Dear Friends and Supporters,
East33.org was born as a result of an attempted land grab by ‘environmentalists’ and ‘open space advocates’ who believe initiatives like agriculture, trails and alternative energy installations take precedence over protection of our few remaining wild places — places wildlife require for their survival. During my many years as a volunteer in the open space movement, it is a sad story I saw played out too many times: the idea that it is justifiable to take open space for our own use as long as the words ’green’ and ‘sustainable’ and ‘demonstration project’ are added to the mix.
As far as the wildlife are concerned, it doesn’t matter if the land has a building on it, a farm, a solar array, a windmill, a natural gas well, or people trapsing through it — especially for our sensitive species, all these uses stress wildlife and usually render the land unsuitable for breeding and habitation.
We are the most aggressive of all species, and unless we begin to make good choices in our land use decisions, we may risk our own welfare as our losses in biodiversity are having a major impact on all the ecosystem services we depend on for our own survival – services like purification of our air and water, recycling of our wastes, moderation of our weather patterns, pollination of our plants, building of our topsoils, to name just a few.
The good news through all this effort is not just that we have protected rare wildlife habitat locally, but that we have people talking about wildlife and wildlife corridors. Biodiversity is not optional. Without it, we cannot survive, so in reality there is nothing more important to focus on for the health of our only planet.
Urban agriculture is a popular trend, and tearing up concrete to grow crops makes good sense. But I encourage those with parcels of land to consider returning it to the wild, planting native plants and controlling invasive plants, for the good of not just the biodiversity but of mankind too. Think of it as an insurance policy for Earth.