On Tuesday, Oct. 22, Gonzaga University’s Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment hosted a panel entitled “Rewilding the Urban Frontier: River Conservation in the Anthropocene.” This panel was part of the For Our Common Home lecture series, which hosts environmental education panels that are open to the public.
“Rewilding the Urban Frontier” took its name from a new book edited by GU’s Greg Gordon, a professor of environmental studies. Published in August, the book is a collection of pieces that explore humanity’s relationship to the natural world.
To begin the lecture, Gordon explained the book’s intent and guiding question.
“The central question is: Could wild nature and human artifice be reconciled into something functional that can foster both biodiversity and human needs?” Gordon said. “In other words, could the Anthropocene provide its own antidote?”
To answer this question, three contributors to the book, Heidi Lasher, Margo Hill and Robert “Bob” Bartlett presented their perspectives individually, then sat down together to take questions from the audience.
Gordon said that the panelists have a through line connecting them to the Spokane River, including family histories and narratives that attendee and GU sophomore Theo Tcharos did not expect to hear at an environmental lecture.
“What surprised me most were the personal aspects of the book,” Tcharos said. “Every one of these thinkers has a stake in the Spokane River, and I think this makes it more approachable for general audiences.”
Bartlett’s chapter is entitled “A River Lament: New Creek and the People Who Loved It Near to Death,” which he said explores his family’s deep-seated connection to their local watershed and the losses it has faced.
“Within a short distance of New Creek in Kaiser, West Virginia, four generations of my family lived, died and are buried,” Bartlett said.
Lasher described her emotional connection to the Spokane River. At the end of her speech, she encouraged the audience to move beyond mourning environmental damage and told them to seize the present instead.
“Everything is capable and designed for change,” Lashed said. “The past does not condemn us, it illuminates our choices.”
Tcharos said that since hope was a common thread woven through each presentation, he was able to leave with a sense of optimism. He added that Margo Hill’s story was especially uplifting.
Hill is a Spokane Tribal Member and former Tribal attorney who described Indigenous efforts to revitalize the Spokane River.
“We keep our memories of the ones who took care of the rivers,” Hill said. “We continue the ways of our ancestors. We sing the sturgeon song and we sing the salmon song.”
Recently, Gordon has been on sabbatical exploring rivers and ecosystems across the United States. He said that this effort was inspired by a senior capstone of his former students which focused on restoring Lake Arthur.
“It spawned an intellectual curiosity,” Gordon said.
Gordon said this curiosity prompted him to gather more perspectives about human relationships to the environment. So, he turned to Bartlett, Hill and Lasher. Gordon said that the three “Rewilding” contributors first worked with him on the “Spokane River Biography,” but for “Rewilding” he wanted to publish longer pieces than they had before.
“Rewilding the Urban Frontier” can be purchased online, and one copy can be found in GU’s Foley Library. The Climate Institute will host two more events in the For Our Common Home series — one on Nov. 13, concerning the water boundary ethics and the Columbia River, and one on Dec. 3, about population denial and global crises. More information can be found at gonzaga.edu/ClimateEvents.
Ruby Gross is a staff writer.