Director's Page, Fall 2006/Winter 2007

This is the season for giving. More often than not, one fulfils this need to be generous in terms of giving material objects. Thoughtful deeds and actions can be an even more meaningful gift. In that sense, promoting or engaging in conservation is a great gift. More importantly, it is a way to give something to everybody at once. This gift to all people is accomplished by doing something to contribute to the welfare of the Earth that in turn, benefits everyone’s wellbeing. What better gift than clean air and water, or a healthy supply of plants and animals, which in turn supply food and medicine, or in a more aesthetic sense the beauty and experience of unspoiled wild lands. We at the Chattooga Conservancy would like to thank our members for your gift of supporting the conservation of the Chattooga River watershed, that is so important to so many.

The holiday season and conservation are also connected in another way. Giving always involves some degree of sacrifice. This idea of the importance of sacrifice is a common theme in the writings of all great conservationists. When Wendell Berry was asked how seriously we can take the interest in the environment, he replied, "I don’t think we can take it seriously until people begin to talk seriously about lowering the standard of living. When people begin to see affluence, economic growth and unrestricted economic behavior as the enemies of the environment, then we can take it seriously. But people say, ‘Give us everything we want and a clean environment,’ and this isn’t a possibility." The point Berry makes is especially true today with a booming population whose vastly over-consumptive habits are all competing for rapidly dwindling natural resources.

Fortunately, people are beginning to realize the need for conservation as the consequences of our impacts on the environment begin to have direct effects on the average citizen. Hopefully, this awakening will result in the emergence of new leaders that will take conservation seriously. The days are almost gone when a United States Senator can get away with dismissing global warming as a myth in order to please donors who make money at the expense of the environment. Soon, history will remember Dick Cheney’s remarks in reference to "conservation as a meaningless parochial exercise" as one of the most shortsighted statements ever uttered.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t crack open the champagne yet. There is still plenty of unrepentant greed out there to deal with while we are waiting on the environmental rapture. The "give us everything we want" crowd of special interests was more aggressive than ever this past year, while showing no signs of letting up in 2007. In fact, herein lays the great danger in letting down our guard just because people are more environmentally aware. People have the sense that somebody is going to do something about the problem, now that we know there is a problem. Not so; what you can expect now is spin! All over America speeches are being given like the one I recently read where Mark Rey, U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture, rattled off so many rosy statistics about improving water and air quality, etc., that all sounded so convincing I almost dashed off a thank you note to President Bush. Sadly, there may be a lot of people who will believe the spin.

Which brings me to the point. This year has enlightened me to the extraordinary value of our membership, who has supported the Chattooga Conservancy through a very tough year. Funding has been scarce for our conservation programs, due partly to lack of foundation giving to grassroots organizations. Yet at the same time, I have never seen so many varied special interest groups wanting to exploit the Chattooga watershed for their own exclusive purposes. For instance, special interests are pressuring for unrestricted boating use of the river’s North Carolina headwaters; South Carolina bear hunters want drastic increases in seasons for chasing bears with dogs and in hunting days; there are unresolved development and growth issues throughout the watershed; and, in Georgia, the City of Clayton’s sewer system spills have Stekoa Creek still reeking from raw sewage. In every case, when the Conservancy was catching major heat from the well-funded special interests and when it would have been pretty easy to just "fold the tent," we would receive a phone call, a letter, or a personal communication from a member letting us know that they were behind us 100 percent.

On this Quarterly’s update page you will see a paragraph about our "membership appreciation party." We really mean it—we appreciate our membership. This past year many of you have reached deep to give the Chattooga Conservancy your hard earned money to keep us going, others have volunteered time and energy for water sampling in Stekoa Creek, others have helped keep an eye out for polluters, or stood up for us when the Conservancy had to take a tough stand to protect the watershed, and most of all, there were those who took time to simply say, "We’re still with you." It is because of this that the Conservancy will still be here ‘til the rapture. For you who have made sacrifices to give the best gift of all this season, and who see the value of the true gift of conservation, we wish you the best for this New Year.