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Show THE ZEPHYR/JUNE-JULY 2007 WHAT PLEAKNED NATURE From FIGET LING CONSERVANCY BY LOCH Like the beginning of the Pilgrim’s Crusade of 1095, my endeavor against the Nature Conservancy was conceived in naivetéé. It began with an article in the local paper, enti- ane WADE I was stunned by the attacks, but I reminded myself that I should have as expected as much in politics. | didn’’t take it personally, and at the same time, I decided to make some gesture to demonstrate that such attacks were unfounded. tled, “EnergySolutions Gives The Nature Conservancy $200,000 for Boulder Watersheds. Project”. I knew only that EnergySolutions was a nuclear waste dumping company, and The night of the meeting arrived. The Council ground through the agenda, and finally, my turn came. I presented a check to the director of the Community Alliance to show I was not opposed to humanitarian projects in Boulder. Then I launched into my talk. When I finished, I received a great round of applause from the townspeople crowding the chamber. Next, the representative of The Nature Conservancy spoke. She said the “Boulder Watersheds Project” had been misnamed, and it really should have been named the “Boulder Farm Preservation Project”. She said TNC had no interest in Boulder’s irrigation water. Local Nature Conservancy supporters stood up and said they also had a desire for Boulder to remain agricultural, that they all supported a community-based, grassroots approach to town planning, and that they were against any thought of reallocating ir- that The Nature Conservancy was an environmental group. The dissonance created by this pairing got my attention. There had to be more going on, I thought, for such strange bedfellows to partner up So I did my homework. At first, the more I dug, the more convinced I became that I would uncover a massive conspiracy. Although I had never been engaged in public activism, I was not shy about voicing my concerns. I called the Salt Lake Tribune, as well as other media outlets (including The Zephyr). I circulated a petition in support of a Town resolution asking The Nature Conservancy to give back the 200,000 dollars to EnergySo- lutions. I asked to be put on the Town Council agenda to present my case before the Council. rigation water. It began with an article in the local paper, entitled, "EnergySolutions Gives The Nature Conservancy $200,000 for Boulder Watersheds Project". | knew only that EnergySolutions was a nuclear waste dumping company, and that The Nature Conservancy was an environmental group. l also continued to gather information. As the date of the Council Meeting grew closer, my initial “take” of the situation changed. At first I thought that the exchange.of funds between TNC and EnergySolutions had been a fluke, an error in judgment on the part of overzealous fundraisers. The reality was quite different. The Nature Conservancy is so completely controlled by corporate interests that to ask them to return EnergySolutions’ money was like asking a fish to stop drinking water. | discovered that on a relative scale of environmental dastardliness, EnergySolutions was fairly benign. From Big Oil (Every major US Oil Company contributes to TNC, and TNC has been conspicuously silent on such issues as ANWAR), to mining concerns like Rio Tinto and PhelpsDodge/MacMoRan Corp, (the largest mining companies in the world) to chemical producers like Dow Boulder, Utah in 1977 (which owns Union Carbide), and Monsanto, The Nature Conservancy has gravitated to what could be described as the very worst environmental despoilers on the planet. When I saw this, I knew that it would be impossible to get The Nature Conservancy to give the money back. But maybe I could still embarrass them through a Town resolution. Then I discovered that Steve Créamer, the CEO of EnergySolutions, had close ties to If those are the tactics a dominant culture has to use in order to change a worldview, what chance did | have to change anyone by speaking out at a town meeting? As my fiancéée kept telling me, "Loch, people just think you're a crank.” Boulder. One town council member had worked for him. With two others avowed Nature Conservancy supporters, that was three out of five against me. I had no hope of getting my resolution passed. : I responded by saying I was glad my suspicions were unfounded, and that I was willing to work with anyone to preserve Boulder’s agricultural lifestyle. All of the tension and animosity of the preceding days vanished, and we all seemed to be pulling in the same direction. Thus my first foray into politics somehow ended on a positive note. However, this sort of thing is never really over. One of the more ironic consequences of my campaign was that I had given some people ideas about how to develop their property! Supporters of my efforts spoke seriously about whether a golf-course/housing development in Boulder I moved on to Plan B. In the meantime, an article about my efforts appeared on the ‘ront page of the Tribune. The headline read, “Dirty Money or Green Donor?” I found the article to be surprisingly generous towards my position. However, it enraged members of the Boulder community with ties to The Nature Conservancy. The atmosphere became so poisonous that it began to have an effect on my personal life. So this is what it’s like to be an activist, ] thought. What to do? I had come too far; I had to see this thing through. The two days before the Town Meeting took on a surreal quality. I had shifted the focus of my presentation away from asking The Nature Conservancy to return EnergySolutions’ money. Instead I worked on proving the corporate nature of TNC, and asked why TNC was so interested in Boulder’s irrigation water. I checked facts, made sure my sources were documented, and agonized over all the details. Meanwhile, attempts were made to marginalize me. I was described as someone “bitter” because I could not afford to buy property in Boulder, and this sour grapes theory was offered as the real reason behind my outspoken opinions. I was accused of being a mean-spirited wrecker with a malicious desire to derail efforts to upgrade the library and provide hospice care for the was economically feasible. If it was, they wanted to build one! A friend of mine and I went for a camping trip in the far reaches of the San Rafael Swell. There, fifty miles of torturous dirt track from the nearest blacktop, we took stock of what had happened over the course of the past month, and I realized what I was dealing with. It wasn’t a stark contrast between Good and Evil, or between the Big Corporations and the Little Guy. If there was any conflict at all, it was between different ways of experiencing reality. Like most Americans, I had been trained to perceive the world through certain cultural community. The best selection of adult beverages “To all you poor devils in the desert with only the state owned stores to slake your thirst..... a visit with Monty & Jerry @ Crossroads Wine & Spirits 2546 RIMROCK AVE SUITE 100 (across from the new Wal-Mart) on the Colorado Plateau AND the best service. i Seo chase the blues away!” GRAND JCT, COLORADO 970.257.1557 18 I live to SERVE |