Don Elzer

We probably have a lot to learn about the Western Skunk Cabbage because we know so little about the wetlands that it grows within.

Often found in small isolated bogs its ecosystem is ignored because it might not be linked to a larger wetland connected to a waterway. Thus it lacks legal “riparian zone” protection.

Small isolated wetlands such as these that are full for only part of the year are often the first to be removed for development or agriculture, but research shows that they can be twice more effective in protecting downstream lake or river ecosystems than if they were connected to them.

Read the whole story...
https://forestalmanac.substack.com/p/skunk-cabbage-blessings

They have logged right over ravines with creeks that should have remained sacred as valuable riparian areas. This water now made a new channel down the side of a mountain where it caused mudslides along the way….the silt from this clearcut has now made its way into river and eventually the Fraser River estuary….this silt will choke Salmon and other fish and bury and kill the natural aquatic system.

This happens everywhere.

There are very few people left to watch and then to recover these remote areas. Certainly companies and governments won’t fix these atrocities….they won’t even stop. It’s up to you and I to fix things if we want to save this planet….and fixin’ means getting your hands muddy.

www.wildcraftforest.com

Create a meaningful bridge into nature. Within our forest therapy programs we share what we know about "positive" and "negative" space. This becomes yet another way we can explore the cosmic intelligence of nature and how she might be communicating with us.

The land is the text by which we learn to live. Her secrets represent everything we need to know about applying life’s foundation. Nature provides us with a code, which unlocks an ancient wisdom that exists within each of us.

The greatest connection we have to her spirit is our role as the stewards of Gaia’s ideas about herself. The gift she gives us to create compositions; a song, a painting, a poem or a tapestry, demonstrates our dance with her two lovers...nature and the cosmos.

The idea that leads to a composition is a dance with the cosmos; while transforming that idea into a form, is a dance with nature. We are fantastic and at the same time we are blessed as we dance with the embodiment of the universe – Mother Earth.

Join us this summer and learn how to deliver our 12 session forest therapy program...
http://www.wildcraftforest.com/School/Camps/4-YaseiShinrinYokuPractitionersTraining.html

These are challenging times and indeed change is self-evident and it emerges in small trends and movements.

More people are now moving out of cities which is fueling a “counter urbanization” movement. The need for becoming more locally independent is gaining interest and there is a search for information and opportunities to change lifestyle, shelter and place of work.

There is a renewed and expanded interest in being closer to nature, closer to healthy food and clean air and water.

There is also an expanded interest to find one’s “tribe”. All of this is generating new thought in philosophical circles – one area that discussions are migrating towards is “bioregionalism”

Read the whole story….

https://open.substack.com/pub/forestalmanac/p/bioregionalism-an-alternative-to?r=2mncmr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

A photo of the brand new Mica Dam on the Columbia River north of Revelstoke in 1973. Highway 23 ends at this spot. The dam and its Kinbasket Lake Reservoir took 6 years to build. This is one of many massive reservoirs created along the Columbia River.

What has never been measured are the rates of evaporation caused by these new lakes and how these bodies of water may have impacted the regional and planetary climate.

Photo: BC Archives.

www.wildcraftforestchannel.com

What I like about microbe harvesting is the fact that it adds more value to a "living forest" rather than a dead one. Get this...the world wide forest industry is worth $1 trillion per year right now....however the microbial harvesting industry is valued at $260 billion per year and it is growing by 9% per year.

An interesting trend.

We only know of about .03% of the micro world that surrounds us.

Behind me we hang these pods in the forest. Each pod has a carrier that captures microbes. We then isolate the microbes and investigate.

We are eager to provide you with new adventures as you explore the world of fermentation.

www.forestbiotics.com

Sharing thoughts from the studio. Canada and the provinces as well as corporate interests are still operating as a collection of feudal kingdoms. Tenure laws support the interests of a few while locking out The Commons.

