Depopulating rural Alabama:
Another step

By Don Casey
for eco-logic/Powerhouse

December 1, 2005

The Huntsville Times on Sunday, November 6, 2005, published an article entitled, Effort afoot to reconstruct Black Belt's grassy prairie. The article describes how Alabama's "Forever Wild," ¹ a state operated program that spends millions of taxpayers' dollars, taking land out of private ownership, and other organizations, working in concert, will "acquire 100,000 acres in Alabama's economically depressed Black Belt..."

The first step involves the state of Alabama and The Nature Conservancy's ² plan to acquire 2,000 acres West of Montgomery. Subsequently, the article notes all 100,000 acres "...could be repopulated with native grasses, wildflowers, and even bison." ³ Notice, the quote in the preceding sentence does not include "human beings" in the "repopulation" effort (an oversight?) – re-read footnote 3³.

Joining the call to encumber the rights to 100,000 acres of privately owned land in Alabama are Auburn University's Professor Diane Hite⁴ and Dr. Richard Holland ⁵, President of the University of West Alabama.

The process, begun by state government, organizations, and academics, involves the denial of "Law of Nature and Nature's God" expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and embraces a new philosophy new religion, commonly referred to as "deep ecology." The principles of this religion are as follows: To view the following principles on the Foundation for Deep Ecology website:

1. The well-being and flourishing of human and non-human life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth; intrinsic value; inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes.
2. Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values, and are also values in themselves.
3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity, except to satisfy vital needs.
4. Present human interference with the non-human world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
5. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of non-human life requires such a decrease.
6. Policies must, therefore, be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economic, technological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth), rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly, or indirectly, to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.

Literature for the organization, whose existence is mandated by the United Nations Agenda 21, confirms in the following quote that "sustainable development" is part and parcel of "deep ecology" principles expressed in the preceding quote. The primary criticism from "deep ecology" adherents centers on the slow implementation of the United Nations' "sustainable development" program.

"The gradual emergence of the concept of sustainable development has also been built on a range of other concepts: e.g. sustainable yield eco-development, deep ecology."

The following map shows the targeted property: Click here to view the map on line.

For additional maps and information click on the following link: http://www.frcc.gov/docs/PNVG/EastNew/CEGL_12172004.pdf.

It is sad to say that this generation must lament the following quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"What a cruel reflection; that a rich country cannot long be a free one."

Footnotes:

1. Forever Wild - amendment to the Alabama Constitution. See this paragraph for the official affiliation of state government with "deep ecology" organizations. Click here to view location and description of property already acquired by "Forever Wild."

2. The Nature Conservancy is a "spinoff/associated organization" to the "deep ecology" philosophy. Click here to read how the implementation of this philosophy will change America.

3.This objective is part and parcel of "The Wildlands Project," published in a special issue of the Wild Earth Magazine:

(It) "...was organized by conservation activists and scientists to create a plan for North America, which protects and restores all native plants and animals in their natural habitat. Vast landscapes, covering as much as half of the continent, must be kept whole or healed, if we are to reverse the decline into mass extinction. Perhaps a quarter of the landscape will need strict protection – roadless, without machines and industrial or agricultural human communities."

A copy of the article will be made available upon request. Click here to view the maps created by the University of Florida and agencies of the federal government that show the location for the animal repopulation areas.

4. Professor Hite is one of two "Principal Investigators" creating a database that will include species and community data for over 184 freshwater fishes, and all mussel species from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa rivers (ACT).

"Completion of the ACT Aquatic GAP (geographic approach to planning) will allow for development of decision support systems (DSS) to help natural resource managers make informative decisions for land and riverine management and landscape level conservation planning... Gap analysis is directed towards identifying native animal species and natural communities that are underrepresented in conservation efforts. The objectives of the project are: ...(4) to map the ownership of public and private conservation lands; (5) to categorize all lands according to management status; (6) to produce a database of the total surface area and relative representation for each class of land cover and animal species relative to land stewardship categories."

Professor Hite's employer – Auburn University, operates a "clearinghouse" for "activist, agents and academics" in Alabama involved with the implementation of "sustainable development" – Agenda 21 – the United Nation's program.

Question: If there are "natural resource managers" – are there "human resource managers?"

5. Dr. Holland is a member of Representative Artur Davis' Sustainable Development Summit which was convened in October 2004. The Representative's

"...goal has been to create a pool of experts and professionals, who can sit in the same room, and formulate practical solutions related to environmental issues. I believe that this working group is diverse, and will provide an array of perspectives that can help forge consensus on environmental issues."