Thank you. It must be exhausting to do what you do, day in and out, in public, on podcasts and panels, in your writing, over so many decades. (After being blown away by The End of Nature (1986) I became reacquainted with you and your work with Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? (2019) and Third Act.) It is also, I will venture to infer, fulfilling and occasionally rejuvenating. You have been an inspiration and font of knowledge to me and so many others. Thank you.
Me, too! "The End of Nature", along with with Carson's "Silent Spring" terrified me and led to a lifetime of advocacy and real personal efforts. What can we do, really, other than keep raising the alarm regarding the mass extinctions we have caused? Trump and his collection of misfits and evildoers are nothing more than bothersome gnats compared with this tragedy. I have been creating gardens and wildlife habitats for over 70 years, and I'm in the middle of transforming another sterile patch of ground into a combination food plot and native plant insect haven. This will have to be my last one, I'm afraid. At 80, all the physical effort required is proving to be more difficult than I'd planned on!
Bill - On Sun Day I suggest that in every city we hold an "Attest Parade" which is the opposite of a "Protest March," with every kid, parent or grandparent carrying an "Attest Sign" saying the action they are taking to heal the planet.
Thank you so much, Bill, for this hopeful news, even if it finds us all in the midst of heartbreaking cruelty, idiocy, and missed opportunity.
I only recently learned about Doug Tallamy and the Homegrown National Park, and I gotta say, digging up portions of our lawn this spring to plant a native pollinator garden has 100% helped to keep me sane during the last few months! I wrote a StoryMap about how birds, insects, and butterflies need native plants, and how any one of us can help create more wildlife habitat at home:
Thanks for this. I’m an organic vegetable grower, and needed to set up a beehive this year because of the extreme lack of pollinators in my area (north central MN.) Shortly after getting a hive established, a neighboring farmer sprayed his rye (who sprays rye in May?!?) field and killed all my bees. After repositioning my hive, I learned when I picked up a new nuc of bees that there are regulations prohibiting spraying farm fields before sunset in an effort to protect bees and other pollinators who tuck in by then. The problem is, the rule is not enforced, but set up as “self-regulated.” How can we put some bite into this rule?
This is really important. We must do something for all biodiversity decline including insects, 30 years ago driving on the highway. My windshield was full of insect collisions. Now it's a rare event
If ground mounted solar panels can encourage wildflowers and other native species, AND restore the insect population, AND increase native bird populations while at the same time providing virtually free electricity, I'm all for them. Oh, and feed the sheep 😊.
I admit that I used to disapprove of them, as they seemed to be a non-productive use of land.
I still think that solar panels over the massive paring lots surrounding malls, airports, etc., is another latent opportunity, although I guess the cost and logistics may be too high.
I visit Austin, TX quite frequently, and their airport lots already have covers (for the heat).
So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to add solar panels to those existing roofs!
Bill, it's hard not to be terrified by the news. Even when you meant to write a positive story, the reality of insect decline knocked me over. But the good part--the people repopulating the solar fields with pollinator gardens--is the best story I've heard in days, and it brings to mind what we may be doing post-collapse, turning this planet back into the garden it was.
When I was younger I recall driving through clouds of insects. When I visited my sister’s rural home, bugs would pile up in drifts on the windows sills. Forty years later I live in the same rural area. It’s early June, my garage is open and fully lighted, I might have a couple of June bugs and a moth.
Appreciate you covering the guardian article about insect decline. I just read it this morning and have been in a funk ever since, so it was nice to read some hopeful ideas on the topic.
Thank you for the article. It was very scary.and more so than the last four months of politics. Politics and politicians are merely a play and it's actors. But Shakespeare was wrong- the play is not important, it's the stage. If the stage collapses, no more actors and thus no play. Here in Oregon a big drop in resident and migratory birds this spring. The HPAI pandemic the culpret i suspect. Insect populations seem down as well, despite fewer insectivores and a very mild winter. I wonder if insects have pan-species pandemics?
Thank you. It must be exhausting to do what you do, day in and out, in public, on podcasts and panels, in your writing, over so many decades. (After being blown away by The End of Nature (1986) I became reacquainted with you and your work with Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? (2019) and Third Act.) It is also, I will venture to infer, fulfilling and occasionally rejuvenating. You have been an inspiration and font of knowledge to me and so many others. Thank you.
