Back in May 2005, the first time I edited an environmental issue of this magazine, maybe you noticed that half the articles were about how to make things dead. (Gypsy moths and over-abundant, over-aggressive geese are troublesome and destructive creatures.)

While I don't have complete control over the exact topics or content of the stories that come my way for each issue, I still think that the May/June 2005 issue of IP&R somehow reflected my attitude about the environment three years ago: specifically, the environment is something we should control as much as possible. It's a coping mechanism. If I'm uncomfortable with something, I try to contain it.

Frankly, I've long been ignorant and uncomfortable with the environment; more so with environmentalism, and, most especially, with environmentalists.

Years ago, a colleague proudly told me that over the weekend his 12-year-old daughter had decided that, when she grew up, she was going to become that person in the rubber speed boat who puts herself between the harpoon and the whale. While I very much admire that, I simply can't relate to it. That sort of dedication puts environmental matters in a realm I can't access.

If there are others (perhaps many others) out there who feel like I do, then the world owes a lot of thanks to the people who work on such groups as the IPRA Environmental Committee. This issue contains articles by Janet L. Herbert, Jamie B. Johannsen and David Brooks, three members, of that committee, who deliver, for me and people like me, an incredibly simple, but liberating message: Environmentalism doesn't have to define the very being of you, or your agency. Environmentalism can be just another something that you do.

Sounds silly, but for me this is a revelation. True, I am not cut out to be a pastor, but I can still pray. In just the same way, say Herbert, Johannsen and Brooks, I can remain on the grid and still do things that help the earth. I can count species for a day at a BioBlitz. (I've been looking for an excuse to show my son how to catch crayfish anyway.) I can recycle; use less paper; heck, even change a light bulb (to a compact fluorescent) to help the planet. I can green up the use of my wallet by allowing environmental concerns to become a factor (and not necessarily the deciding factor) in some of my purchasing habits.

It's an empowering message these authors bring. And, best of all, it's not the least about death. It's all about living.

— RODD WHELPLEY
Editor

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