This is the first communiqué by WilderPress!, a new homegrown, grassroots, underground publication dedicated to defending the Earth and all things wild. This is a call to action in the name of the natural world we so deeply cherish and in defense of a world that is under attack…
The environment is in peril. The ecological chaos caused by human civilization is taking its toll on the planet and its inhabitants. The time has come for a change in philosophy and a change in the way we swing our allegorical axe. The feeling is there…it is penetrating…it is known by almost all: from grassroots environmentalists to the corporate hacks that pillage the land for all it is worth—we all know the importance of the natural world. However, some choose to look the other way. We cannot expect this planet to sustain human civilization for much longer. We cannot expect the Earth to forever withstand our enslavement and exploitation of the land and the millions of other species with whom we share this home we call Earth. The time has come to raise our voice in defense of the natural world, in defense of the plants and animals, in defense of the rivers and mountains…the canyons and alpine meadows. The time has come to raise our voice in the defense of the environment, and in defense of our mother—our home, and the only one we have. The health of the land, the water, and the air lies in our hands and you would be hard pressed to find another organism on this planet that bites the hand that feeds as painfully hard as we bite our own.
Industrial civilization is systematically destroying and poisoning the environment upon which human beings and all other living things depend. We are currently causing, and in the midst of, the largest and most rapid mass extinction and collapse of biodiversity that the planet has ever seen. Every living system on the planet is currently in decline. We have fundamentally altered the chemical and molecular composition of the oceans, soil, and atmosphere of the entire planet. Something must be done. Inaction in the face of this culture of death (and our status as beneficiaries of exploitation) is tantamount to complicity with it. The responsibility is ours and ours alone… We have the ability, and hopefully the heart and mind, to reverse the ways of the past and enter the 21st century with a different mindset: a mindset that supports the environment and its health, and one that in turn supports the health of humans and the other organisms that share our fate should we choose to continue down our current path. To make this happen we need more talking, more arguing, and most importantly more doing. That is the point of all this: a place where people can talk, and a place where people can act. The more we do so, the better the ideas, and the more effective the solutions. For the first time in human history, we face a problem that challenges every man, woman and child on this planet. No longer does economic status, religious affiliation, political standing, ethnic background or geographic location determine where we stand. We are all living beings, and we all need a healthy Earth in order to survive. Everyone is affected equally by the degradation of the environment, and everyone will pay the price should we choose to continue… This is truly the greatest challenge in human history. However, at the same time, never has an opportunity for humans to shine been so great. We have the chance, right now, to reverse or at least minimize the affects of past ignorance and abuse towards the land. How will you choose to act? Not only do we have the chance, we have the responsibility.
We at WilderPress! can think of nothing more important than protecting the natural world—the earth that gave us birth, and has since raised us. Our blood and flesh is a product of nature and someday our cold, dead bodies will return to the soil, to the rivers, the canyons and the mountains we so deeply treasure, to become food so that others may live. This is the greatest revolution of our time. We cannot let the fate of the natural world come down to the ignorance of our choices, the careless actions of a few greed filled corporations, and the money hungry pockets of a few ill-motivated men and women. It is time to stand up as a people in defense of the environment. Many have been fighting this battle for a long time (and we do not fear to call it a battle, for that is what it is), and for others, environmental activism and eco-defense are totally new. To you we say: What better place to start than here? What a better time than now? We have the ability to make conscious decisions in favor of the Earth, the plants, the animals—in favor of the great rivers and greater mountains. We have the ability to make these decisions outside of our own needs and wants; to be able to understand the intrinsic value of nature, the value of wild places and wild people in and of themselves, and the benefits this understanding can provide to us. This enlightenment would be the greatest Renaissance of our time.
Environmentalism is about saving our home—the only one we have—at whatever cost, and by any means necessary. It’s about survival, pride and justice: survival of our species, survival of the natural world; pride for ourselves and our decisions: what we have overcome, what we have yet to overcome; and justice for those who have no voices with which to speak. It’s about knowing that we are better and smarter than this; that we evolved into the thinkers and actors we are for a reason; that we aren’t ignorant enough to continue destroying—and allowing to be destroyed—our habitat, and the habitat of others.
If you don’t think this discussion involves you, think again… Everyone is an environmentalist, for we all need the environment. We all breathe the same air, drink the same water, and sustain ourselves from the same soil. We are amidst a great struggle of two worlds that used to be one. We need to find in ourselves the desire and ability to return to a mutual relationship with the natural world, and be a part of what we once were: responsible members of a diverse and interconnected community of living beings. We drastically need a reinterpretation of the way we live, think, and act. As we begin the pages of a new century, let us put to rest the mistakes we have made—let us look back on our actions and wonder, truly, “What were we thinking?” We must take a moment to simply breath and remember that not a hundred years ago we lived simpler and richer lives. Wilderness and the natural world are just as important to life as it is for a place to play. It is a place to take your kids, as our parents took us, raised on their shoulders—a place where the clock can’t tame your life, your job can’t destroy the sunset, and a place where the forces of man seem minuscule in comparison.
We need wilderness for more reasons than we stand to list…for beauty, for a place to live, a calm place to die, for us, for our children, for our sanity, for the knowledge that we can do better, that we have restraint in our actions. The wild Earth sustains us, and gives us life. We need wilderness for itself, so that someday our kids don’t have to learn about these places in a book. We literally depend on it for our very existence. Most importantly, the natural world itself is inherently valuable, and needs to exist for its own sake, independent of human utility. Let us vow to take the responsibility to change the way we treat ourselves and the way we treat the environment, for as much as we may like to think them separate, they are very much together. We are creatures of this Earth. Let us vow to take the time every day to change something about the way we live, the way we treat others, and the way we treat the land. Let us vow to never let our children use the word wilderness in the past tense…
The time has come to rise up in defense of Mother Earth, in resistance against those who are willfully enslaving and destroying the natural world, and in solidarity with those who know humans cannot continue on our current path of destruction. We must reclaim our place as responsible members within the greater community of living beings upon this planet, and act accordingly. This means taking action against the systematic ecocide perpetrated by industrial civilization and resisting the destruction of the Earth by any means necessary. The future of all life on Earth—human and non-human alike—depends on a healthy land base. The sooner the destruction is stopped, the better. Inaction is complicity. Complicity is abhorrent. We must come together in the name of something greater than ourselves. For our children, and our children’s children… The time to resist has come… Join us.
We are currently seeking submissions for the first issue of WilderPress!, scheduled to go to press in February. We are looking for articles written by other wild folks dedicated to protecting this planet. We at the WilderPress! Editorial Collective recognize and praise all forms of environmental protection, from direct action to education, from eco-defense to legislation. Please help by sharing your stories. To submit articles please email them to WilderPress[at]hushmail[dot]com. You may remain anonymous if you wish.
Carry on…and remember No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth!
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