Me, too! "The End of Nature", along with with Carson's "Silent Spring" terrified me and led to a lifetime of advocacy and real personal efforts. What can we do, really, other than keep raising the alarm regarding the mass extinctions we have caused? Trump and his collection of misfits and evildoers are nothing more than bothersome gnats compared with this tragedy. I have been creating gardens and wildlife habitats for over 70 years, and I'm in the middle of transforming another sterile patch of ground into a combination food plot and native plant insect haven. This will have to be my last one, I'm afraid. At 80, all the physical effort required is proving to be more difficult than I'd planned on!
Same here.
Reading this in wake of incoming tsunami of news was deeply heartening
Love your fighting, writing, arighting-things spirit - XX
Bill - On Sun Day I suggest that in every city we hold an "Attest Parade" which is the opposite of a "Protest March," with every kid, parent or grandparent carrying an "Attest Sign" saying the action they are taking to heal the planet.
Thank you so much, Bill, for this hopeful news, even if it finds us all in the midst of heartbreaking cruelty, idiocy, and missed opportunity.
I only recently learned about Doug Tallamy and the Homegrown National Park, and I gotta say, digging up portions of our lawn this spring to plant a native pollinator garden has 100% helped to keep me sane during the last few months! I wrote a StoryMap about how birds, insects, and butterflies need native plants, and how any one of us can help create more wildlife habitat at home:
https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/grassroots-conservation-minus-grass/storymap
To think how much biodiversity and renewable energy those cornfields could provide! Swoon.
Thanks for this. I’m an organic vegetable grower, and needed to set up a beehive this year because of the extreme lack of pollinators in my area (north central MN.) Shortly after getting a hive established, a neighboring farmer sprayed his rye (who sprays rye in May?!?) field and killed all my bees. After repositioning my hive, I learned when I picked up a new nuc of bees that there are regulations prohibiting spraying farm fields before sunset in an effort to protect bees and other pollinators who tuck in by then. The problem is, the rule is not enforced, but set up as “self-regulated.” How can we put some bite into this rule?
This is really important. We must do something for all biodiversity decline including insects, 30 years ago driving on the highway. My windshield was full of insect collisions. Now it's a rare event
If ground mounted solar panels can encourage wildflowers and other native species, AND restore the insect population, AND increase native bird populations while at the same time providing virtually free electricity, I'm all for them. Oh, and feed the sheep 😊.
I admit that I used to disapprove of them, as they seemed to be a non-productive use of land.
I still think that solar panels over the massive paring lots surrounding malls, airports, etc., is another latent opportunity, although I guess the cost and logistics may be too high.
I visit Austin, TX quite frequently, and their airport lots already have covers (for the heat).
So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to add solar panels to those existing roofs!
Bill, it's hard not to be terrified by the news. Even when you meant to write a positive story, the reality of insect decline knocked me over. But the good part--the people repopulating the solar fields with pollinator gardens--is the best story I've heard in days, and it brings to mind what we may be doing post-collapse, turning this planet back into the garden it was.
Heartbreaking and heart-warming at the same time. We have no way other than appealing to the leftover sanity of humankind.
"Leftover sanity", indeed. Excellent choice of phrase!
When I was younger I recall driving through clouds of insects. When I visited my sister’s rural home, bugs would pile up in drifts on the windows sills. Forty years later I live in the same rural area. It’s early June, my garage is open and fully lighted, I might have a couple of June bugs and a moth.
Breaks my heart. Saw my first white-spotted sawyer yesterday--beautiful! I wonder how long they will remain....
Thank you, Bill. So appreciate all you do!
Who knew solar panels came with a side hustle - turning old farm fields into five-star bug buffets with skylark seating. Lovely share, thanks.
Appreciate you covering the guardian article about insect decline. I just read it this morning and have been in a funk ever since, so it was nice to read some hopeful ideas on the topic.
Watching David Cross and Michael Oppenheimer is a must see moment.
🩷😂
Thank you for the article. It was very scary.and more so than the last four months of politics. Politics and politicians are merely a play and it's actors. But Shakespeare was wrong- the play is not important, it's the stage. If the stage collapses, no more actors and thus no play. Here in Oregon a big drop in resident and migratory birds this spring. The HPAI pandemic the culpret i suspect. Insect populations seem down as well, despite fewer insectivores and a very mild winter. I wonder if insects have pan-species pandemics?
Thankyou Bill for your courage & tenacity