Tag: Sarah Wald

Navigating Ancient Waters; An Endeavor to Describe the Historical Relationships Between the Warm Springs Reservation, Mt Hood National Forest, and BARK Forest Protectors

Presenter(s): Tyler Young − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald, Paul Guernsey

Poster 195

Research Area: Humanities

Spreading from the Cascades to the Deschutes river, the Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiute Native American tribes have been relocated by the U.S. Government to the Warm Springs reservation, a sovereign nation in itself which has a shaky relationship with the U.S. Government. My small team and I are researching the historical parallels, intricacies, and difficulties that exist between; The Warm Springs Reservation and its people, the Mt Hood National Forest which borders the reservation, and an organization by the name of BARK who has been a protector of the Mt Hood National Forest since 1993. These three entities have an intimate relationship with Mt. Hood and its surrounding area, and navigating those ancient waters has been challenging for the Forest Service, for BARK, and for the people of Warm Springs due to the diverse ideologies of these groups. We will be creating an introduction, and written history of these relationships for new BARK volunteers attempting to help protect the Forest. We will also be producing a short video for the BARK website which will highlight a few of these relationships. The tribe of Warm Springs, the Organization of BARK, and the U.S. Forest Service all have good intentions, but working together can sometimes be tricky, so we’re here to help!

Historical and Contemporary Relationships Between Environmental Organizations and Indigenous Peoples in Oregon

Presenter(s): Taylor Walker − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 191

Research Area: Humanities

There is a growing concern with the security of Earth’s environment. Environmental organizations in Oregon argue that our responsibility as humans is to care for our ecological surroundings in a way that is largely based on how scientific research has determined the best way of doing so. Modern science explains many ways we can live sustainably, though there is still room to broaden and deepen our understanding of the Earth. The purpose of my research is to show how past and present relationships between environmental organizations and indigenous peoples in Oregon can help to create a more ecologically knowledgeable and engaging community. Online databases, course readings, and local institutions provided information necessary for me to understand correlations and any disconnects between the groups. Including indigenous relationships, experiences and knowledges in the ecological narrative enriches environmental organizations’ functionality, ultimately influencing the mainstream perception of how to, and who can, interact with the environment. My goal is to construct a concise report that emphasizes the importance of indigenous representation in the ecological narrative.

Collaboration and Conflict: Exploring Contemporary Relationships of Indigenous Peoples and the Government in Oregon

Presenter(s): Doug Sam − Environmental Studies, Geography

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald, Paul Guernsey

Poster 180

Research Area: Humanities

When constructing a history of public lands and examining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts on public lands, it’s important to recognize that all lands in the United States have an Indigenous history and that Indigenous peoples have a distinct relationship to both the land and to government entities. This study examines the nature of this relationship. Using case studies from around the state of Oregon, which contains nine federally-recognized tribes and various non-recognized peoples, it explores conflicts and collaborations between Indigenous nations and government agencies across space and time. These case studies range widely, including wars and reservations, the cancelled sale of the Elliot State Forest to a coalition including the landless Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribes of Indians, and traditional use of land in of the Mount Hood National Forest. As part of a greater project to illustrate the relationship between Indigenous peoples and public lands, this work hopes to show the conditions in which Indigenous nations and the government can build convivial relationships and the conditions which create disagreements and conflicts. In a time when tribal sovereignty is being again being actively eroded, this work also makes the case that the relationship between government agencies and Indigenous nations in the United States is a distinct one and one that resists merely recategorizing Indigenous issues as merely one of race.

Gender Identity and Location Barriers to Engaging with Bark: A Mt. Hood Preservation and Restoration Organization

Presenter(s): Taylor Reichert − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 179

Research Area: Humanities

Individuals from sexually marginalized groups along with differing urban and rural communities experience a wide variety of barriers when it comes to accessing the outdoors. Oppression, safety and discomfort are major concerns for women and members of the LGBTQ community if they ever desire to partake in national park services or environmental spaces. Transportation and economic barriers face the differing groups from rural and urban communities striving to enjoy these public spaces as well. As an Oregon based environmental protection organization, Bark has expressed a pressing need for a more inclusive environment for community engagement. What are the barriers that have historically restricted individuals from diverse gender identities and varying locations from accessing and enjoying US national parks and how have these trickled into the present society? I will conduct a literature review on the relationship between LGBTQ-identified individuals and outdoor recreation, along with the relationship between individuals from urban/rural communities and outdoor recreation. I hope to develop a better understanding of existing barriers and practices that might combat those barriers. The findings I hope to come across will lead to alternative solutions to a more inclusive outdoor recreation environment for all genders and rural/urban communities to create a more diverse society that utilizes its public spaces. Alternative programs and policies must be implemented for public outdoor spaces in order to increase its diversity and utilization so that all groups of individuals may partake in a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle with the environment.

