Three things you can do on behalf of life.

1. COMMIT

Leap into 7-generation thinking and align one’s life.
    It begins with you, gradually applying community-thinking to every decision that you make.  How does each dollar you spend affect the earth’s future —  in other words, what are you investing in when you spend your monthly budget? Examine with full consciousness your choices for food, recreation, transportation, vocation, home of residence, financial investments, retirement planning and material possessions. Remember, to reach the goal of thinking collectively requires a life-time of objectivity, research, self-reflection and growth, — demanding a great deal of humility, humor, and self-forgiveness.  Begin in one corner of your life and work out from there with tiny steps so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Such a mind-shift is so life-changing that it cannot be done overnight or in isolation. Connecting with others struggling with these decisions, reading thought-provoking books, attending interactive seminars and workshops, and spending time in the beauty and harmony of nature are all important life-support systems to bringing your life into as much balance as our culture will currently allow.

2. ACT LOCALLY

Link up to form emerald webs in your local community.
    A network of green spaces must be created and protected in places most diminished — our cities, towns, villages and agricultural areas — expanding protected river corridors, agricultural lands and parklands in both rural and urban areas.  In areas where native landscape has already been completely extirpated, we must work with what we’ve got  — planting trees, vegetable gardens, and arboretums in the place of preserved parklands. This work is essential if children and adults are to be given the opportunity to connect with the beauty of life. It is important for families to bring their children to landscapes drenched in life, where they can practice right relations with the living world and enjoy wholesome recreation. Children who are not immersed in nature when young are more likely to lead abstract anthropocentric lives as adults — a disconnection that is potentially deadly for the human race and the earth. In addition to serving humanity, urban parklands and multi-use recreation lands preserve habitat for those plant and animal species that are flexible and adaptive. We must not expect the government to do this green-space work for us, although they  can at times be of help. The power must come from grass-roots action and grass-roots funding. Do not believe the money is not there. If you study the financial reserves in most communities you will see it is most often not a lack of money that blocks the creation of green space, but values and priorities.

3. ACT REGIONALLY

Link up  to build large bio-reserves for protection of regional biodiversity.
    Not all of our native plant and animal species can survive long-term in recreation-centered parklands. We also need to set aside large contiguous undisturbed habitats in which we give highest priority to the native animals and plants — minimizing human disturbance. Small isolated parks and preserves are islands that are separated by vast landscapes of non-native plants, agricultural monocultures and asphalt. They can not successfully preserve our complete array of freshwater fish, reptiles, mussels, bats, and birds.  To have a sustainable future, each species of plant and animal must have sufficient space to allow a healthy exchange of genetic material among a large number of individuals. Only large populations and accordingly, large preserves, will enable many native species to adapt to our rapidly changing world. This work, of course, is where the Arc of Appalachia Bio-reserve comes in.

Connecting is the first step.

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