Regardless, once you remove the water, flora andfauna immediately dries out and dies. And the NiagaraRiver represents one of the most diverse microhabitatsin North America. Do Canadians and Americans treat Niagara Fallsdifferently?

DM: Americans have been more protective of the Fallswithout preserving it. This is tied into American national-ism. For Canadians, hydroelectric is so important:Hydroelectric represents 90% of the power produced inCanada – and they are the 2nd largest hydroelectric pro-ducer in the world. What are your thoughts on "invasives" being removedfrom the Lower Gorge, in order to recreate the formernatural ecosystem below the Falls?

DM: First off, I’m wary of the motivations. But I alsothink that it’s unrealistic to assume that we can recreate allof the conditions that allowed for the “golden age” that isbeing recreated. Nature is not static.In summary, Dan has written that “Niagara Falls is bestunderstood as a ‘simulacrum’ – i.e., as an unsatisfactoryimitation of something for which the original no longerexists.” Our efforts to modify nature for human purpos-es, and our willingness to do so in spite of the permanenteffects of these modifications that can be consequentialand negative for other species and for the ecosystem,indicate a lack of respect for, and understanding of,nature. That we would seek to continually “improve” aNatural Wonder of the World, such as Niagara Falls,reveals our hubris and human-centric orientation. Daniel Macfarlane will be speaking at NiagaraUniversity in October 2018 at an event that will beopen to the public.

Manipulating Our Natural Wonder

Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the Planet

For more news, archives, and upcoming events, visit NiagaraSierraClub.comNicole Gerber & Dave Reilly, Trailblazer Co-Editors

Sierra Club Niagara GroupP.O. Box 1127Williamsville, NY 14221-1127

The Niagara Group of The Sierra Club • http://NiagaraSierraClub.com • Vol. 53 No. 3 July 2018

The Trailblazer

Non-profit org.U.S. Postage

PaidBuffalo, NY

Permit No. 868

Dear environmentalists (especially representativesand supporters of environmental groups across theUnited States and around the world), If we are truly going to address global climatechange, combat the Sixth Mass Extinction, and continueto persist as a species on this planet, our organizations andsupporters need to think more deeply about, becomeactive regarding, and adopt the following issues withinour intellectual and activist frameworks:

1.) Cultivate a Deep-Seated “Sense of Place” Peter Warshall, the late bioanthropologist and long-time editor of Whole Earth, once stated, “[T]wo things …can perhaps save the world. One would be the mastery ofone’s kindness to oneself…. And the other would beunderstanding your passion for place—for where youlive—and really loving the place that you live in.” Thedeep-rooting thinking in Warshall’s words is that themore we love where we live and become familiar withour local environment, broadly defined, the more likelywe will act quickly to protect it. We should intimatelyknow the weather, the land, the history, the bird, insect,and plant species, where our water comes from, andmore. We must become conscious of the world around us.

2.) Adopt a Plants-Only Diet (and Promote AnimalLiberation) A recent news headline proclaimed, “Veganism is‘Single Biggest Way’ to Reduce Our EnvironmentalImpact on Planet.” Environmentalists are hardly doingmuch if they are unwilling to embrace, let alone consideradopting, a whole foods, plant-based diet. That in the wakeof excellent films such as Cowspiracy and What the Healthenvironmentalists are still unwilling to adopt a vegan diet

remains perplexing and, at this point, infuriating. We should be working tirelessly as environmentaliststo engage in actions that will have the greatest impact onreducing global greenhouse gas emissions. For example,we must educate about the food we eat. A number of myfriends are concerned with energy, which is wonderful, butit cannot be the only issue we raise when working on behalfof various environmental concerns. 3.) Challenge Ourselves to Understand IndigenousPeoples, Land, and Sovereignty Without working tirelessly and routinely to under-stand genocide and ongoing forms of settler colonialism,sovereignty and treaty rights, histories, land connections,environmental struggles, resources, and myriad otherissues within Indigenous communities, we cannot claimto be environmentalists. Understanding that Indigenoussacred places are often ecologically unique places is astart. Internalizing decolonizing methodologies is a wor-thy goal to ensure that we do not take on roles of settlercolonizers, perpetuating harmful stereotypes, nor appro-priating Indigenous culture. In the United States, gettinginvolved with and working diligently to understandIndigenous activist protests against profit-driven envi-ronmental alterations is important, as we have seen inrecent and ongoing struggles at Standing Rock, BearsEars, Mauna a Wākea, Mount Graham, and Oak Flat. 4.) Commit to Environmental Justice Mainstream environmental groups are still largelywhite. Despite efforts to diversify the staff and commu-nities served by these organizations, the reality is thatthere remains a larger focus on issues that in some casesseem irrelevant to low income, communities of color

An Open Letter to Environmentalists Everywhere

be, and will remain that way until water is returned to stasis. Right above the Falls at the intakes, and in between,there is a lot less water. To date, the effects haven’t seemedtoo severe… But Niagara Falls offered cheap electric, whichdrew factories and chemicals. Love Canal was a resultof the hydroelectric projects – an indirect result but stillconsequential. What are your thoughts on the discussed plans to divertthe river next year in order to stabilize the American Falls?

