As anyone can imagine, it’s quite a time to try and visit with the country’s leadership in Washington DC. The current administration has created a different atmosphere and a type of chaotic energy that has not been present during any of my previous trips to DC or during my tenure at CalWild.
Despite that, in late March I participated in the annual Wild & Scenic Rivers Hill Week (Hill Week) in which members of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Coalition (WSRC; one of many coalitions CalWild is a part of) fly into DC to meet with congressional members, senators, and federal land management agency leadership (such as the U.S Forest Service and Bureau of Land management). While there, we advocate for the National Wild & Scenic River System and “public lands and waters” as a whole.
Photo by Chris Ferenzi Photography
Going into the Hill Week visits, we didn’t expect meetings to easily pan out with the agency leadership or any of the historically less-conservation oriented elected officials. And, we knew that meeting with our “Conservation Champions” would essentially be preaching to the choir. And, all of that proved true.
Yet, meeting with leadership in DC ironically (at least to me) brought a sense of catharsis; a sentiment that I have never necessarily felt present in relation to my past DC meetings. For me, this catharsis came from two major things:
1) A greater sense of appreciation. Most of the agency leadership acknowledged that the agencies are dealing with an extreme situation like no one has seemingly ever dealt with before, but that they will try to remain resilient despite the major changes and uncertain future. They also appreciated that partners such as the WSRC are still coming to meet. While it is unclear whether or not in the future agency leadership can continue to meaningfully engage with the public and their partners, (such as myself and CalWild), we all appreciated the ability to at least convene during this trip.
2) Commitment to hard, creative work. Even though our “Conservation Champions” were already on our side, our meetings gave me a hopeful sense that they would champion extra hard despite the odds against them. It felt as if they were going to try and figure out new ways to partner with their colleagues to hopefully create “good trouble or chaos.” Whether they succeed or not,, they genuinely appreciated hearing our sentiments about how bad things feel in the world of politics.
Bearing all of this in mind, CalWild and I will continue to remain in the fight advocating for the things we care about and that many of us need to get through this challenging point in history: nature, community, the ability to have community gather in nature, and a process for including our voices remain part of the public participation process.
