Shaping Myself, Connecting with the Land
My Story as a St. Olaf Environmental Studies
Student
I came to St. Olaf motivated and hotheaded, ready to take on the world! I felt that politicians turned evil with greed were devoting much of their time to a wholesale auction of our resources, of our wildlands, of our health to the bastion of darkness itself; the proverbial corporation. Any political conversation I was involved in would soon turn to the dire situation the world was in. Globalization was the devil, and I felt that the people in the streets during the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle were the hilt of the gleaming sword of justice ready to change our society to a sustainable, bioregional, and socialist democracy. This was true democracy in action. The people were speaking and no one, not even the president could avoid the collective call for sanity.
Following the WTO protests the increased media coverage of the anti-globalization movement and the apparent unification of all types of people and causes created within me an optimism that was unquenchable. I arrived at St. Olaf ready to be a college activist, to march and sit in and speak out. St Olaf itself even seemed a microcosm of the events taking place in the real world; the administration was constructing inefficient buildings paid for by dirty corporations, the bookstore was selling sweatshirts made by 11 year olds in China, and ignorant conservative students followed orders like robots. Tyranny! I was thrilled!
Standing at the gate preparing to step out of the sheltered oasis of college into the real world I reflect on my routes. Who was I four years ago, and what have I become? I am such a different person now than when I first walked across our sprawling lawns as a student. My priorities environmentally haven’t changed all that much, but my view of the world has expanded.
During my first year at St. Olaf I envisioned myself as a “superactivist”. I became involved in several campus organizations and decided on the environmental studies major. As a declared art major as well I focused much of my work on social and environmental issues. I enjoyed the environmental studies intro course, but found it too general in its examination of environmental issues. I was disappointed in the lack of attention given to western land issues, which I found most important and interesting. In fact, the deficiency of discussion on western wildland issues throughout the entire major has been of great concern to me. Reflecting on my choices I see myself almost as vaporous soul, moving to and fro between different interests and life goals.
As the first year drew to a close I chose Montana as my place for the summer. A friend offered me a room in his house in Missoula and I accepted. The job I eventually landed involved me tearing down old building in order to reclaim wood and other materials for use in new buildings. I found the work fun and rewarding, and in my free time I volunteered with several local environmental groups. I decided I wanted to become involved in the future in a social or environmental nonprofit. Upon returning to school I found myself torn between my studies in environmental policy and my passion in anti-sweatshop activism. A majority of my time went to my anti-sweatshop student group Priorities where I organized protests, speakers, and petition drives to bring various goals. It eventually wore me out, but I got a taste of what it was to be a leader and a spokesman for a cause.
The most important thing I learned sophomore year was that “our lives are ruled by dead people”. As Jim Farrell elaborated on this concept in environmental history my entire ethic began to change. I began to see myself within an already established movement rather than at the forefront of a newly blossoming one. This realization allowed me to envision myself more as a student than an activist (know it all). In the spring I learned that I’d been accepted into the environmental studies in Australia abroad trip for second semester of my junior year. My hope of going on the trip to Australia had been one of my motivations for coming to St. Olaf, so everything seemed to be falling into place.
That summer working an internship with the nonprofit Alliance for the Wildrockies in Missoula, Montana I discovered how bureaucratic environmentalism could be. I was less than thrilled with the lack of high speed negotiating and ecotage involved in the work. The work of protecting Montana’s wildlife and habitat was slow moving and often a failure. As the romance wore off I left the office to do field work on the Great Grizzly Search (GGS). The bear study took place within the Bitterroot Mountains along the Montana/Idaho boarder. Its goal was to locate several female bears with cubs in order to prove a population of Grizzlies existed and where therefore protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This was all in order to prevent a planned “reintroduction” of bears to the area with a “nonessential/experimental status” that would void their protection under the ESA. Many undocumented reports of Griz sightings were to be corroborated by the work of the GGS. I assisted several Wildlife biologists in setting up hair collection stations and collecting hair samples of potential Grizzlies. I found myself often deep in the backcountry blazing trail and keeping alert for bears. The more I learned about bears the more I fell in love with them and their habitat.
When not on the study I worked construction on a “green” building outside of town. The structure was partly reclaimed timber frame with strawbale insulation and partly a reclaimed log hewn cabin. Almost all the wood in the building was recycled and the heating system was highly efficient radiant heat in the flooring. Green building became one of my new interests that has held through to today. I returned to school with a new goal, to meld my interests in art and protecting the environment through building low impact homes and businesses.
As school moved into full swing I saw the entire semester as a preparation for Australia. I wound down the action of Priorities and readied myself to leave the country for the first time. In Australia I found an environmentally fragile country that was forced into awareness of its affect on the environment. The contrasts between Americans and Australians grew apparent immediately as the population as a whole appeared more in the know of their predicament than people in the US. I feel that my experience in Australia forced me to look at America and its shortcomings. Australia is no utopia, but reliance on tourism and awareness of the fragility of their ecosystems has created a heightened sense of urgency in preservation. Interaction with the Aboriginal people provided another perspective on the situation. Their connection with the land through art and spirituality was fascinating. The country was beautiful and the people were in love with the outdoors. In preparation for my return to the US I realized that what was most important for me and my environmental ethic at the time was to explore the beauty of our country. Three years of school had burned me out. I had all the idealism washed out of me and I needed to reconnect.
I spent the summer working construction in New Mexico and Montana and was in the woods and mountains as much as possible. I wanted to know America as well as I’d gotten to know Australia. While living in a tipi up on a mountain in Montana I read Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and made a decision. Upon my return to school I would finish up the year creating the most connection possible between my art and environmental studies majors, live as simply as possible, and prepare to continue my education in the real world. Now I stand at the gate preparing to walk out into the mountains and explore the areas of our country that must be preserved, I plan on traveling to third world countries where I can learn first hand the realities of globalization, and I want to read books that I’ve been putting off since school began.
I started school thinking it was the start of what would be a life in activism, but now I see it as just the first step in my education. Australia wet my appetite for travel and discovery, but I am still hungry! I know that someday I will devote my life to a place, a community, and ecosystem, but I cannot do that until I find that place. I no longer want to leave school to become and activist, I must fill myself up with true experience or else I cannot be an advocate for peace and environmental sanity. I still have the same ideals that I started school with, but I have gained a perspective of the world that has reshaped my priorities. I now step out into the world with an open heart and mind, ready for my education to continue.
Classes in the Environmental Studies Department
have shaped my perspective on the world and helped me to develop an ecological
mindset. The following are a sample of my writing and collaborative
works from my ES classes.
•ES Conservation Biology
White-Tailed Deer
•ES 242 History
•ES 276 Politics
Bioregionalism
•ES 250 Ethics and the American Landscape
Rushmore: A Monument to the American Land Ethic
The Ski Area and the American Landscape
•ES 255 Global Information Systems
Superfund as an Indicator of Environmental Justice
In the Metro Area of Minnesota
Well Pollution GIS Map
•ES 232 Policy and Regulation
Local Environmental Predicament
Grizzly Bear Recovery