Get the story...

https://forestalmanac.substack.com/p/into-the-darkness-tenure-laws-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2mncmr&fbclid=IwAR2RpkuA2le4ELCF3aWprAVF1PEoSgwHs3-vFkFXe4KIYhTvqIKLdzna_Lg

Into the Darkness: Tenure Laws and Closed Shops are Killing the Land Don Elzer discusses the system by which governments and corporations destroy the land

This winter there will be a war in the woods between the government and big forest companies. Companies are building forest roads like crazy while stumpage is high and market prices are low...they are not cutting or stockpiling a lot of wood because they are creating a market shortage. While they do they will pressure the government to lower stumpage by closing mills and laying workers off....but in the background they are getting ready to cut wood...more than ever.

It's a s**t show.

All of these people believe that the Earth is disposable.

We have to get ready for more scorched Earth. We will attempt to recruit more volunteers for 2024.

Allison is pictured here placing wild seeds in trees that will then be spread by birds and breeze which will help to regenerate the wild understory in this forest clearcut. One example is fireweed seed. It is gathered so that we can plant it in logging clearcuts just above the Okanagan Valley once the treeplanters are finished.

Bees from the valley will include this fireweed and other wild flowers in their pollination flight paths which will bring them into a less toxic environment which will allow them to become healthier. Our efforts will also support wild pollinators and this will encourage the forest understory to propagate.

Fireweed and other wild flowers are natural to these high country areas but industrialization ignores the need to steward this system of regeneration. But this is what wildcrafters do…because it has to be done.

The mainstream of our society reaches for “sustainability” that is more economic than environmental. It strives to use the environment so that it can retain a permanent state of economic growth and wealth for a few. But this perception of permanence is eroding the planet. Real permanence is about ecological stability and biodiversity, it’s about healthy soils, organic life-force and cleaner water; rewilding, thriving communities in self-reliant regions; biodiverse agriculture and social justice with peace.

All of this brings about abundance for everyone and protects all living beings and systems.

Learn more about us...
www.wildcraftforest.com

www.greenearthoffsets.com

Today here in British Columbia we utilize a very small percentage of plants which are native to the region. Of the ones that we use, we harvest by killing the entire plant – mostly trees for lumber and pulp. We clear wildlands for agriculture and for expanding settlements; and now we have become wildfirecentric where we believe that if we clear out the wild understory within a forest that we will reduce fire risk.

The Snowberry is one of the most ignored plant species in the northern hemisphere. Because modern humans don’t find much of a use for them, we deem them as being relatively unimportant – and now they have become a primary target for reducing fire risk. However, the Snowberry is a giant in the ecosystem – it is one of the most abundant plant species on planet Earth and plays an important role in providing strength to the understory so that a forest can remain healthy.

https://open.substack.com/pub/forestalmanac/p/snowberry-a-plant-for-the-resistance?r=2mncmr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

There are public assumptions when it comes to the idea of planting trees and creating or restoring forests and political and corporate leaders support these assumptions which are largely deceiving.

First of all we really need to understand that there is a difference between a wild natural forest and an anthropogenic forest, that is, a forest which is planted solely for the benefit of human beings or for the benefit of an environment that humans “believe” to be natural. True wild natural forests don’t necessarily have economic values that benefit human beings.

For example, on average treeplanters are paid to plant about 215 million seedlings per year in British Columbia, and they are paid by forest companies in an effort to restore tree harvests on crownland as an agreement with the provincial government to harvest the timber on those lands. The trees being planted are industrial varieties that will grow fast for a future lumber harvest in 30 to 70 years. We are creating a form of tree farm on wildlands.

Read the whole story...

https://open.substack.com/pub/forestalmanac/p/we-create-fragmentation-in-nature?r=2mncmr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Riparian
Observations within an Old Growth Forest Riparian Area

I made this 30 minute video to explain how the forest understory works and demonstrate how it retains moisture in the ecosystem. This riparian area is now feeling the presence of clearcut logging as a road is built along its edge.

https://open.substack.com/pub/forestalmanac/p/riparian?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Yasei Shinrin Yoku
and Spiritual Stewardship
Nature is returning as a key element within the human spiritual experience. Don Elzer talks about how Yasei Shinrin Yoku delivers a practice where-by we create a working relationship with nature through stewardship.

