By Ashley Nye, Sierra Club Maine Volunteer
Photo provided by the author
If you are an American who stays informed on current events, you are faced with the dire state of our democracy almost daily these days. It seems that every week, there is a new attack on our legal system, rights, legal protections, and health. I’ve often found myself wondering “Are they trying to control us, or just outright kill us?” It’s hard to keep track of all our vulnerabilities in need of coverage, and new holes in our existing defenses are being found and exploited at an unprecedented rate.
As a young student who currently makes a living freelancing, overwhelm came quickly. I care deeply about the environment, democracy, human rights, etc. but I am also obligated to care about keeping a roof over my head and food on the table. I decided early on to pick one issue, and throw any spare resources I could muster into that topic. For me, it all leads back to the earth. Our health is undeniably intertwined with our environment, which is reliant on networks of species and processes to remain functional and resilient. We cannot properly advocate for any other human issues, without first maintaining habitability on our planet. It is in all our interests to defend our home.
When I started volunteering with the Sierra Club back in January, I never could have predicted the opportunities to make a tangible impact I would have in such a short amount of time. When I was approached about joining a citizen lobby for the Arctic Refuge, I was thrilled to be able to use my time and voice to speak out against drilling, and in defense of a precious biological resource: the Arctic Coastal Plain.
Photo by Lisa Hupp, USFWS
These plains are essential calving grounds for the porcupine caribou herd, an endemic population which relies on the dense food resources and lack of predators on the plains to maintain their viability. The Gwich’in people of Alaska are also reliant on this herd and habitat for up to 80% of their subsistence. Without the caribou, the Gwich’in culture could no longer exist within their homelands, and without the Gwich’in this swath of vital coastal floodplain would surely have been destroyed by now for the mere idea of fuel development.
Through the platform of the Sierra Club, I, along with two Maine residents from the Alaska Wilderness League, was able to speak with the Maine delegation in defense of the Arctic refuge, asking them to keep mandatory leasing out of any budget reconciliation. We were able to share our stories, experiences, and passion for the Arctic with Senators King and Collins, and the staffers of Jared Golden’s and Chellie Pingree’s office. To varying efficacy, we shared our positions as park rangers, artists, advocates, and informed constituents.
Photo provided by the author.
It was a lucky privilege that while advocating for the Arctic, I was invited to return to DC the following week to advocate again as a constituent for the Endangered Species Act. The ESA is currently under attack by the GOP which is trying to strip the act of all regulatory power and scientific review, allowing industry to develop public lands without regard for consequences, or accountability for potential harm. By fast tracking de-listings, prohibiting judicial review of decisions for a five year period, and a variety of other sneaky provisions, the amendments will cause irreparable damage to our public lands and species which are an essential element of American heritage and legacy.
I spoke to our delegation as a student of environmental science, but also as an explorer, guide, and writer. I have watched as clients are transformed by their experiences in the mountains or forest, suddenly unlocking a primal connection to their surroundings. I have been lucky to stoke their fires, and watch their passions develop in real time, keeping them returning to these experiences and places again and again. There are a million and one reasons to protect species and ecosystems and public resources. At the root of it all, past the philosophical and moral obligations, past the scientific and practical and economic interests, is the right of every human being to access their own connection to the natural world. We came from this planet. Since our meek entry at the beginning of time, we have walked beneath sun and rain, along rivers and oceans, beside — not above — all other life. To sever human from nature is an amputation as traumatic and inhumane as any other.
I look forward to continuing my advocacy with the Sierra Club for our rights and the rights of nature. And I hope that while I do, that my friends and family and all the people I will never meet are somewhere covered in dirt or sweat or sand, passionately engaging with their beautiful blue home. I am so grateful to the coordinators who make these fly-ins possible, to the amazing team who shared their stories, and for the Maine chapter which invited me to attend, and continues to offer opportunities to engage with local work and community.
Special thanks to my fellow Mainers who joined me in D.C. on behalf of their organizations: Daniel Tandy (Alaska Wilderness League), Michael Boardman (Alaska Wilderness League), Laura Zitske (Maine Audubon), Sarah Perry (Defenders of Wildlife), and Garret Winterheart (Defenders of Wildlife).