Dear HCN,
Thanks to Mike McCloskey
for sharing, and thanks to you for printing, his memo on the limits
of collaboration. This is a very important issue: To what extent
can environmental problems be solved through collaboration of
interest groups at the watershed level? I believe the bottom line
is that the environment needs both advocacy and collaboration, in
equal doses.
River Network is committed to
fostering watershed councils – citizen-driven, science-driven,
broadly inclusive forums for dealing constructively with the
land-use problems that are killing our rivers. These land-use
issues cannot be solved through legislation, even if the political
will were there (which it generally is not, particularly in the
West). They are emotional issues that must be de-sloganized and
dealt with locally.
Advocacy is necessary to give
prominence to issues. Without a framework of environmental laws,
and litigation to enforce those laws, there would be less incentive
for interest groups to come to the table to work out solutions to
environmental problems. The watershed movement in Oregon, for
example, would not be where it is without the prospect of listings
under the Endangered Species Act. The Sierra Club has been a
powerful, steady force to create and maintain that regulatory
background which is, to my mind, a prerequisite for successful
collaboration.
Phil
Wallin
Portland,
Oregon
The writer is president
of River Network, a watershed conservation
group.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline We need both.
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