Spiritual Stewardship Don Elzer of the Wildcraft Forest Foundation discusses the elements of spiritual Stewardship.

“Leaders like Me” interviews Don Elzer of the Wildcraft Forest School. The interview is titled “Meaning and Purpose Create Exceptional Team Results” and the intro describes Don Elzer as living his meaning and purpose in all aspects of his life.

Blubrry PowerPress Player

The NIC has put out their 2040 trends forecast. This chart presents the fear highlights that will guide reactions from US foreign policy (the military).

So biotechnology, AI, cyber security, Arctic access...and this is interesting... natural resource extraction are on the danger list. So we can speculate how conflict will happen. And it WILL happen...it's by design.

The National Intelligence Council, established in 1979 and reporting to the Director of National Intelligence, bridges the United States Intelligence Community with policy makers in the United States...it produces these trends forecasts to get allies singing the same song.

www.forestalmanac.com

Slow as it may seem we are evolving – start watching the traits because it might be happening much quicker that we could ever imagine.

The research project pictured here was commissioned by TollFreeForwarding.com, and it led to the development of the 3D model, named “Mindy.” Researchers predict that office work and craning the neck to look at smartphones will lead to humans having a hunched back in the future. Currently, many people consistently adjust their position to look down at their phones, or to look up at their office screens. Studies show that this strains parts of the body that affect posture.
“Spending hours looking down at your phone strains your neck and throws your spine off balance. Consequently, the muscles in your neck have to expend extra effort to support your head. Sitting in front of the computer at the office for hours on end also means that your torso is pulled out in front of your hips rather than being stacked straight and aligned,” says Caleb Backe, a health and wellness expert at Maple Holistics, in a statement from TollFreeForwarding.
What this evolutionary rendering does not take into account is that far in advance of these traits Mindy’s ancestors will probably be unable to have children. This might be due to socio-cultural or environmental events or physical or mental dysfunctions that will emerge within the first hundred years of being attached to this much tech….in otherwords it’s one of the reasons why the birth rate is crashing right now.
We can’t really apply “natural selection” to the way humans evolve because our medical advancements are keeping 90% of children alive at birth and through infancy. However there are other characteristics that will play a role in how humans evolve and one might be….who decides that they want kids.
Look around at yourself and your tribe – are you and they eager to have children? Have they made social choices to not have children? Now look at the other tribes around you, perhaps ones you don’t like – are they having children?
The people who have children create the future evolution of humanity. But then that group must hand off their genetic traits to the next generation and so on. Those traits will define what we become.
Yes of course….there will be efforts to genetically engineer offspring so you might argue that humans will never be at risk of extinction, but at the same time it will most likely evolve humanity to become an R-selected species. Humans have been a K-selected species - such species possess relatively stable populations fluctuating near the carrying capacity of the environment that they live within. These species are characterized by having only a few offspring but investing high amounts of parental care. On the other hand, R-selected species often inhabit unstable environments and are completely density independent. These species often have short life expectancies, produce as many offspring as they can, and invest very low amounts of parental care. R-selected species include rodents, insects, and many types of plants.

So as much as we would like to think that long human life expectancy is in the cards forever, we might find just the opposite as we create an unstable environment, poor natural immune systems and a singular type of global human – kind of placing all of our eggs in one basket. In this scenario we will depend on AI to form a synthetic fertility rate to create a huge number of humans and we will give them no real parental care and they will be weak and will require a lot of artificial life support. In the end, all human life will be short lived and will depend on AI regeneration – which may or may not be there.

Is there any good news?
Yes….before AI gets extreme traction the human population that remains K-selected will bring an end to the madness of an R-selected human species – but along the way there will be the beginnings of two different subspecies of Homo sapiens. It will be an ugly process so I suppose it’s not really good news after all.

What a mess we are creating – life could be so simple.

We are at the beginning of this so it perhaps a good time to plan – are you a K or an R?

