The Iron is Hot!
By Mike Connelly
February 6, 2002

As nice as it's been to relax a little bit, I hope we all understand that the environmentalists and the agencies have never been more vulnerable than they are right now.

Both the Oregon Natural Resources Council and the Klamath Forest Alliance have been on a downward trend in recent years, as evidenced by little things like decreased media presence, staff turnover (ONRC had to tap their volunteer board for an executive director, after losing two in as many years), program cutbacks (ONRC skipped publishing their quarterly newsletter), and most of all, the disappearance of the creativity and vitality that made these groups some of the most feared organizations in the region (The ONRC has officially regressed back to "wilderness designation" as the focus of their fundraising/advocacy, and their promotional materials fairly drip with nostalgia for the "good old days" of the spotted owl, etc).

The agencies are even more vulnerable. Individual staff members are fearing for their jobs, and no matter how hard they try they will not be able to justify or sustain business as usual. The thing is, they also don't have any ideas about how to do things differently, so initiatives from what they like to call the "regulated community" would be much more potent, visible, and more likely to effect emerging policies.

It is imperative that we avoid resting on our laurels, because all we have done is to momentarliy turn our foes to the defensive. They will retreat behind cover, and immediately begin making plans for their next assault. If we sit back and wait for it, we'll be right back where we started. But if we press on, driving them from their trenches, we can transform this into a more long-term victory, and a more sustained peace.

Now, to be clear: We do this NOT by pressing for the repeal of the ESA, or by cutting off funding to the agencies, or by insisting that things are just hunky-dory out there in the ecosystem, or by pursuing other wasteful, bone-headed tactics. We DON'T do this by pretending that environmental issues are illusory, and that the millions of people concerned about such issues are simply suffering from delusions propagated by some vast left-wing conspiracy.

We will do this by taking such issues away from the zealots once and for all, by taking back the stake we all used to hold in such issues, and by restoring such issues to their former bipartisan status (remember it was a Republican that signed the ESA, and every other major piece of 19th & 20th century environmental legislation, except for the Wilderness Act).

We will do this by confronting our environmental challenges head on, and insisting that we GET THEM FIXED, instead of just building a bureaucratic machinery that does little but perpetuate perennial congressional appropriations, and instead of just supporting environmental advocacy organizations that have a direct, manifest financial interest in avoiding long-term solutions and in encouraging consolidation of the people's natural resources into the hands of federal agencies, for no other reason than that the feds are the easiest ones to sue, and lawsuits are the easiest way to raise big piles of cash.

We need to engage the agencies at every level -- right now -- and establish policies and programs that will fix the problems beyond any shadow of a doubt, making the environmentalists' job of fabricating environmental infractions that much more difficult. And we need to DIRECTLY target both the constituencies and the foundations funding the ONRC and the KFA. The KFA has their funding listed on their site, and I'm sure one of you web-wizards could easily find out the major foundations funding the ONRC. We need to formulate and articulate our own strategies for addressing environmental issues, and then make the case directly to these foundation that their money would be better spent if it went somewhere other then the ONRC and the KFA. This it the hidden soft spot with these organizations. Aim for it, and they will be forced to change, or die.

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