Earth Day 2020 Message From Our Director
I woke up today unsure how to honor the 50th anniversary of Earth Day - do I celebrate or do I mourn?
On the one hand, I am more grateful than ever for the Earth’s amenities amidst the current crisis - clean air, clean water, open lands, “just in case” food available out my back door (elk, deer, fish). In Montana, we are lucky. We have plenty to celebrate. There are more public lands than private lands in Park County. Almost all of us can walk to a clean, cold water source. I find deep comfort in the resiliency of the lands that surround my family and our community.
On the other hand, I am worried and scared. There are people across our country and planet that aren’t so lucky. People that are suffering at disproportionate rates because they live in places where the air is unsafe to breathe, they have to walk miles to find water, and they don’t have enough food to eat.
And even though we have most of our basic needs met here in Park County, we are not immune. We’ve all been impacted by COVID-19 in some way, whether it’s our health, our jobs, our financial security, our mental and emotional well-being. We are all trying to figure out how to deal with our new reality, how to stay inside a house when the main draw of living in this place is outside, in the wilderness, in the community that cares so much about each other.
The theme of our Earth celebration this year is “Earth Day, Every Day.” COVID-19 is a major challenge, but each year, we’re going to see more and more challenges that a warming climate brings. Some winters will bring less snow, which could mean less water in the river. Certain species of wildlife may not be able to survive under new conditions. How and where our food is grown is going to change. More severe wildfires are expected.
But here is my honest truth - I am an optimist. So today, for both COVID-19 and the climate, I am choosing to find hope. And our work at the Park County Environmental Council continues to fill my cup with hope, for our planet, and our community.
Here’s why: at PCEC, we have the privilege of working with our community to safeguard our shared resources including the land, water, wildlife and people of Yellowstone’s Northern Gateway. We do this by working at the local level to solve problems -- together.
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with organizations on issues that may not be our own.
PCEC is not a COVID first responder, but we’re happy to transition from sewing reusable Boomerang Bags to masks for the hospital. That’s what we are called to do as a community organization. We work together to confront the most urgent challenges.
And the important environmental work we always do, also continues on. PCEC is small and nimble. We’ve adjusted to working from home, hosting Zoom meetings with partners and community members and re-thinking how we recognize Earth Day.
Here are some highlights to share, for Earth Day today, and every day:
Earth Day:
PCEC, along with the Park High Green Initiative, planned a week of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Although our events are on hold, we gathered photos from you all and created this video to share. We had such an overwhelming response from everyone, thank you!
Crazy Mountains:
Over the past three years, our work in the Crazy Mountains has been a roller coaster. The longstanding history of checkerboard land ownership and access issues make it a hard and complicated landscape. We have spent our time investing in relationships and solving problems, and realizing there’s more that brings us together than pushes us apart. And it’s working. We’re finally getting to a place where we see the payoffs.
The Porcupine Ibex trail on the west side is almost complete.
A proposal on the East Side of the Crazies is making progress toward land consolidation and public access.
It’s especially encouraging that this proposal in the Crazies is happening right now, at a time when it feels like the world is falling apart around us. We’re leaning on the relationships and the sense of community to make the Crazy Mountains a better place for everyone.
Community Planning:
In partnership with the Park County Community Foundation and Park County Environmental Council and with the support of 20-plus local businesses and groups, the City of Livingston was admitted into the Montana Main Street program and awarded a grant to update a downtown master plan. We are looking forward to seeing this important work move forward for our downtown and our community. Read more here.
The Park County Planning Board is evaluating the merits of a county-wide conflict mitigation zoning district to help protect our natural resources and property rights and better plan for the future.
COVID-19 Response:
Our Boomerang Bags team, alongside dozens of sewers in our community, helped the hospital reach their goal of sewing 1,000 masks. Today, volunteers are sewing more PPE, 6-feet apart at the fairgrounds.
That’s the answer to our work for COVID-19, climate change and beyond. Working together makes us a stronger, more connected, more resilient community for all of the issues we’re going to face in the future.
In community,
Michelle Uberuaga
Executive Director