A Fierce Love

'We will be fierce together as we continue to protect all of it!'

Those words arrived in an email from Wendy Probst, a talented editor who shares my deep love of the natural world. Writing articles for her was a true joy when she served as a longtime editor of AT Journeys, the magazine of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. (Here’s an example— called “Suite of Life”). She has that professional knack of suggestions and edits that hone a piece while keeping the writer’s voice and style intact. She goes far beyond that. Wendy lifts up the voices of all who work and write on behalf of the natural world and saving what’s left.

“We will be fierce together as we continue to protect all of it!” We’ve never met in person, yet I feel a kinship stretching from her home in West Virginia to mine in Oregon. Fierce. We shared this exchange on Valentine’s Day before we even knew of the latest rounds of illegal firings of federal employees under Musk. No one is safe in this all out assault on Democracy, science, the environment, medicine, health, higher education and kindness, goodness, and justice in our country. The Republican majority in Congress sits on their hands and refuses to enforce the rule of law.

We will be fierce together…. We will NOT let greedy billionaires wreck our planet as fast as possible to do the bidding of fossil fuel corporations. We will be fierce in our love, our kindness, our countering of bullies, our dedication to a peaceful world, and our care for those less fortunate.

Yesterday, I joined the National Day of Protest here in Bend, Oregon. Far from a highly organized event, people organically came together with their signs and their outrage. The crowd grew to 200 strong. Passing cars honked and people waved out their windows. Only a handful of cars gunned their engines and spewed smoke—their way of an expletive that seemed fitting for those who would pollute and kill a livable planet for their children.

The chants felt empowering —-“This is what Democracy looks like!” A woman with a young girl held up a handmade sign with the word KINDNESS in rainbow letters.

It’s a start. We are awakening out of stunned disbelief. I appreciate the rallying everywhere in this country—the unifying of people in the way of one of the signs at our Peace Corner — “It’s not red vs. blue, it’s rich vs you.”

As Musk and his DOGE goons illegally fire thousands of federal workers who are highly trained, dedicated, and serving the American people, how can we stand by? As Trump signs executive order after order gutting funding for climate science, electric vehicle chargers, and even banning paper straws (?), how can we stand by?

As Trump and Musk (one sign at the protest called them “Trusk”) ended the US AID program, which will lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of children, allow diseases like Ebola to multiply and threaten humanity, and curtail good will toward our country, how can we stand by? How can we stand by as hard working immigrant families who escaped violence in their own country are rounded up, roughed up, and expelled? As Trump endangers transgender children? The atrocities go on…

How can we stand by as Trump uses tariff threats to successfully to force Taiwan, Japan, and India who were committed to the green energy transition to instead buy LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) that drives climate change, poses dangers to local communities by ports, and will hurt Americans economically?

“And now they’re getting the payoff: Trump threatens tariffs, and offers to make them go away if they buy some LNG. It’s akin to a protection racket. Pay up, or your windows get broken.” — Bill McKibben, The Crucial “Years

I grew up in a National Park Service family--my father Dave Richie served honorably and gave and gave to those parks he worked in that included Mt. Rainier and culminated as project manager for the Appalachian Trail, under the jurisdiction of the NPS. I’m committed to defending that legacy and America’s best idea.

Chuck Sams, the former director of the National Park Service, posted these words:

“I am shocked by the news coming out of the National Park Service over the last week and have been processing this along with many of you, but the firings on Friday of the staff I worked to have hired or have personally met hit close to home. Nearly 1,000 lives have been turned upside down; these are people who have stepped forward to serve the nation, and thus all of us.” — Read more here

Remember, we are strong—as many have pointed out—Trump did not win the majority of the vote—and claims of a mandate and landslide are false—when 75 million people voted for Kamala Harris compared to the 77 million for Trump. ( So many people did not vote at all.)

Returning to Wendy’s words — “We will be fierce together as we continue to protect all of it”— I turn to the natural world and the songbirds in our native plant yard, which is part of Homegrown National Park.

“Join us and plant native to rebuild the ecosystems that support all life, and restore the vital connections between plants and animals for a healthier, thriving planet.”- Doug Tallamy, co-founder, Homegrown National Park

Showing up, standing up, calling and writing our Representatives, and joining local protests are critical actions now. And so is something else—to be part of movements like Homegrown National Park. Those cannot be squelched or stopped. Our grassroots nonprofits need our support more than ever, too.

Last but not least—go out into nature no matter where you live. Take deep breaths. Listen to the way birds singing in the treetops give voice to the winds—as the Red Crossbills did in the pines behind our house yesterday. Know that life is still wondrous even in dangerous times.

Yesterday, after the protest, I joined two new younger friends in a walk along an urban stretch of the Deschutes River passing by the Old Mill. We were graced by brilliant ducks—from mallards to mergansers—and at the end? A male Belted Kingfisher rattled and flew across the river to a branch perch and stayed there awhile. I felt again the transformative way of the bird that is Halcyon—reminding me that every day alive in this world is precious.