Bring your church, civic, school group or family. Or just bring your friends. Spend one summer morning restoring habitats and helping baby trees grow strong. These activities are part of Eco-Impact Day, a Volunteer Center sponsored activity taking place at three sites in Thurston County from 8:30 a.m. to noon with a picnic celebrating our work from noon to 2 p.m. We can accomodate up to 250 volunteers and some venues are family-friendly. This is a great way to raise another generation of volunteers or build team spirit for your group. For more information or to volunteer, please call Blake at 360-741-2610 or send him an e-mail at blake@volunteer.ws.

I was alerted to this Derrick Jensen article in Orion Magazine by a post on the Envirotalk listserve (which is part of SPEECH and South Sound Green Pages.)

I think it's an important article because it breaks up some of the prevailing and problematic thinking about how to get out of this economic/ecological/environmental/sociological mess that we are in. Instead of laying the blame at the feet of individuals (for not bicycling, or growing their own food, for example), Jensen lays the blame squarely where it is due - at the feet of decision-makers.

So, here's a link and a couple of excerpts from this lucid, rational, and well-written article. Thanks to Jerry for passing it on.

Forget the Shorter Shower | by Derrick Jensen | Orion Magazine

WOULD ANY SANE PERSON think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?

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Capitol Land Trust and the Griffin Neighborhood Association (GNA) have formed a unique collaborative joint venture to conserve special natural areas in the Steamboat Peninsula region. This effort is known as the Steamboat Conservation Partnership.

The mission of the Steamboat Conservation Partnership is “to conserve the rich and diverse natural landscapes of the Steamboat Peninsula region.” The Steamboat Peninsula region is defined as the Steamboat Peninsula in northwest Thurston County, as well as all other areas within the Eld Inlet and Totten Inlet watersheds, including the areas within the Kennedy, Schneider, Perry, and McLane creek watersheds. The priority area for focus of outreach is the portion of the region within the Griffin School District. Capitol Land Trust and the GNA agree that this natural environment provides important quality of life benefits to area residents and is essential for sustaining robust populations of native fish and wildlife.

Through the Steamboat Conservation Partnership, Capitol Land Trust shall engage in activities designed to conserve special natural areas in the Steamboat Peninsula region and that maintain connections between these lands through corridors useful for wildlife movement. Examples of special natural areas include marine shorelines, estuaries (including pocket estuaries), freshwater streams and riparian habitat, prairies, wetlands, and upland forests.

At its annual picnic earlier this month, Board members from the Griffin Neighborhood Association presented Eric Erler, Executive Director for the Capitol Land Trust with initial pledges of support.

On June 22, 2009 President Obama called for the United We Serve Summer of Service. To celebrate this call to service, The Volunteer Center would like you to put on your sunscreen and comfortable shoes, and come out to volunteer for the environment! There will be opportunities to help the Nature Conservancy, clean up Tumwater Falls Park, preserve trails for the Woodland Trails Greenway Association, and many more ... Everyone is welcome! This event is family friendly. Youth will be able to participate in volunteer projects with parent/adult supervision. For more information or to register, please contact Blake Marzloff at blake@volunteer.ws 360 - 741 - 2610

Is Global Trade Sustainable? If so, how much? And for whom? Should some people be allowed to trade freely, and not others?

Global economic trade has some positives, and some negatives. Do some people benefit more than other people? If so, who benefits more?

Are there any groups of people that are harmed by global trade? If so, who are they and how are they harmed?

Does global trade cause environmental degradation? If, so, what kind, and where does it show up?

Are some types of environmental degradation (e.g. global warming, extinction of species, or water/earth/air pollution) acceptable, while others are not? Who decides?

What role do we (both in terms of you and I, and as a society) play in enabling harmful/destructive economic activities? What role do we, or can we, play in working against harmful/destructive economic activities?

What does "progress" mean to you? (How do you define "progress"? Progress being a somewhat nebulous term: moving forward {whether it is socially, economically, politically, or etc.} can take on multiple different meanings.)

Do you have a vision of progress for Olympia? If so, what is it?

I ask these questions in the hope that people will want to, (and will feel comfortable to,) share their vision(s). In that spirit, I ask for people to refrain from engaging in criticism of each others' visions. The idea is for everyone to feel comfortable expressing their self without worry over being attacked.

Additionally, maybe we can inspire each other into thinking about creating, and forging, a common vision.

What does progress mean to you? Do you have a vision of progress for Olympia?

I went to the Olympia Climate Action program yesterday. It was an excellent presentation/workshop. The very serious and pressing realities of climate change and peak oil were skillfully juxtaposed with the promise of creating very inpsiring, hopeful, and exciting visions for overcoming these challenges.

Olympia Climate Action has programs scheduled for the next two second Mondays, in July and August. Stay tuned, or check tcpronet, for more information.

For more information, also see: Transition Washington State

From Oil Dependence to Local Resilience: a Transition Initiative

more photos and information below the fold

The New Narrative: Local Voices for a Global Future

The Capitol Theater
206 Fifth Avenue SE, Olympia

5:30 Reception with catering from Rambling Jack's
6:30 Films and conversations

The Global Oneness Project presents a free film event recognizing the role of local communities in global change. Join us to exchange ideas, foster relationships, and strengthen the changes already happening in our world.

Featuring:
Short films from the Global Oneness Project
Interactive cafe-style conversations
Guest speaker Orland Bishop, founder of ShadeTree Multicultural Foundation in Watts, Los Angeles, and a pioneer of innovative approaches to urban truces and restoring community
Q&A with filmmaker Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

The Global Oneness Project is documenting a growing understanding of what it means to be part of one interconnected, interdependent world. Since 2006, the Project has traveled to six continents, gathering stories from individuals and organizations working in the fields of sustainability, conflict resolution, social justice, spirituality, indigenous wisdom, and politics.

www.globalonenessproject.org/events
events@globalonenessproject.org

Join Capitol Land Trust at McLane Point on lower Eld Inlet to control the spread of invasive English Ivy. Meet at McLane Elementary School 200 Delphi Road SW Olympia, WA 98502 Due to limited parking we will be car-pooling to the site, a short distance away. Tools, gloves, snacks and hot beverages will be provided. Please be prepared for rain (but keep your fingers crossed for sun!). For more information, please contact Noah Silber-Coats at noah@capitollandtrust.org or (360) 943-3012.

Grandmothers Counsel the World at The Evergreen State College

Members of International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers Arrives in Early May

(Olympia and Tacoma, Wash.) The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers was formed almost five years ago out of a deep concern for “the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life.” The Council, which includes spiritual leaders from across the world, assembles to pray, share ancestral wisdom and counsel the world from multiple perspectives of distinctive cultures.

The Evergreen State College welcomes four North American members of this council of leaders of nations. The Grandmothers will share their views on the environment, resiliency, peace and knowledge in a time of unprecedented global change.