Contextualizing the Role of Pre-20th Century Conservation Initiatives in the Contemporary Environmental Conservation Movement

Presenter(s): Trevor Meyer − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 170

Research Area: Humanities

Modern environmental conservation initiatives are inseparable from centuries-old traditions, and attitudes toward nature. The purpose of this project is to present early conservation initiatives and interpretations, prior to the progressive era, that are especially foundational in the context of the contemporary conservation movement in the United States. It is critical
to acknowledge the parallelism between contemporary and traditional environmental conservation issues—deforestation, urbanization, and industrialization that spurred the first Euro-American conservation ideas during the 17th century. Despite the 18th and the 19th centuries being characterized mostly by the manifest destiny and the exploitation of natural resources, this time in history is also responsible for fostering immensely transformative valuations, understandings, and attitudes toward natural resources. During the 18th and 19th centuries the overuse and misuse of natural resources under traditional utilitarian conservation regimes was questioned, and contested by alternative conservation initiatives that perceived value in the preservation of nature, and wildlife habitat. From which values arose the nation’s first state parks, national parks, national forests, forest management practices, and wildlife protection organizations. In order to understand the complexities of decision-making in the contemporary environmental conservation movement we first ought to consider the age-old traditions and attitudes toward natural resources that provided foundation for the earliest conservation ideologies.

The History of a Modern Era of Conservation in the United States from 1964 to the Present

Presenter(s): Brooke Mckinney − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 169

Research Area: Social Science

The Modern Era of conservation and the conservation movement is extensive in political, racial, social, ethical, and ecological controversies. To understand the definition and benefits or setbacks of conservation my research seeks to explain the effects of conservation on racial issues and ecological issues in order to create a comprehensible timeline of events. Important components to this collective timeline are to identify effects of conservation on tribal communities and the environment in the US and in Oregon from literature, legislation, and creation of National Parks and how racial, social, and ecological issues changed conservation and its efforts from 1964 to the present. The timeline will be used by the organization Bark to help educate the public of the history of conservation and in training within the organization. My research is important because it intends to educate the public on how conservation efforts and legislation often lacks input from tribal communities, has historically excluded those communities from benefiting from these efforts and National Parks, and how conservation has, and could, change for the future.

Inclusive Language Protocol for Environmental Organizations to Avoid Classist Language

Presenter(s): Allison Ludden − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 167

Research Area: Environmental Studies

I am part of a team developing a protocol for the environmental organization Bark to check whether they are using inclusive language. I am developing the part of the protocol that will address classist language, including general principles to follow and suggested vocabulary. I will be researching existing protocols and applying them to an environmental context in order to develop a socioeconomic inclusive protocol. Inclusive language is essential for the equal treatment of all groups that have been marginalized because of their ethnicity, culture, race, gender, disability, age, socioeconomic status and more. These groups are especially vulnerable to issues like environmental racism and climate change, yet we fail to see them represented in the environmentalist movement. This protocol will allow organizations to audit their websites, canvassing material and social media in order to adapt their language to reach out and represent these groups.

Event Outreach to Underrepresented Communities on Public Lands

Presenter(s): Helena Kresky − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 165

Research Area: Humanities

My research seeks to address the ways in which Bark and other public land organizations can reevaluate their outreach and advertising methods to foster diverse and inclusive events that all can enjoy. Working with Bark’s public events, my research is tailored to provide them with ways they can improve their strategies to reach out to groups currently underrepresented on public lands. Public land exploration and survival has become a way to define the American identity yet many individuals are excluded from enjoying public lands even if that exclusion is not intentional. This research addresses some of the ways in which event outreach and advertising can exclude individuals, and how we may be able to adjust outreach in order to help others feel included and address their needs.

Environmental Justice and Injustice Timeline Specific to Oregon

Presenter(s): Megan Johnson Guthrie − Environmental Geoscience

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 164

Research Area: Environmental Studies

By disregarding our states past, we contribute to the continued mistreatment and injustices that built the foundation of our government, specifically in relation to environment. Systemic white oppression building the foundation of Oregon’s governmental legislations led to a prevalent history of environmental injustices leading up today. In order to shed light on environmental justice and injustices in Oregon, my project involves researching and materializing an environmental justice and injustice timeline specific to Oregon for the organization, Bark. Beginning with what began with Indigenous peoples building communities and forming traditions on the land. To major historical dates, people, and communities contributing
to environmental justice or injustice. To today where governmental policies systemic oppressive, inequitable, and unjust regulations prevent equity and inclusion in environmental use. The environmental justice movement only began to bubble up in US 1980’s so this timeline will include dates, people, and communities that lead to the need of the environmental justice movement. Then after the 1980’s the timeline will focus ore on movements that have improved inclusion and equity in the environment but also including the injustices that continue today. Understanding Oregon’s environmental history can help us and Bark gain insight and understanding on the importance of improving inclusion and equity within our environment. Also, how to contribute change in current and future oppressive, environmental regulations.

Environmental Justice Timeline in the Global South

Presenter(s): Jason John − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Wald

Poster 163

Research Area: Humanities

This project focuses on key events in the environmental justice timeline in relations to the Global North and the Global South. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Does actions of the Global North affect environmental justice in the Global South? This is important because a lot of the countries in the Global South are often overlooked because they are classified as either Developing or Third World. These countries are often rich in natural resources but are mismanaged and exploited by some countries in the Global North. I decided to focus on the Global South because it is home to me. In addition, this project is to inform Bark, an environmental organization about Global environmental justice. I used peer-reviewed articles and books for this research. What I think I will find is that Environmental Justice in the Global South is largely dependent on countries in the Global North. Living in a developed country, one can easily forget about other countries and the problems that they encounter regularly. This project will start conversations and will enlighten others about the environmental injustice that’s been happening in the Global South.