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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Environmental Policy
Human Confusion: Why There Must Be Justice For Non-Humans, David Johns
Human Confusion: Why There Must Be Justice For Non-Humans, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Over the last twelve millennia—since agriculture first emerged—humans have increased their exploitation and efforts to control other species and to colonize the Earth. Human on human hierarchy and colonization of other humans follows on the colonization of the natural world. The task of conservation is to undo that colonial relationship. We have been causing the extinction of other life-forms, including hominid species, since we left Africa at least 60,000 years ago. In the last 50 years, or just about two human generations, nearly 68% of all vertebrate animals have disappeared due to human activity (WWF 2020). Humans go into an …
The Necessity Of Changing What Is Possible: Implementing Large-Scale Wildlands Protection, David Johns
The Necessity Of Changing What Is Possible: Implementing Large-Scale Wildlands Protection, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Presentation on the Wildlands Project approach to conservation
How Might Ecologists Make The World Safe For Biodiversity Without Getting Fired?, David Johns
How Might Ecologists Make The World Safe For Biodiversity Without Getting Fired?, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
This essay raises the following questions: What if conservation success depends less on speaking truth to power than on organizing a political force that can bring more pressure to bear on decision makers than their opponents? But what if natural scientists, by virtue of their knowledge, passion, commitment, are pretty much the only group that can be trusted with the fate of biodiversity and leading humankind out of their destructive ways? What if begging policy makers to do the right thing means barren oceans, the end of many species, and the end of wild places (not to mention a more …
Making Connections Beyond The Choir, David Johns
Making Connections Beyond The Choir, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Conservationists rely heavily on support from sectors of the population that want wildlife and wild places protected, but for whom it is not a priority. Support for conservation is widespread but not deep and seems to be weakening. This must be changed. Some of the obstacles are material—such as, fewer people have spent any part of their childhood immersed in nature. But many of the obstacles to deepening support among various constituencies rests with conservationists' prejudices: a belief that if people know the facts they will do the right thing; that truth by itself can overcome propaganda; that people are …
A Look Beyond: Wolves, Freedom And The Landscape, David Johns
A Look Beyond: Wolves, Freedom And The Landscape, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
The article focuses on the wolves and the need for conservation plans including a wildlife corridor that runs from the Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonora, Mexico, north along the Rocky Mountains to the Yellowstone ecosystem and on to the Canadian Yukon. A broad coalition is working to protect and restore the health of the land, water and wolves in this 4,000-mile-long international passage, often referred to as the ?Spine of the Continent.?
The Wildlands Project Outside North America, David Johns
The Wildlands Project Outside North America, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
The Wildlands Project seeks to create a connected system of protected areas across North America that will ensure the survival of all native species, including top predators and wideranging species, in the context of fully functioning ecosystems. Core protected areas are designated based on the biological needs of key species and the requirements of critical ecological processes. To work they must have, or will be restored to have, those attributes traditionally ascribed to wilderness. Some critics argue that The Wildlands Project model is inapplicable to other parts of the world, especially the developing world. The inapplicability is based on nonbiological …
Our Real Challenge: Managing Ourselves Instead Of Nature, David Johns
Our Real Challenge: Managing Ourselves Instead Of Nature, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
As cultural animals we create meaning and order. Stories are the primary means our species uses to do this. Stories that rise to the level of myth exert powerful effects on behavior. The dominant myths that explain our relationship to the natural word have two serious failings: our self-importance and a superficial and simplified image of who we are. These stories obscure more than they enlighten, thereby preventing us from addressing the causes of the current extinction crisis. Conservationists can and must fashion new stories that take account of our disproportionate impact on the Earth and its origins in our …
Wilderness And Energy: The Battle Against Domination, David Johns
Wilderness And Energy: The Battle Against Domination, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
This opinion piece discusses the problems associated with human energy extraction and the political ramifications.
Biological Science In Conservation, David Johns
Biological Science In Conservation, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Large-scale wildlands reserve systems offer one of the best hopes for slowing, if not reversing, the loss of biodiversity and wilderness. Establishing such reserves requires both sound biology and effective advocacy. Attempts by The Wildlands Project and its cooperators to meld science and advocacy in the service of conservation is working, but is not without some problems. Scientists and advocates have differences in methods of work, different understandings of the origins and place of values in conservation, and differing expectations about the efficacy of biological information in achieving protection. Despite these differences, successful relationships can be forged where these differences …
Getting From Here To There: An Outline Of The Wildlands Reserve Design Process, David Johns, Michael Soulé
Getting From Here To There: An Outline Of The Wildlands Reserve Design Process, David Johns, Michael Soulé
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Turning back the assault on the natural world is a monumental and complex task; even the first step – planning a network of reserves – is an enormous undertaking. This paper is intended as a general guide to the steps needed to produce a regional proposal for a Wildlands reserve system. It is based on an assessment of work underway in some regions, and extensive discussion with regional groups throughout the continent.
The Practical Relevance Of Deep Ecology, David Johns
The Practical Relevance Of Deep Ecology, David Johns
Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
As proponents of Deep Ecology and Biocentrism have begun to define both a vision for the future and a critique of the existing human relationship with the rest of nature, they have often been the subject of criticism from the Third World and from leftists in the developed world concerned with Third World issues. They are commonly charged with failing to adequately take into account the complexity of the human social dynamic involved in destruction of the environment; ignoring that human societies are under the control of elites who benefit from the degradation of nature while most people suffer; failing …