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New Issue of Earth Island Journal

The Winter 2023 issue of Earth Island Journal leads with a timely, thought-provoking essay on the role of joy in the environmental movement. Available online and in print, this issue also explores the effort to create the nation’s first climate preserve in the Shawnee National Forest; the growing movement against corporate hazelnut monocropping in Italy; Staten Island’s efforts to reduce its exploding deer population; and more. Help Earth Island produce more of next year’s important stories by subscribing or gifting a subscription, or by making a donation to our Green Journalism Fund.

Working to Protect America’s Wolves in the Southern Rockies

Project Coyote’s Protect America’s Wolves campaign works to ensure the safety of our nation’s wolves, including Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona and their soon-to-be reintroduced gray wolf neighbors in Colorado. Earth Island’s Project Coyote recently joined conservation groups in filing a petition to strengthen federal protection for Mexican gray wolves by listing its look-alike species, the coyote, as endangered within the wolves’ recovery area. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission recently released its draft wolf management plan, which will guide wolf reintroduction in the state and is now open for public comment. To stay informed on Protect America’s Wolves, sign up here. Photo by Frédéric Vigne.

Support for Appalachian Flood Victims

In July, extreme floods ravaged communities in Appalachia, where 39 people were killed and two are still missing. After witnessing the positive impact of the Youth Drone Responder Program at Standing Rock, Appalachia resident and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Maria Gunnoe asked Earth Island’s Seeding Sovereignty, which runs the program, for drone equipment to support search and rescue in her area. Two drones were sent, and the program is now mobilizing to provide additional resources to Appalachian families who have lost everything due to the strip-mining of mountains, which exacerbates flooding. Learn more here.

Sharks Score a Victory

Good news for sharks, and for the efforts of Earth Island’s Shark Stewards. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a ban — long supported by Shark Stewards — on the buying and selling of shark fins in the U.S. The bill now heads to the Senate. And at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in Panama last month, more than 90 species of sharks and rays were placed under protection from over-exploitation. Shark Stewards contributed comments and scientific reports and lobbied delegates at the convention.

Oakland Museum Acquires Aguilar Archives

Earth Island’s California Institute for Community, Art & Nature (California I CAN) has worked collaboratively with a select group of California Indian artists and their families since June 2020 to document, preserve, and find publicly accessible institutional placements for culturally important endangered archives, including those of prolific Karuk visual artist and poet Brian Tripp (1945-2022) and the photo archives of photographer Dugan Aguilar (Maidu/Achomawi/Northern Paiute, 1947-2018). Together with Aguilar’s family, the California I CAN National Endowment for the Humanities-funded California Indian Archives project documented the archive and met with the Oakland Museum of California over several months, resulting in the museum accepting the complete archive and announcing a major exhibit of Aguilar’s work in 2024. Photo by Dugan Aguilar, Chaw’se, 1995, Oakland Museum of California, gift of the family of Dugan Aguilar.

Update on Global Plastics Treaty

Early December brought the close of the first round of negotiations toward developing a global treaty to address plastic pollution. In attendance at the event, which took place in Uruguay, were members of the United Nations Environment Assembly and representatives from the private sector and NGO community, including members of Earth Island’s Plastic Pollution Coalition. An update on the discussions, the schedule for future negotiations, and an opportunity to take action can be found here.

Lawsuit Seeks to Unseal SeaWorld Records

Earth Island’s International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) recently filed a motion to unseal SeaWorld records on the health and welfare of their captive orcas. The records are under seal in Anderson v. SeaWorld, a case in which David Phillips and Mark Palmer of IMMP served as consultants. SeaWorld and other dolphinariums rarely share health information, which would likely demonstrate the stress and ill health of orcas in captivity. The health information is valuable to scientists and important for the general public to understand in order to create greater awareness of the damage captivity does to these intelligent, sentient beings.