The Spring Creek Project/The Blue River Gathering/Report from the first gathering

REPORT Salmon Nation Environmental Philosophers’ Gathering Blue River, Oregon, September 28 – 30, 2007

Last weekend, environmental philosophers from across the country met with ecologists in the ancient forest of the central Cascade Mountains to address two important questions -- In a degraded and dangerous world, what is our work? How can we get it done? The conversation was wide-ranging, creative, constructive, collegial, spirited, and energizing. While it's not possible in a short email adequately to convey the spirit of the discussions, here are a few of the many outcomes. More information on each of these will be forthcoming as plans unfold:

-- Plans for a "Testimony"- or "Refuge"-style book that gathers short, powerful arguments from well-known philosophers, theologians, and moral leaders from all traditions, in support of the claim that we have a moral obligation to future generations to leave a world at least as full of possibilities as the world that was left to us. Just as scientists came together to tell the world of the global scientific consensus that climate change/chaos is real and dangerous, philosophers can come together to provide the second premise, a global moral consensus that advances the practical argument from fact toward action.

-- Encouragement to present papers or workshops at professional meetings beyond philosophy meetings (Society for Ecological Restoration, University Education in Natural Resources, Wildlife Society, etc.) and at national and international policy-setting meetings, in order to offer philosophical/ethical perspectives and create new collaborations.

-- From the graduate students, a call for and suggestions for pluralism in mentoring and curricula, educating those students who aspire to be the next generation of philosophy professors, but also providing advice and educational opportunities for students whose aspirations may include being the next director of northwest national forests or manager of a water trust or Secretary of the Interior or director of giving for a large foundation. Their call coincided with faculty interest in mentoring students for careers beyond the academy.

-- New strategies and workshops to maximize the creative and constructive use of existing NSF funds for environmental philosophy and to explore possibilities for new lines of funding for collaborative work between ecologists and philosophers.

-- Ideas for training programs and other events to help environmental philosophers speak out effectively, making alliances with journalists, scientists, and others. On-line writing groups or other ways to help those who wish to write for readers other than philosophers or in genres other than the journal article.

-- A biennial gathering of environmental philosophers and ecologists at this forest site in the Blue River watershed (a meeting that we will call, from now on, the Blue River Environmental Philosophers’ Gathering, in recognition of the place and the national interest this meeting uncovered). Mark your calendars for the Blue River Environmental Philosophers' Gathering in late September 2009.

-- Encouragement and support for others to organize regional discussions with environmental philosophers and scientists.

-- Many other ideas. Watch the Spring Creek Project website, http://springcreek.oregonstate.edu/ for updates and on-line discussions and networking.

The energy and good will of the participants and the power of the discussions made it a good and important meeting. What made it exceptional was the place -- the massive dark cedars overhanging the creek, the darkness and silence after we called to spotted owls, the blanket of moss over the forest floor, woodsmoke flattening against the tarp over our fire, soft rain, chanterelle mushrooms and local greens, a musician who played only in minor keys, the interruptions of a pileated woodpecker, and the deep and grateful knowledge of the wonderful ecologists among us.

Special thanks to the H.J. Andrews Research Forest and to science director Barbara Bond and Fred Swanson, who welcomed us to the forest and the cabins at the research center; to OSU's Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word for substantial financial underwriting; to Charles Goodrich, Spring Creek's program director, for his welcoming and efficient organizing skills; to all who came and all who would have come if they could have.

Kathleen Dean Moore (Oregon State University, kmoore@oregonstate.edu), Michael Nelson (Michigan State University, mpnelson@msu.edu), and Andrew Light (alight@u.washington.edu), organizers.