Western Washington University Masthead Logo Western CEDAR The lP anet Western Student Publications Winter 1997 The lP anet, 1997, Winter Julie Irvin Western Washington University Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/planet Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Irvin, Julie and Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University, "The lP anet, 1997, Winter" (1997). The Planet. 21. https://cedar.wwu.edu/planet/21 This Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Student Publications at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Planet by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. he incline is steep enough to allow me to However, I also know how easy it is to slip view the long ravine yet gentle enough to into apathy. Lately I have become engrossed in keep me from sliding. Lying back among school and work, losing touch with my friends Tthe fallen leaves and vibrant, green ferns and my surroundings. Walking around carpeting the area, I stare into the campus and Bellingham, I occasion­ understory of hundreds of moss- ally come across smiles, but I feel covered trees. distant. I am frustrated that I do The air, fresh with rain, not feel closer. I wonder if the moistens my face and chills my essence of community, human lungs. I can feel my flesh inter­ and natural, has lost meaning twining with the earth below. and respect in modem society. Even through my Gortex jacket, I have also come to realize school, personal relationships and that defining community is a per­ impatience seep into the soil. sonal voyage. It is a matter of finding The need to be independent, to your place among the humanistic and accomplish or to produce are gone. I only need to natural world. A balance must be found, one enjoy and ponder the endless possibilities of this which requires stepping back and looking at all of world; to sit back and become part of the earth by the pieces: neighborhood, family, friends, work touching the soil, feeling the trees and smelling and the city you live in as well as the land, air, the rain. water, forest and animals Suddenly I hear my mother on the back you share it with. Each piece porch yelling for dinner. I am sad to rise and break can be looked at separately for the bond created with the hillside, but I gather to its own personal community and my feet. Slowly climbing up the steep slope I saver together for its relation in the the cool air in my lungs, holding it in just a little earth’s community. longer than usual. I feel refreshed and at ease with­ This issue of The Planet addresses in myself. A sense of being whole once again. how parts of our society, such as industry These woods behind my mother’s house and money, have unjustly enlarged some were my refuge for many years. They enlarged my of their pieces and shows how other parts of perspective of life beyond humans. Among the the community such as educators and stew- j. trees and moss, I realized how huge and intricate ards of the land are working to reclaim their the earth is, and how I am but one of many details. rightful pieces of the puzzle. As I travel to new cities I seek out natural In the words of writer and conserva­ places for their wildness and the sanctuary they tionist Rick Bass, “I see these several provide. They have managed to keep my sanity years, on toward the end of the cen­ intact in the rat-race of life. tury, as the last chance we have to I see, hear and read about natural places relearn respect: for the land we live on, being cut, cleared and paved — it is painful. Not and respect for ourselves, and out of that, only for the natural community itself, but for the respect for all others.” realization that humans are so intent on improv­ ing, advancing and controlling, they have failed to learn from each other and the earth surrounding them. Cover photo and design By Taybr ‘Tabnage and H(yan Odooser f 2 There Goes the Neighborhood micfiaeC duSois 5 Wild Places Serve the Spirit arfene frazier 8 Baywatch: Community Cleanup anita ivfiite 11 Amerikka Muukalaisen Silmia essi aarnio 13 Losing the Heartland Brian so/^C 18 Life on the Farm /^ten clapper Benchmarking for Bellingham's Future adam simon Reconnecting with Community maria con/^le christen mcBean 27 An Island in the Concrete Jungle pauC szuanson ‘Pie ‘Planet is a student written and edited magazine of !Pu7(ley College of “Environmental Studies. “H^e are dedicated to environmental advocacy and awareness through responsille journalism. “We value your comments. Contact us at (360) 650-3543, “The Planet do 5lu7(ley College, “Western “Washington “University, Pellingham, “WSL 98225 e-mail: [email protected] weh site: http://www.wwu.edu/~planet Special thanks to John Miles, Laurie 3(pssman and the print plant staff, and our Business manager “Teari Prown. Printed with soy inh_on 25 percent post-consumer recycled paper By “Western “Washington “University's Print Plant. “When finished reading please save, pass on or recycle. Americans sense that something is wrong with the places where we Uve and work and go about our daily business. We hear this expressed in phrases like ^no sense dl place^ and ^the loss of community/ We drive up and down the grueimm^ Jm ^ > tragic suburban boulevards of com­ Iff" TP*I I MW fc * 1;I *H merce, and we're overwhelmed at the awesome, stupefying ugli­ ness of absolutely everything in sight the fry pits, the big-box stores, the office units, the lube joints, the carpet warehouses, tite paring lagoons, the jive plastic townhouse dusters, the uproar of the signs, the highway itself do^ed with cars — as though the whMe thing had been designed by some diabolical force bent on making human beings miserable." ■ tom James Howard Kunsder's book "Home Frdin Nowhere' 2 • Winter 1997 There Goes the Neighborhood by Michael DuBois photos by Taylor Talmage our home and neighborhood is about to be destroyed; do 95 percent employment loss in local business offsets the new you care? Why is your home and community so important? jobs created by these large stores. YThey both harbor memories of family, friends and love — all the Pflanzer does not want to live next to Home Depot. The good and bad times. Both remind you of your struggles, accom­ Bellingham City Council is deciding whether to rezone her plishments and failures. A home is a work in progress, a hobby, neighborhood to allow the giant store, as well as the other busi­ an expression of the way in which you choose to live your life. nesses that inevitably follow. Some of Pflanzer’s neighbors peti­ Your home is an integral part of the community in much the tioned the City to rezone the area for commercial activity during same way a forest is part of an ecosystem. Both are just as vul­ the planning department’s ten-year zoning review of city neigh­ nerable to the forces that shape American society. Economics borhoods. They thought their properties would be worth more and social trends can remake a neighborhood and change a home with the new zoning status. Home Depot, already looking for a in a matter of years. location in Whatcom County, seized the opportunity and offered As students, we may have a hard time identifying with financial incentives to Roosevelt property owners for their land. a neighborhood or community as being our own if we have not Pflanzer, whose home lies just outside the affected properties, had time to settle down and really sink our roots. Even so, we all will have a nice view of the huge parking lot. know how we feel when something we care about is threatened. Many area residents feel that commercial development Jude Pflanzer’s struggle against a proposed Home is inevitable and gladly sell out. Pflanzer disagrees. She does not Depot store in her Bellingham neighborhood proves home and want the traffic, pollution and eyesore of a giant box store. She community is worth fighting for. Plfanzer is not a career activist, does want her residential neighborhood to retain its character. powerful business owner nor a politician. She is an average citi­ She has learned to work within the system, becoming a small but zen that loves her home and wants to keep it. Pflanzer feels the effective voice in the community development process. Lack of world’s need for a cheaper hammer does not outweigh her need support from neighbors and city officials has not stopped her. for home and family. “I’m not going to move — I love this place and I can’t afford to Bellingham’s Roosevelt Neighborhood, where anyway ... but I also don’t want to live next to [Home Depot]. Plfanzer’s lives, is being eyed as the new home of an offspring My destiny is being changed without my permission,” Pflanzer of urban sprawl, the “box store.” Box stores are the homes of declares. organizations such as Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot. The To Pflanzer, Bellingham’s planning department fails to box store is just that — a giant box housing every conceivable grasp the nature of her dilemma. “City planners have asked me, product known to humanity, sold for the lowest possible prices ‘How could we make it better? Is it a matter of aesthetics? If the to the greatest number of consumers by employees working for building were more attractive would that make a difference?’” the lowest possible pay.