DM: The plan is to stabilize the bridges, not the Falls. It’snot clear for how long the water would be diverted. But itwill actually probably lead to a drop in tourism, asidefrom those really interested in the ecosystem.

Continued on back

throughout the world. We should ask what we knowabout environmental racism and economic injustice inrelation to health burdens by particulate pollution. Whatcan we share with other people about urban waterwaysand communities of color? What do we know about thestory or Flint, Michigan, or dozens of other cities withunsafe drinking water? Are we fighting for environmen-tal justice in communities where people of color havereceived little relief from natural and human made dis-asters? There are tons of books to read and plenty ofstruggles in which to involve ourselves. A starting placeis to ask how we define the “environment”? Is our defi-nition only inclusive of the “physical and naturalworld,” or do we include the places “Where We Live,Where We Work, Where We Play, Where We Learn”?

5.) “War, What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothin” “War is Not Healthy for Children and other LivingThings,” a prescient slogan coined by Another Motherfor Peace in opposition to the Vietnam War, continuesto be accurate today. We must as environmentalists con-front head-on the environmental impacts of war. GarSmith’s recently released The War and EnvironmentReader is a great place to get information regarding thehorrible waste of money, lives, plants, animals, insects,and resources that is war. And the waste occurs not onlywhen wars are waged but also when they are planned,when bases are expanded, and when soldiers train and inthe process threaten or destroy entire ecosystems. If weconsider ourselves environmentalists, we must confrontthe war machine, while keeping in mind the words ofhistorian Barry Sanders who wrote, “the greatest single

by Joel Helfrich, Instuctor of History and Environmental Studies in Rochester, New York

You’ve written that, “The history of manipulatingNiagara Falls conveys powerful messages about ourwillingness to reorder nature. And one of those mes-sages is this: Remaking one of the continent’s premiernatural symbols to fit our notions of progress giveslicense and encouragement to do the same to any otherpart of the nonhuman world. If we alter and commodi-fy even those celebrated features of the natural worldwe claim to cherish, aren’t we sure to undervalue andexploit the rest of it?” Could you elaborate?DM: There are unintended consequences of large scaleintervention. These actions create a license, a mindset ofhaving your cake and eating it too. And it gives the confi-dence that we should keep doing these things. It feels verydishonest—something seems wrong about this.What do you mean by unintended consequences?

DM: After you’ve changed the water for years what is morenatural? To return the full amount of water or to keep thediversion in place? The modifications to the Falls affect the surroundingnatural environment. And the changes that were made arenot at the same scale as what has been done with some otherrivers. Niagara Falls was the plug that stopped invasivespecies from getting into the Great Lakes. Today, the LowerNiagara River is a problem. Because of the diversion ofwater, the Niagara River is five meters lower than it should

An interview was conducted with Daniel Macfarlane,Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability atWestern Michigan University, by the Trailblazer editors.Dan is currently writing a book that delves into thetransnational history of landscape, engineering, andhydro-electricity at Niagara Falls, including the diversionof water from the Niagara River for power generation.

The BackpageThe Trailblazer July 2018

Reduce household use of electricity – turn off lightswhen not in the room and unplug electric appliances,televisions, computers and electric chargers when not inuse. Wash clothes in cold water to help save energy onheating water! Turn off your air conditioning when you leave thehouse to save energy – turning it on and off does NOT useextra energy. Bring your own reusable water bottle – reduce buyingand using bottled water. In 2017, about 50 billion plasticwater bottles were used in the U.S alone! Much of the bot-tled water being sold is actually just filtered tap water – sobring your own! Reuse disposable items two or three times, or more,before throwing out or recycling – find ways to reduce andreuse plastic containers and packaging. Donate used clothing, shoes and other cloth products –some are re-sold in community stores and others are sent tofacilities that repurpose the materials into car seat stuffing,automobile and home insulation, and carpet padding.

Things you can do tohelp protect the Earth!

“An Open Letter”continued from front page

HABITAT CORNER

assault on the environment, on all of us around theglobe, comes from one agency … the Armed Forces ofthe United States.” Our government could ensure that veterans have jobs bysupporting conservation efforts or cleaning up brownfieldsand Superfund sites and military bases globally.

