Leibowitz & Kritkausky: Climate plan is an opportunity to rewild Vermont and ourselves

This commentary was written by John Leibowitz of Middlesex, executive director of the Northeast Wilderness Trust, and Randy Kritkausky of Whiting, a registered tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and founder of ECOLOGIA, an international environmental organization.

Vermont’s recently released Climate Action Plan contains recommendations that, if implemented, would create a more brutal and resilient Vermont. This will benefit us and the natural world on which we depend.

Allowing nature the time it needs to heal and thrive, and growing forests—also called resettlement—is rarely a priority for elected officials. So when this happens, we need to seize the moment!

Vermonters have always cherished the boreal forest in which we live, but for too long the focus has been too much on managing it as a resource. This is true for all lands, whether private, state, or federal. Only 3 percent of Vermont is wildlife preserve. We can and must do better.

Make no mistake: A prosperous future requires both continuous conservation and wise use of woodland, but it also requires more wild land. Allowing lands to be reconstructed at the same time preserves biodiversity and stores, sequesters vast amounts of carbon, and provides quiet solace to those looking for it.

More wildlife will also require us to be smarter about using limited timber resources – something we must do anyway.

The Climate Action Plan includes recommended actions such as: 1) modifying existing use to include wild lands and creating tax justice among landowners who prefer not to manage their lands for timber; and 2) policy changes, conservation actions, and funding mechanisms to meet the legacy forest goals set forth in the Vermont Conservation Design.

These subsequent actions will balance Vermont’s wildlands and woodlands and help rebuild large parts of Green Mountain State. Allowing the wilderness to be part of the current use and meeting the ancient woodland goals of Vermont Conservation Design will similarly lead to a much-needed paradigm shift in our relationship with the landscape.

While important, legal changes alone are not enough. Addressing the environmental crises of our time requires a comprehensive re-imagining of our relationship with non-humans. We must embrace our place as one of many species, and redevelop a familial relationship with Mother Earth and all her wonderful manifestations. This is not a new concept, of course. It is as old as human habitation in Vermont.

Before European colonization, this land, known as N’dakinna to Abenaki, was an inhabited wilderness. Ancient and complex forests that we now call “old growth” dominated the landscape. The indigenous people of Ndakina have lived a rich and lasting life for thousands of years with little negative impact on biodiversity. The Earth was free to express itself, and natural processes drove the tides and roots of life.

This is a date we must honor. However, it is crucial to realize that it is not the world we live in today. Biodiversity is collapsing in real time, ancient forests make up less than 1 percent of today’s Northeast, and an area that was once home to nearly 150,000 people is now home to 34 million.

While wildlife is a recent concept in the long history of the indigenous presence in the Northeast, so has industrialization, urbanization and the rapid loss of natural areas and ecological function. Wildlife as a legal designation did not need to exist 400 years ago, but it does today. Wild landscapes provide people with a place to learn about humanity’s role in the entire community of life, and likewise provide a place to practice humility, respect and restraint in reciprocity with nature. These are not new ideas, although they are largely forgotten by today’s prevailing culture.

And so again, without explicitly stating it, a Climate Action Plan can help Vermont take a concrete step toward recognizing and honoring the wisdom of the indigenous peoples of this land. Taking a reciprocal step to rebuild the landscape honors the enduring idea that Mother Earth will provide us if we allow her and the creatures that live on Earth to thrive, healing each other when disturbances arise.

We can all learn this and see the benefits of such a humble approach if we take the time to be in the wild, and if we listen carefully while we’re there. To do this we need quiet and undisturbed places where we can be fully present and the whispers of birds, streams and even the forest itself.

Can a single piece of legislation do all of the above? Indeed, the Global Warming Solutions Act offers such a roadmap. Implementing the wild forest goals within the Climate Action Plan is a critical step Vermont can take to honor its indigenous people, provide a rich future for all Vermonters, and create space for non-humans to thrive alongside us.

There is good reason to be pessimistic about our future. However, we choose to be optimistic, deeply rooted in beauty and brutality.