Cascadia Wildlands Statement on the Election Results

Claire Barber — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 00:27:33 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2024

As we process the results of the election and the disastrous consequences it will have on marginalized communities, democracy, and our environment, one thing is certain: We must support each other like never before to successfully defend the values we hold closely.

We anticipate an all-out assault on the environment administratively and legislatively. Imperiled species, clean water, intact ecosystems, and our fragile climate will pay the price.

Cascadia Wildlands will use the time-tested tools we know best to push back, including grassroots organizing, movement building and litigation. Doing so through four years of sustained attacks will require investing in our individual and communal resiliency to take action for justice, equity, and for our unique bioregion. Today, and in the years to come, we redouble our commitment and invite you to do so as well.

For 26 years, Cascadia Wildlands’ work to protect forests, rivers, and wildlife has survived through challenges: political, financial, and otherwise, all of which were unprecedented at the moment. If you, like us, are processing grief and other emotions, we recommend spending time outdoors in the places we hold dear. The chanterelles are still emerging, the birds are still singing, deciduous trees are aflame with fall colors.

Join us Wednesday, November 13th at 6pm for our WildCAT (Cascadia Action Team) meeting in person at our office or by Zoom where you can be in community and learn about practical ways to engage in defense of our remaining wild places. We will face this latest threat clear-eyed and committed as we continue to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets.

And most of all, to our friends and community most marginalized and threatened by the incoming administration’s rhetoric and policy, Cascadia Wildlands is here. Our community is strong and ready to provide support.

Thank you for being by our side as we confront all that is surely to come amidst this otherworldly time.

The post Cascadia Wildlands Statement on the Election Results first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Post-election Thoughts: Action is the Antidote to Despair

Josh — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 22:50:05 +0000

Today, Joan Baez’s trusty adage “action is the antidote to despair” fills my brain.

I woke up yesterday morning and took a long, hot shower, trying to forever rinse away the results of the 45th presidential election. Border walls, nuclear codes, women’s liberation, wars, public lands, climate change, imperiled species, the future my kids will inherit — all spinning through my head like a dreidel.

Then my eight-year-old daughter popped out of bed and asked who won. The pit in my stomach deepened.

A day to process has been good medicine.

Lunch with co-workers to commiserate and exchange ideas moving forward followed by a walk in the sunshine to the post office where we passed 150 high school students demonstrating downtown with a shared message of “Love Trumps Hate.” News of thousands marching in Portland into the wee hours, shutting down both lanes of I-5 traffic. Neighbors coming together to hug, play music and hatch plans for the future.

The stakes for Cascadia and our planet have never been higher, and the new guy and his entourage are about to go for the jugular.

They are coming to clearcut our remaining old-growth forests, dam our free-flowing rivers, graze and drill our commons into oblivion, gut our bedrock environmental statutes and roll back decades of hard-fought social justice progress.

It is time to roll up our sleeves, dig in, and double down on our efforts over the next four years to defend our shared values and what makes Cascadia so special — its diverse landscapes, raging rivers, and unique communities.

Together, we are going to stop this nonsense, and Cascadia Wildlands’ newly adopted mission fits squarely into these trying times: We defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts and in the streets.

It is an encouraging reminder that, with your help, we largely staved off the environmental disaster the George W. Bush administration would have wreaked in Cascadia, and we will do the same again. Generations to come depend on us.

Let’s take our passion to confront the threats to all that is wild in Cascadia and continue to lay the groundwork for the future we want. It is our imperative.

Take deep breaths, hug the ones you love, and brace for impact. Let’s do this, friends.

With love and rage,

Josh Laughlin

Executive Director

(Grizz on the Copper River Delta, Alaska / Photo by Brett Cole)

The post Post-election Thoughts: Action is the Antidote to Despair first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

election - Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia Wildlands Statement on the Election Results

Post-election Thoughts: Action is the Antidote to Despair