At a time of considerable debate over jobs, living wages and big money from proposed precious-metals mining in Minnesota’s fabled northeastern region, it seems fitting to consider comments from individuals long ago concerned with the future of our natural resources.
“In front of the majesty of the mountains we are pushed to establish a more respectful relationship with nature…At the same time…we are stimulated to meditate upon the gravity of so many desecrations of nature, often carried out with inadmissible nonchalance.” Pope John Paul II
“We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy–and when he has conquered it, he moves on. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.”
Chief Seattle, Suqwamish and Duwamish
“…To the generations to come—and whether or not they come depends on us— our actions are all in all. When we poison and bulldoze and pollute, let us remember that we are not the owners of the earth, but its dependents. Let us respect it, and time and space, the forces of creation and life itself. As we hold the future in our hands, let us not destroy it.” Helen Hoover
“The great task today of all interested in the preservation of natural areas is to justify them in the eyes of a people the majority of whom are still convinced that nothing should interfere with the grinding progress of our mechanical age. The good citizen knows that the land is a sacred trust…that when he passes it on to future generations, it must be as good as when he found it, or better.”
Sigurd F. Olson
“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold
We would do well to consider the wisdom of past voices.
Dick Struck
Grand Marais
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