Rewilding Earth Podcast The Rewilding Institute

About Chris

Chris is a practice leader with Biohabitats, leading the firm’s research and development effort called Bioworks. He is an ecological engineer with 20 years of experience in restoration and regenerative design. Combining engineering and ecological design through a biomimicry lens, he approaches every project as an opportunity to create and restore functional life support systems. Recognizing that best intentions in design and implementation are not verification of outcomes, Mr. Streb is charged with developing methods for monitoring and evaluating projects to determine whether ecological goals are being realized. Over the past decade, he has designed and developed ecological interventions to restore functional habitat along urban waterfronts. He has been awarded a patent for a floating wetland technology and was the ecological team lead on the National Aquarium Floating Wetland Prototype which earned the 2018 Honor Award for Research from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Topics



* Reimagining the urban landscape to attract and include wildlife

* Design ideas to protect migratory birds and offer safe respite and food sources

* Taking out major highways in and around cities

* A hopeful vision for what urban landscapes could become and how they affect rewilding projects everywhere



Extra Credit



* Learn more about Biohabitats

* The Baltimore Green Network plan

* Healthy Harbor Initiative

* Download the transcript of this episode





About Chris

Chris is a practice leader with Biohabitats, leading the firm’s research and development effort called Bioworks. He is an ecological engineer with 20 years of experience in restoration and regenerative design. Combining engineering and ecological design through a biomimicry lens, he approaches every project as an opportunity to create and restore functional life support systems. Recognizing that best intentions in design and implementation are not verification of outcomes, Mr. Streb is charged with developing methods for monitoring and evaluating projects to determine whether ecological goals are being realized. Over the past decade, he has designed and developed ecological interventions to restore functional habitat along urban waterfronts. He has been awarded a patent for a floating wetland technology and was the ecological team lead on the National Aquarium Floating Wetland Prototype which earned the 2018 Honor Award for Research from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Topics



* Reimagining the urban landscape to attract and include wildlife

* Design ideas to protect migratory birds and offer safe respite and food sources

* Taking out major highways in and around cities

* A hopeful vision for what urban landscapes could become and how they affect rewilding projects everywhere



Extra Credit



* Learn more about Biohabitats

* The Baltimore Green Network plan

* Healthy Harbor Initiative

* Download the transcript of this episode

About

Kelly Borgmann grew up on a historic farm in rural east-central Indiana. Spending her days playing in the woods and caring for the land gave her a deep appreciation of nature. Participating in 4-H and FFA taught her how to be a productive member of rural and agricultural communities.

Following her passion for wild nature, Kelly earned an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from Ball State University. She then spent the next several years traveling and has spent time working as a field guide in South Africa, a human-manatee interactions researcher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Florida, a National Park Service cowgirl in Montana, and a conservation educator in Ohio. And now she is part of the Rewilding Institute and Project Coyote team working on our new rewilding and carnivore coexistence program in the Mississippi River Watershed.



Topics



* What is the Heartland Rewilding program?

* What does it take to inspire and organize people around rewilding in the Mississippi River Watershed?

* How to maintain balance as a busy, high-energy conservation leader.

* The unusual path Kelly traveled to arrive at Heartland Rewilding and advice for people who want to do this kind of work.

* How you can get involved in the exciting and fun work in the Heartland of the United States.



Extra Credit

Visit Heartland Rewilding and learn more, donate, and sign up for the next event!

About

Kelly Borgmann grew up on a historic farm in rural east-central Indiana. Spending her days playing in the woods and caring for the land gave her a deep appreciation of nature. Participating in 4-H and FFA taught her how to be a productive member of rural and agricultural communities.

Following her passion for wild nature, Kelly earned an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from Ball State University. She then spent the next several years traveling and has spent time working as a field guide in South Africa, a human-manatee interactions researcher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Florida, a National Park Service cowgirl in Montana, and a conservation educator in Ohio. And now she is part of the Rewilding Institute and Project Coyote team working on our new rewilding and carnivore coexistence program in the Mississippi River Watershed.



Topics



* What is the Heartland Rewilding program?

* What does it take to inspire and organize people around rewilding in the Mississippi River Watershed?

* How to maintain balance as a busy, high-energy conservation leader.

* The unusual path Kelly traveled to arrive at Heartland Rewilding and advice for people who want to do this kind of work.

* How you can get involved in the exciting and fun work in the Heartland of the United States.



Extra Credit

Visit Heartland Rewilding and learn more, donate, and sign up for the next event!

About Suzanne



Suzanne Fouty has been exploring the issues of water and the return of wolves in the West for over 30 years, the contributions made by beaver to ecosystems for over 25 years, and the synergy between beavers and wolves in restoring stream systems for over 10 years.

