Wilderness is Part of the Global Warming Solution
William H. Meadows
We are at one of those rare moments in history when the context for a policy debate changes dramatically. For the vast majority of Americans, global warming has moved from theory to reality. Congress is making this issue a top priority, and even the president is beginning to wade into the debate.
For all of us who value land and wildlife conservation, this is creating new opportunities. Many of the places that The Wilderness Society fights to protect for future generations can help society tackle global warming. Our national forests, for example, store significant amounts of carbon. These forests and other wild places also provide critical migration corridors for wildlife species that in many cases will not survive unless they can move with the shifts in climate.
Because of the important role that land conservation must play if humankind is to meet the challenges presented by global warming, The Wilderness Society has a responsibility to lead. We intend to do just that. A story on page 6 points out that we are marshaling our ecologists, economists, and other staff experts to help society hatch sensible solutions to this sobering problem.
One of the solutions is to protect America’s wilderness by adding it to the National Wilderness Preservation System. This issue of the newsletter highlights the prospects in Colorado, and we have active campaigns underway in California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and elsewhere. The concern about global warming gives Congress one more reason to pass such legislation, and with your continuing help, we believe that we seize this new opportunity.
-- William H. Meadows
P.S. The truth is that The Wilderness Society members, by supporting our efforts to protect forests and other carbon sinks, were fighting global warming before it was identified as a problem. Thank you.
