 |
The goal of
the Wildlands Project is to set aside approximately
fifty (50) percent of the North American continent
(Turtle Island) as "wild land" for the preservation of
biological diversity.
|
|
|
The project
seeks to do this by creating "reserve networks" across
the continent. Reserves are made up of the following:
- Cores, created from public lands
such as National Forest and Parks
- Buffers, often created from
private land adjoining the cores to provide
additional protection
- Corridors, a mix of public and
private lands usually following along rivers and
wildlife migration routes
|
|
|
The primary
characteristics of core areas are that they are large
(100,000 to 25 million acres), and allow for little, if
any, human use.
|
|
|
The primary
characteristics of buffers are that they allow for
limited human use so long as they are "managed with
native biodiversity as a preeminent concern."
|
|
|
Moral and
ethical guidelines for the Wildlands Project are based
on the philosophy of Deep Ecology.
|
|
|
The eight
point platform of Deep Ecology can be summarized as
follows:
- All life (human and non-human)
has equal value.
- Resource consumption above what
is needed to supply "vital" human needs is immoral.
- Human population must be reduced
- Western civilization must
radically change present economic, technological,
and ideological structures.
- Believers have an obligation to
try to implement the necessary changes.
|
|
|
The
Wildlands Project itself is supported by hundreds of
groups working towards its long-term implementation.
Implementation may take 100 years or more.
|
|
|
The
Wildlands Project has received millions of dollars in
support from wealthy private and corporate foundations
such as the Turner Foundation, Patagonia, W. Alton Jones
Foundation, Lyndhurst Foundation, etc. |
Conclusion:
The Wildlands Project exist within legal boundaries, however
that should not prevent us from being concerned. At the very
least, it advocates an extreme manifestation of environmental
and public policy. Therefore, any claim the Wildlands Project
makes toward public policy must be debated, and ultimately
decided, in the public arena. Yet to date it has existed almost
anonymously; beyond the knowledge of the wider public. It must
be examined out from behind the cover of more general
environmental concerns, held up for public scrutiny, and either
accepted or rejected by a public fully aware of its
implications. Failing to do so could have dire consequences, for
as John Adams once wrote, "Liberty cannot be preserved without a
general knowledge by the people." |