Her work on wolves began in 1990 at Yosemite Institute where she gave weekly presentations to students on the pending return of wolves to the West and some of the social questions in play related to livestock grazing and ranching on public lands and wolves.

She worked for the Forest Service in eastern Oregon as a hydrologist and soils specialist for almost 16 years before retiring in 2018. Since retiring she has been deeply involved in five recent efforts to close federally-managed public lands in Oregon to beaver trapping and hunting as a proactive response to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Suzanne was included in the PBS Nature episode “Leave it to Beavers” and featured in the film “The Beaver Believers.” Her writing and presentations have been primarily for the general public to share how beavers and wolves contribute to preparing communities for climate change via stream and wetland restoration, and the social and political obstacles getting in the way of those contributions.

About Adam



Adam Bronstein is the director for Oregon and Nevada with Western Watersheds Project, a non-profit conservation organization working to protect and restore public lands and wildlife throughout the West. He is the host of Wilderness Podcast and also serves as board president of the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance in Bozeman, Montana, working to protect the remaining wilderness-quality lands of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest.

Topics



* History of Beaver trapping and hunting on public lands

* The requested executive order to close federally managed lands to beaver hunting and trapping

* Drought and flood management with Beavers on the landscape

* Beavers and their role as a keystone species



Extra Credit



* Read the letter here

* SIGN THE PETITION!

* Beaver Benefits and Closure FAQ (PDF)

* The world’s biggest banks have pumped trillions into fossil fuel projects in the past 5 years – Bank article mentioned by Suzanne in this episode

* Show transcript



About Suzanne



Suzanne Fouty has been exploring the issues of water and the return of wolves in the West for over 30 years, the contributions made by beaver to ecosystems for over 25 years, and the synergy between beavers and wolves in restoring stream systems for over 10 years.

Her work on wolves began in 1990 at Yosemite Institute where she gave weekly presentations to students on the pending return of wolves to the West and some of the social questions in play related to livestock grazing and ranching on public lands and wolves.

She worked for the Forest Service in eastern Oregon as a hydrologist and soils specialist for almost 16 years before retiring in 2018. Since retiring she has been deeply involved in five recent efforts to close federally-managed public lands in Oregon to beaver trapping and hunting as a proact...

About

Carter, author of Justice as a Fair Start in Life, began his career as an Honors Program appointee to the U.S. Department of Justice. He later served as a legal adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the national security law division. He wrote his thesis reformulating the right to have children under Jeremy Waldron, his extensive academic work on family planning has been published by Yale, Duke, and Northwestern Universities, as well as in peer-reviewed pieces, and he has served on the Steering Committee of the Population Ethics and Policy Research Project and was a Visiting Scholar at the Uehiro Center, both at the University of Oxford. He has taught at several law schools in the U.S., served as a peer reviewer for the journal Bioethics, and most recently managed an animal protection strategic impact litigation program, with annual resources in excess of five million dollars.

“The storyteller of an environmentalism that has to do with liberating humans, an environmentalism based on freedom, I honestly believe that voice will come from the global south. It will not come from Eurocentric cultures, quite frankly, that have had hegemony over the process to date and have failed.” -Carter Dillard

Topics



* Anthropocentric vs. ecocentric approach toward conservation and rights of nature

* Moving toward a “town hall” version of governance vs. current system of “shopping mall” growth at any cost

* Moving humanity closer to a view of nature for its own sake



Download the transcript from today’s episode (PDF)

Extra Credit



* The basis for this episode: ­­­The Secret War on Natural Rights—and Children | Opinion

* Recent Newsweek article by Carter: Today’s Trolley Problem: Only One Track Leads to the Future | Opinion

* Mentioned in this episode: Peter Fiekowsky “Climate Restoration: The Only Future That Will Sustain the Human Race“



About

Carter, author of Justice as a Fair Start in Life, began his career as an Honors Program appointee to the U.S. Department of Justice. He later served as a legal adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the national security law division. He wrote his thesis reformulating the right to have children under Jeremy Waldron, his extensive academic work on family planning has been published by Yale, Duke, and Northwestern Universities, as well as in peer-reviewed pieces, and he has served on the Steering Committee of the Population Ethics and Policy Research Project and was a Visiting Scholar at the Uehiro Center, both at the University of Oxford. He has taught at several law schools in the U.S., served as a peer reviewer for the journal Bioethics, and most recently managed an animal protection strategic impact litigation program, with annual resources in excess of five million dollars.

