Defending Wild Washington: A Citizen's Action Guide

By Students From Evergreen State College

* A clear picture of the many different environmental issues in Washington state: what needs to be done and what can be done by people like you * Success stories of citizens who have made a difference * Analysis of grass roots campaigns that work Beyond giving money or answering "action alert" campaigns to write your local congressperson, you, as a citizen, can be at the table when decisions are made for specific wild places you care about. Defending Wild Washington documents how great accomplishments have been achieved by persons of modest means and, often, with no special past experience. One citizen activist reached out to community leaders and mill owners who rely on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Another led forest advocates to bid on a Washington timber sale to stop the cut. The success stories of today are added to interviews with pioneers in the movement. Defending Wild Washington is the complete sourcebook for aspiring activists. It tells how the citizen's movement for wild Washington came to be, what it has accomplished, what remains to be done, and how, working together, individuals can change the laws and rules governing wildlands in this state. It reveals the methods and strategies that have worked and explains why others have not. Findings presented in Defending Wild Washington have direct application for professional environmental organizations wanting to grow, diversify, and mobilize volunteers to lead grassroots campaigns where they live and work.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898869706
• ISBN13: 9780898869705
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 414 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Informative book filled with inspiration

This book has a lot of information about how protecting wild areas works in WA and and an overview of the protections offered by the United States Government. It then provides the inspiration to get people started through true stories of grassroots projects. While the book doesn't list 1, 2, 3, what needs to be done to start a grassroots movement, that shouldn't be expected, because all people have different motivations, and this book should be used as a tool to help you understand the basics of how these sorts of movements work. A must for anyone who wants to further understand Washington state for all of its great wild places, or anyone for that matter, that is looking for inspiration on why wild areas should be protected. Plus all of the proceeds go to a great cause!

Student Authors Challenge and Inspire an Aging Movement

I have to admit to a special interest in Defending Wild Washington. Not only have I been involved in the forest protection movement in this state since the mid 1980s, but as a current Graduate Student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, I had the rare opportunity to get to know the undergraduate students and their instructors who together wrote this astonishing book.Why make this claim? In early October of 2002, 20 plus students new to the issue began researching the history and current status of a movement of individuals and organizations working to protect Washington's Wildness. By June 2003 they had finished the research, interviewed key players and completed a draft manuscript, which was well written and gave a cogent analysis of this complex issue. Even after leaving the class, they continued to work with draft after draft, refining the words and the message to get it just right.The final product is something well worth reading and is a sterling accomplishment for everyone who participated.More than just a narrative of events, this book discusses and analyzes what is positive and what needs change within the current movement. The students, and their major faculty member and editor of this book, Ted Whitesell, offer seasoned activits advice we may find difficult to hear. They want us, and you, to stop thinking small during this time of political conservativism, but rather to think big and bold and begin rebuildng the movement--from the grassroots on up.Good for them. They have the right message for this time and I only hope each and every one of them will join the movement and provide us with their great inspiration to stretch and grow.I also hope they will inspire the readers of this book to get involved. Washington will not keep its wildness without the help of thousands of committed citizens. Defending Wild Washington points the way.