiction books, including his most recent, “The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.”

I have not yet read the book, but I found the conversation/interview with Ghosh compelling and again I recommend it for anyone who wishes to consider “Earth friendly” (and yes, progressive) ideas outside American — and more generally, Western — mainstream thought. One description of the book notes that Ghosh “finds the origins of our climate crisis in Western colonialism’s violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment ... Our crisis, he shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the Earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for their own ends ...”

I’ll admit here that until recently I knew next to nothing about Ghosh and his work, but I admire and appreciate what I’ve learned so far, perhaps in part because he maintains that “Wisdom exists in the context of stories, in the context of storytelling, in the context of songs. And all of that is what we’ve lost and what we have to try and bring back.”

Among the most important stories that need to be resurrected are those that have been silenced in the age of Western dominance and exploitation, for instance those that give voice to nonhumans or what some (including me) call the more-than-human world; stories that show how meaning, even wisdom, can be found in the larger, wilder world we inhabit.

So, a reader might wonder, what does all this have to do with Alaskans, or with Alaska?

In a word, everything. Our Western culture has long considered Alaska a “resource colony,” and it’s been treated that way since, first, Russia, and then the United States, claimed this part of the planet as their own. It’s well documented that those colonial powers and both their governments and private enterprises have since the 1700s exploited Alaska’s wild riches — from sea otters to fish populations, gold, old-growth forests and petroleum “products,” to name some obvious examples — and, for much of the past three centuries, also its indigenous peoples.

Of course, nowadays the exploitation occurs under the guise of “environmentally conscious” development. Or “management.”

Yes, there is pushback by those dastardly “environmental extremists,” some Alaska Native groups (though even much of the Native community has been co-opted by their investment in Western-style corporations) and others on the “radical” left. And victories are sometimes won by those who love and defend the Earth and its wild communities, as manifested in our state. But it’s a long, uphill battle. And resource-development attitudes (including the “management” of Alaska’s wildlife, with its continued predator-kill programs) prevail among most of our state’s politicians and residents.

From my position on Alaska’s political and cultural far-left fringe (and as one who’s tinted a deeper shade of green than many environmental and conservation groups), I don’t expect much change, if any, in our deep red state, at least not anytime soon. However, I suspect that some Alaskans troubled by what’s happening here — and throughout the larger world — are looking for other possibilities, other ways of living on this wild miracle of a planet; but perhaps their own “green ethic” has so far been hazy and unformed, much like mine was in my mid-20s.

Such Alaskans, whether young or old or somewhere in between, might be encouraged, maybe even inspired, to know there’s a community of people, both in our state and around the world, actively working to create new stories (or resurrect more ancient ones) and alternative ways of behaving, new paths to follow that are healthier, saner, and more respectful and celebratory of the larger community of beings who belong to the Earth.

For those considering such paths, the whole, wild world is waiting to welcome you.

Anchorage nature writer and wildlands/wildlife advocate Bill Sherwonit is a widely published essayist and the author of more than a dozen books, including “Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness” and “Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska’s Wildlife.”

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