“The storyteller of an environmentalism that has to do with liberating humans, an environmentalism based on freedom, I honestly believe that voice will come from the global south. It will not come from Eurocentric cultures, quite frankly, that have had hegemony over the process to date and have failed.” -Carter Dillard

Topics



* Anthropocentric vs. ecocentric approach toward conservation and rights of nature

* Moving toward a “town hall” version of governance vs. current system of “shopping mall” growt...

About

Rick Steiner is a conservation biologist in Anchorage, Alaska, and founder of Oasis Earth. He has been involved in the global conservation movement for over 40 years. From 1980-2010 he was a marine conservation professor with the University of Alaska, stationed in the Arctic, Prince William Sound, and Anchorage, specializing in marine conservation, and worked on environmental effects of offshore oil, climate change, fisheries, marine mammals, shipping safety, habitat conservation, and conservation policy. After the university and the U.S. government pressured him to restrain from raising concerns about the risks and impacts of offshore oil development in Alaska, he resigned his tenured professorship in protest.

Rick has authored over one hundred publications; written commentaries for many national and international media outlets including USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Hill, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, and Huffington Post; and worked around the world with governments, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and many Indigenous People’s and non-governmental organizations in diverse regions including Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Pakistan, China, the Middle East, the South Pacific, Australia, the Arctic, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and El Salvador.

He has received several conservation awards, and The Guardian called him “one of the world’s leading marine conservation scientists,” and “one of the most respected and outspoken academics on the oil industry’s environmental record.” He serves on the Board of Directors of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the Board of Advisors of The Ocean Foundation. He has delivered Oasis Earth: Planet in Peril as a public presentation for over 30 years, in many venues around the world, and authored the book Oasis Earth: Planet in Peril, released in 2020.

Topics



* Mismanagement of non-game species on public lands

* Global and national biodiversity crisis

* How you can change the future of wildlife management on public lands in the U.S.



Extra Credit (Take Action!)

Here are specific asks re: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), that we need to insert into the bill when it comes back up. (And these should also apply to annual Pittman-Robertson (PR) federal funding to state wildlife agencies)



* Clearly specify that, for state wildlife management agencies to receive RAWA or PR funds, they must satisfy federal sustainable ecosystem management principles, sustaining all components of a naturally balanced ecosystem, and these principles must be clearly elucidated in the act;

* Clearly specify that each state plan must address climate change impacts on wildlife, both present and foreseen, and how the state will adjust its wildlife management accordingly;

* Prohibit use of any of these federal funds from being used, either directly or indirectly, state predator control programs;

* Require a public comment period for all annual plans submitted by state’s for use of these federal funds;

* Require an independent scientific assessment of all state plans, programs, and experiences periodically by the National Academies of Sciences;

* Explicitly require the Secretary to review each state plan with regard to public and science comments, and require the Secretary to find state’s ineligible to receive these RAWA (or PR) funds if they are out of compliance with the federal ecosystem management standards.





* For actions you can take, download Rick’s book “Oasis Earth” for free! The entire 3rd section of the book is dedicated to solutions.

* Be sure to follow Rick’s important work and stay updated at a href="https://www.oasis-earth.

About

Bill Ryerson is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies. He also serves as Chair of The Population Institute in Washington, DC, which works in partnership with Population Media Center.

PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience resulting in positive behavior change. The emphasis of the organization’s work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women’s status, prevent exploitation of children, promote avoidance of HIV infection, and promote environmentally sustainable behaviors.

Mr. Ryerson has a half-century history of working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology of social change communications to various cultural settings worldwide.

Ryerson received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). He served as Director of the Population Institute’s Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International before founding Population Media Center in 1998.

Topics



* Highlights from Bill’s November 2022 Newsweek article “Global Population Hits 8 Billion” (reprinted here)

* Why dealing with consumption alone won’t solve current environmental crises

* The real world effect of “edutainment” on family planning and other issues around the world

* Examples and results of adapting the Sabido methodology of social change communications to various cultural settings worldwide

* The results: you won’t believe how well it has worked! (But you have to listen to find out!)



Extra Credit

Find out more about Bills work at Population Media Center and The Population Institute

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Intro music by Olexy

About

Bill Ryerson is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies. He also serves as Chair of The Population Institute in Washington, DC, which works in partnership with Population Media Center.

PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience resulting in positive behavior change. The emphasis of the organization’s work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women’s status, prevent exploitation of children, promote avoidance of HIV infection, and promote environmentally sustainable behaviors.

Mr. Ryerson has a half-century history of working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology of social change communications to various cultural settings worldwide.

Ryerson received a B.A.