6.) Expand your Understanding of Sustainabilityand Lessen your Support for “Trade-Offs” Wake up, environmentalists. Wake up, environmen-tal organizations. Take a stand. Stop fence sitting andplaying in the gray zone. Sustainability is not only abouteconomics and jobs, nor do economics always come first.The sooner we create a counter-narrative to that drum-beat, the more successful that we will be at getting thebusinesses and citizens that we hope to reach with ourmessage on board (and potentially with more money intheir pocket). Repeating simple messages (health care is ahuman right, for example) will work best. Access to safeand healthy air, water, food are all human rights.

“ Animal agriculture is also the principal cause behind theunprecedented level of species extinction, and this because ofa variety of factors: Clearing forests destroys natural habi-tat; wild animals are hunted to protect livestock; pesticides,herbicides and chemical fertilizers used in the production offeed crops interferes with the reproductive systems of ani-mals and poison water supplies” - Graham Peebles Research recently published in the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Sciences provides a compre-hensive estimate of the world’s biomass distribution ofall life - from animals to plants to bacteria. Plants makeup 82% of all living matter and bacteria make up 13%.The remaining 5% of the planet’s total biomass is com-bined of insects, animals, fish, fungi and viruses. In thestudies of Dr. Ron Milo, the research also examined therole that humans have played on the types of animalsnow living on the Earth. Farmed poultry makes up 70% of all the birds on theplant, meaning only 30% of the birds are wild. Of all the

mammals in the world, 60% are livestock and of those farmanimals, it is mostly cattle and pigs. Humans make up 36%of the world’s mammals and wild animals only account for4% of the total mammal population. Wild animals havebeen culled, eradicated and exploited for food or pleasurein virtually all continents, to the point that only 1/6 of wildanimals remain on the plant and only 1/5 of marine mam-mals are left in the ocean.

Every year, thousands of animals are killed for fun(and often, cash prizes) in wildlife killing contests.Participants at these events are given free rein to kill asmany animals as possible of a single species in a fixedperiod of time—or, as is the case in many “varmint” killingcontests, several species. These events are legal throughoutmost of the United States, and sometimes held on publiclands. In some places, state wildlife agencies even supportwildlife killing contests under the guise of managingspecies, although this contradicts the latest science. “They don’t serve any wildlife managementobjective other than just going out and killing,” says JillFritz, director of wildlife protection at the HumaneSociety of the United States. Fritz emphasizes that there isa clear difference between killing contests and ethicalsport hunting, which follows principles like fair chase andusing what you kill. The animals targeted in killingcontests are mostly classified as nongame species. Thatmeans they can be killed in unchecked numbers, usingalmost any method imaginable. Participants in killingcontests often utilize unsporting practices such as usingpredator-calling devices that imitate the sound of adistressed animal in order to lure targets out in the openfor an easy shot. (The companies that make such devicesoften serve as corporate sponsors for the killing contests.)Whereas hunters are required to have permits and reportthe number of animals they kill, wildlife killing contestsare largely unregulated. “Killing contests are symptomatic of a biggerproblem,” says Camilla Fox, executive director of ProjectCoyote. “State agencies are supposed to be the stewards ofour wildlife. Wildlife is held in the public trust for allAmericans, and yet we have this complete abuse.” Legislators in some states have begun passing lawsto stop such practices. California became the first state toban prizes for wildlife killing contests in 2014, andColorado soon followed suit with its own restrictions onprizes and take for small game. Here is a list of 13 unlucky animals that are still killed inwildlife killing contests across the country:Coyotes Coyote killing contests are the most pervasive – atleast 42 states have year-round open seasons on coyotes,and since they are not a protected species, they can bekilled in unlimited quantities. There is some good news:Vermont recently banned coyote killing contests, and somelegislators in New Mexico have sought to do the same.Foxes In Western New York, there’s a whole event—theannual Hunting WNY Fox Bowl—dedicated to killingfoxes. More often, foxes are lumped in with coyotes insweeping “varmint” killing contests. Woodchucks Hunting WNY boasts that its annualwoodchuck “derby” (sponsored by D&H Transport andSavage Arms) is “one of New York’s largest,” with over

