In this episode, George Wuerthner discusses issues arising about tribal efforts to garner more authority and control of public lands, and the efforts to transfer public lands to tribal entities.
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Great interview, two of the best current environmentalists! I’m totally with George: we advocate for the natural world and the life there, not for certain groups of humans. I agree that the genocide and colonization committed by Europeans against the Natives here was totally immoral and extremely ecologically & environmentally harmful and destructive, but the current Natives are almost all modern humans, not traditionalists. They therefore should not get any special consideration regarding hunting bison. As to logging and mining, the Natives here didn’t kill trees, and only the large agricultural groups like the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans mined, so that should be strictly prohibited, regardless of whether it’s Natives want to do this.
As Derrick mentioned, I speak for Wolf. And for bison. And for grizzly. And for deer. And for elk. And for birds. And for native trees. And for native plants. And for wild fish. And for marine mammals. And for coral. And for land, air, (natural) water, and sky. And for all native life. Humans are not my concern, they’re doing fine, there are far too many of them, they are living unnaturally, and in fact they’re the problem.
George Wuerthner is an ecologist and writer who has published 38 books on various topics related to environmental and natural history. Among his titles are Welfare Ranching-The Subsidized Destruction of the American West, Wildfire-A Century of Failed Forest Policy, Energy—Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth, Keeping the Wild-Against the Domestication of the Earth, Protecting the Wild—Parks, and Wilderness as the Foundation for Conservation, Nevada Mountain Ranges, Alaska Mountain Ranges, California’s Wilderness Areas—Deserts, California Wilderness Areas—Coast and Mountains, Montana’s Magnificent Wilderness, Yellowstone—A Visitor’s Companion, Yellowstone and the Fires of Change, Yosemite—The Grace and the Grandeur, Mount Rainier—A Visitor’s Companion, Texas’s Big Bend Country, The Adirondacks-Forever Wild, Southern Appalachia Country, among others.
He has visited over 400 designated wilderness areas and over 200 national park units.
In the past, he has worked as a cadastral surveyor in Alaska, a river ranger on several wild and scenic rivers in Alaska, a backcountry ranger in the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska, a wilderness guide in Alaska, a natural history guide in Yellowstone National Park, a freelance writer and photographer, a high school science teacher, and more recently ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology. He currently is the ED of Public Lands Media.
He has been on the board or science advisor of numerous environmental organizations, including RESTORE the North Woods, Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Association, Park Country Environmental Coalition, Wildlife Conservation Predator Defense, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Western Watersheds Project, Project Coyote, Rewilding Institute, The Wildlands Project, Patagonia Land Trust, The Ecological Citizen, Montana Wilderness Association, New National Parks Campaign, Montana Wild Bison Restoration Council, Friends of Douglas Fir National Monument, Sage Steppe Wild, and others.
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