Am I My Brother's Keeper?



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By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA and Rita Carlson, Vice President for Natural Resources and Public Lands, Alliance for America. She is also a Chapter Vice Chairman for Idaho Women In Timber.

January 1998

The battle over wise use or preservation of the world's resources is new to loggers but is old news to other peoples around the world. When Norwegians were attacked over the preservation of whales, we didn't hear them. When Africans were attacked over the preservation of elephants, we didn't hear them. When Pribilof Islanders were attacked over the preservation of seals, we didn't hear them. When Brazilians were attacked over the preservation of rainforests, we didn't hear them. All these people live far, far away, are tiny, isolated groups too small to hear and use words we don't understand.

When tuna fishermen were attacked over the preservation of dolphins, we barely heard them. When loggers in the Pacific Northwest were attacked over the preservation of owls, we finally heard them. When Lewiston and Salmon were attacked over the preservation of salmon, Idaho loggers and millworkers joined the battle. As the saying goes, "The good news is: you're not alone. And the bad news is: you're not alone."

The timber battle in the U.S. is loud and incurring more human casualties and environmental damage than the battles over whales, elephants, seals, rainforests and dolphins combined. But make no mistake: this is just another skirmish in the same war. Are we "One World, One People" or "One Planet, Diverse Peoples?" Is the world's biological diversity best protected by removing the stewards from the land and sea, by promoting a mono-culture of city people? It is never explained who will provide the food, fuel, clothing and shelter once huge swaths of land and sea are cleared of man or where the opportunities in the city will come from once use of nature is disallowed. Too few even question the logic of a philosophy that locks resources up and people out.

We in America are not governed by some body of all-knowing elites. We are governed by ourselves. America was designed to be accessed by her people who would rule themselves and make their own decisions, locally, by elected representatives. Around the world, the American Dream fueled hope in other cultures as they clamored for the right of self-determination. Will we lose the hope America promises simply because the numbers of the city dwellers far outnumber the rural producers? Will local resource policy be dictated by direct mail propaganda pitched and peddled to the urban masses by Crisis Industrialists? Will the Earth's absentee landlords, living in the cities and yearning to participate in a stewardship role, succeed in eliminating the stewards?

There are not enough loggers in this country, in this world, to make a political difference. But we are harvesters and hunters. We are landowners and recreationists. We are farmers and ranchers. We are loggers and miners. We are research scientists and zoologists. We are pet breeders and aquarists. We are fishermen and trappers. We feed, fuel, clothe, shelter, cure and educate the world. We are the true conservationists. We are strengthened by our diversity, not divided. Timber people must look beyond the county line and participate in the debate. Globally.

Overseas, resource people believe that the preservationist philosophy is official U.S. policy. It is important that real-life Americans, with a vested interest in resource management and use, share our more reasonable, responsible perspective. Other countries need to know about our American viewpoint from "on the ground" ordinary people.

To quote Bruce Vincent, the president of the Alliance for America, "The world is run by those who show up." Yes, the world is run by those who show up at local city council meetings in Boise and hearings in D.C. and global meetings in Rome, Geneva and Montreal. We need to show up.

Together we can create a world of healthy human communities embraced by healthy ecosystems. That is the goal. We can only reach it together.

For further information contact Fur Commission USA.

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