Happy New Year to everyone!
1) You may be in the middle of donations for the end of tax year. While The Smokey Wire donations are NOT tax deductible, I know for me this is a time when I look at my portfolio of donations for the year, and supplement where I have forgotten some areas, or not given enough, regardless of deductibility. Donations to The Smokey Wire are always appreciated!
2) In two weeks (January 12 or so) I’ll be starting discussion of another book- this one Justin Farrell’s 2015 book The Battle for Yellowstone.
We’ve touched upon some ethical, moral and cultural dimensions of various forest policy conflicts in the past and it’s time, I think, to jointly work on developing a shared thought structure to talk about these dimensions more directly. What I like about Justin’s book is that he addresses the moral, spiritual, historical, social and so-called “natural” science dimensions in a holistic way. A review in The Economist called it “the most original political book of early 2015.” You can get it on Kindle for $14.00 and used for more; it might be available in some libraries. I’m going to summarize some of his ideas and use excerpts, so you’ll be able to participate without reading it yourself. You might get more out of it, though, by reading the book, or at least skimming parts that look interesting to you. It is long, academic and repetitive in spots, but for me, wherever I dive in something interesting pops up.
3) I am really far behind in posting interesting stories, and new ones are coming in rapidly. So, at least for a while, I’m going to have posts with round-ups of multiple articles, as well as more individual posts per day, until I get through this pile.
4) As always, please contact me if I asked for information and never posted on it… like I said, I have a tall virtual pile and I could have lost track.
5) If you are interested in volunteering for The Smokey Wire, doing research or writing a post.. let’s talk! Email me at terraveritas at gmail.
It will be interesting to see how Farrell’s book compares to Alston Chase’s “Playing God in Yellowstone”.
Hoping you can add that comparison as we discuss it.