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WILD EARTH: MELDING CONSERVATION SCIENCE & ACTIVISM

At its 1997 meeting, the SCB honored Wild Earth magazine (WE) with a distinguished service award for excellence in journalism and education. Founding WE editor John Davis conveyed the gratitude of the WE staff and board for SCB's recognition, an appreciation deepened by our great respect for SCB's mission and work. John recently left WE to become biodiversity program officer at the Foundation for Deep Ecology. His remarks at the SCB banquet were brief; under other circumstances, he might have commented further on the marriage of conservation science and conservation activism, and on WE's role in helping consummate such a union.

When Dave Foreman and John Davis began publishing Wild Earth in 1991, they envisioned a journal that would champion the cause of biodiversity and wilderness protection, serve as a forum for discussion within the conservation community, and make the principles of conservation biology accessible to non-scientists, especially grassroots wilderness activists. WE became the published voice of The Wildlands Project, helping to publicize the effort to restore the biotic integrity of North America through the design and implementation of an interconnected system of ecological reserves.

I think one fairly can conclude that we've largely been successful in meeting WE's goals as set out in our mission statement. The journal has become a respected voice within the conservation movement, attracting leading scientists, writers, and activists to fill its pages. WE is and will continue to be a tireless advocate for wild Nature, defending wilderness both as concept and place. And, with North American wilderness recovery as our overarching theme, we'll continue to cover regional reserve design and implementation efforts spearheaded by The Wildlands Project.

But, despite good progress in recent years, there is still much room for improvement in the melding of conservation science and activism. As my grandfather, an archetypal Wyoming rancher, likes to say, "Talk's cheap . . . it takes money to buy whiskey." Indeed, conservation organizations have not yet directed significant financial resources toward conducting ecological research. Moreover, advocacy groups (pro- or anti-conservation) sometimes view scientists as "hired guns," expecting them to marshal data to support a particular agenda. Conservation activists may sometimes become frustrated with the slow pace at which ecological data are gathered and interpreted. "Time is short," they say, "we can't wait until all the data are in before we act to save Nature." True, of course, but if we are to employ science-based arguments in our advocacy, we cannot begrudge scientists the time to produce credible work.

For their part, scientists are by nature cautious--concerned about being perceived as less than objective and maintaining credibility with their peers, and resistant to wading into the quagmire of public policy. (All of which may be valid concerns.) Even within the mission-oriented discipline of conservation biology, too few academic ecologists regularly work with conservation groups.

Can Wild Earth help bridge the divide? In small ways, certainly we can and do; in a big way, maybe we will, with SCB members' help. Probably no other periodical is as widely read by both camps, so WE is uniquely suited to foster a dialogue, and to keep conservation biologists informed of the grassroots applications of their work.

As we continue to publish conservation biology articles written for an educated lay audience, we'll strive to make the process of science more transparent; activists familiar with scientific methodology may better appreciate the complexities and challenges that face biologists attempting to produce good science. Activists with such an appreciation should be more skillful in enlisting and productively working with scientists in their campaigns to protect remaining wild habitat.

At the same time, WE can help conservation biologists immersed in the means of saving biodiversity focus also on the ends--the integrity, stability, and beauty of the natural world. Grassroots wilderness activists are passionate in their love for Nature. Perhaps such enthusiasm can help reinvigorate the occasional jaded scientist, especially biologists whose work increasingly confines them to computer screens rather than the field.

It is easy to forget, especially when indoors at a computer monitor, that the work of biological conservation is literally a matter of life and death. Earlier this week, after The Wildlands Project's Yellowstone-to-Yukon Conservation Initiative conference, I walked along a trail in Glacier National Park with John Davis. Mountain goats scampered up the cliff bands across the valley, a golden eagle soared overhead, and we watched a female grizzly move slowly along a scree slope, constantly eating. To her and her kind, our actions--and inaction--have profound consequences.

Members of the SCB can expand and amplify their efforts--their good works--by forging alliances with conservation activists working on behalf of wildlife and wildlands. Wild Nature needs all the science, passion, and creative advocacy that conservationists can give.

Tom Butler, editor
Wild Earth
P.O. Box 455
Richmond, Vermont 05477

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