100 participants every year. Currently, there are noprotections for woodchucks under the New YorkDepartment of Environmental Conservation.Squirrels Protesters have been drawn to the annualHazzard County Squirrel Slam in upstate New York,which serves as a fundraiser for the county’s firedepartment, but a lawsuit challenging the legality of theevent was dismissed in 2017. Still, the New York StateAssembly is considering a law that would ban “anycontest, competition, tournament, or derby where theobjective of such contest or competition is to takewildlife.”Crows Gun clubs across the northeastern United States areknown to hold “crow downs” in the early spring. Besidesthe fact that crows play an important role as scavengers inthese ecosystems, the birds have spectacular memories andcan pass down trauma to later generations. Bobcats In 2015, Mother Jones reported on the WestTexas Big Bobcat Contest, where the team that brings inthe heaviest bobcat wins the grand prize (teams must alsokill either five gray foxes or five coyotes—no mixing of thetwo—to qualify for the grand prize). That year, $76,000 inprize money was at stake; a team that bagged a 32-poundbobcat went home with more than $31,000.Wolves When wolves were delisted as endangered speciesin certain portions of their range, the management of theirpopulations was transferred to the states, many of whichopened trophy hunting and trapping seasons on the species;such bounties on wolves often include pup carcasses. Marmots In Idaho, yellow-bellied marmots (known locallyas “rock chucks”) are popular killing contest targets. Prairie Dogs Even though some prairie dogs are consideredspecies of special concern, prairie dog hunting is legal andunfettered (without limits on the season for these nongameanimals, hunting pregnant or nursing prairie dogs is fair game)in most of the states where prairie dogs live. Pigeons Pennsylvania likely hosts the most pigeon killingcontests. In 2016, the state had at least 25 pigeon shoots;whereas across the rest of the country, there were onlyabout five. Proponents of such events claim that killingcontests are an effective way to manage pigeonpopulations, but pigeons are sometimes brought in for theevents to ensure that there are enough birds to satisfy thebloodlust. Rattlesnakes Rattlesnake roundups are less conteststhan pageants of extreme cruelty, as “hunters” are paidby weight and are awarded cash prizes for bringing inthe most and biggest snakes. While the CDC estimatesthat only five people are killed by venomous snakes inthe United States every year, one 2016 killing contest inTexas took in a record haul of 24,262 pounds ofrattlesnakes.Sharks As if sharks didn’t have enough to worry aboutwith commercial fishing, shark killing tournaments aregrisly spectacles that reward participants with trophiesand cash prizes for hooking, bleeding, gaffing, andsuffocating sharks. As apex predators, they help keep thefood web in balance, and since sharks are slow toreproduce, eliminating mature sharks can throw oceanecosystems out of whack.Cownose rays When cownose rays migrate to theChesapeake Bay to give birth, pregnant rays are shot(often with bowfishing equipment, as the contests arefunded by bowfishing manufacturers trying topopularize the sport) and ripped from the water, wherethey are sometimes beaten to death with baseball bats.

What can you do to help stop wildlifekilling contests in New York? Legislation was introduced in 2018 byAssemblymember Deborah Glick (A.4116a) andSenator Phil Boyle (S.5148a) that would have bannedkilling contests for wildlife for money and prizes inNew York State. The Department of EnvironmentalConservation has concluded that such random wildliferemoval methods do not control or reduce species num-bers or reduce wildlife conflicts. New legislation will be introduced in the upcomingyear. Call, email, or write your State Senator andAssemblyperson and ask them to support all legislationthat ends wildlife killing contests in New York! Ask your family and friends to contact their StateSenators and Assemblypersons to support Ban KillingContests legislation, and post on social media that NewYorkers do not want wildlife killing contests in ourtowns and across our state.

13 Unlucky Animals That Are Killed for Fun, and How You Can Fight This in NYSAdapted from the Sierra Club national website (Sam Schipani, Jun 23, 2018)

The loss of all types of wild animals is influencedby human activity. Natural habitats are continually beinglost to development, logging and farming. With the largeproportion of livestock populations comes the need forlarge pieces of land for such animals. The loss of landhas led to the significant loss of animal species and thisis what scientists have termed the Sixth Mass Extinctionof life on Earth. Scientists feel this massive extinctionhas already started and have estimated that almost halfof the Earth’s animals are thought to have been lost injust the last 50 years. The rapid and expansive exploitation of naturalresources needs to be halted in order for animals andplants to survive, including humans. Dr. Milo stated thathe hopes his work can help people see their consump-tion and use with a world view and to realize how theirdecision-making should be guided by the impacts to theenvironment.Excerpted from The Guardian, May 21, 2018

Life on EarthHumans Make Up 0.01% of All Life but Have Recently Destroyed 83% of Wild Animals

Come visit or send an email if you want to help at the table!August 13 – Elmwood/Bidwell Famer’s MarketAugust 25-26 – Elmwood Festival of the Arts Save the Date – September 8th will be an event for People’s Climate

UPCOMING EVENTS

During dry summers or droughts, place shallow containers of water in your yard for toads. Use the base of a clay pot and fill 2/3 with water, add a flat rock or too for the smaller toads!Toads “drink” by absorbing water through theirskin and need a wet place to soak in dry weather.