Discuss these sorts of things….
www.donelzer.com

This is a very long message, please read it if you are able - thankyou. The environmental crime being presented upon us is not that of creating too much CO2 emissions; it’s actually that we are pushing out too much CO emissions. There’s a lot of misleading news and science about the horrors of carbon dioxide (CO2) in fact nature absorbs it rather well, and yes it can hurt the planet when she is out of balance. But those dangers are not nearly as great as carbon monoxide (CO) emissions and all of the toxic trace elements that are carried with it.

Does your gasoline powered car create carbon dioxide emissions?
Answer: No
Does your gasoline powered car create carbon monoxide emissions?
Answer: Yes
Does a forest fire create carbon dioxide emissions?
Answer: Yes
Does a forest fire create carbon monoxide emissions?
Answer: No
Does a coal burning power plant create carbon dioxide emissions?
Answer: No
Does a coal burning power plant create carbon monoxide emissions?
Answer: Yes
Does an erupting volcano create carbon dioxide emissions?
Answer: No
Does an erupting volcano create carbon monoxide emissions?
Answer: Yes
Does a campfire create carbon dioxide emissions?
Answer: Yes
Does a campfire create carbon monoxide emissions?
Answer: No

Are you confused yet?
If you said “yes” you would be in good company. You see any fire that is in a closed chamber where the air is being controlled in order to control the burn rate of the fire, creates carbon monoxide. So this is pretty much any human controlled mechanical fire, like a furnace, internal combustion engine or even a house fire where firemen are trying to reduce the oxygen so the fire doesn’t expand.

On the other hand, any natural fire where the fire is being fed by a free flow of air, produces carbon dioxide. These carbon events are natural and they actually feed the web of life. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by trees and plants and they in turn produce oxygen. Of course there will be all sorts of particulate matter in the smoke which is still air pollution.

But that’s not all….if given two months, carbon monoxide emissions actually transform into carbon dioxide, however the other trace toxins that tend to be emitted with the CO will remain as toxins in the air or fall to the ground as events such as acid rain. And to further the problem....Earth is always host to at least two months of huge amounts of carbon monoxide being fed into its atmosphere... this risk never goes away unless we stop emitting carbon monoxide.

CO is very toxic and is one of the most plentiful elements in the universe. Space is largely carbon monoxide, so when CO builds up in our atmosphere the protective shield that defines our planetary greenhouse becomes thinner and thinner, whereby man-made CO emissions can connect with space CO.

What does all this mean? Well it means that in reality the climate change event that we are experiencing today is really more like the “hole in the ozone” story that we were being told in the 1980’s and 90’s a story that seemed to drift away. That story had well defined the culprits as being industries that produced carbon monoxide. They wanted the carbon monoxide story to go away because they had been proven legally negligent for their actions.

So my message is, look hard at the facts, don’t take my word for it, it’s a complicated issue and a complicated science – I have simplified it here, others know more than I do. At the end, each of us is responsible, because we keep this consumptive world going – its going to be up to us to create better solutions that will regenerate nature and bring this planet back into balance.

Thanks for reading.
Namaste,
Don Elzer
www.forestalmanac.com

https://www.tiktok.com//video/7099261054663806214?_t=8VFqXV5iz7G&_r=1

Don Elzer in the Wild on TikTok Earth's ecosystems are like the control panel on a spacecraft...and we are planetary navigators www.wildcraftforest.com

Don Elzer - 2022 Green Party of Canada Leadership Campaign

12 Point Action Plan

We are seeking your support. Our leadership campaign is about supporting and celebrating Green Party of Canada policies created by scores of volunteers from communities across the country. It is our intention to add value to these past efforts in order to create a dynamic vision of what a Canada might look like with Green voices elected to government.

Our campaign is not without hurdles – we are against forced medical intervention from both governments and corporations so we demand that the Government of Canada and all governments for that matter remove all aspects of mandates, domestic passports and forced vaccination policies and instead build national efforts to combat the threat of illness based on communication, debate and education.

As a nation we have become divided and it will be the Greens that will support and encourage a heart-centred approach towards diverse views and beliefs that will rebuild our sense of national unity. We will demonstrate and set an example for empathy. As we care for others, we will cool down the social temperature which is running a high fever across this country. We will elevate the importance of equality and be tolerant of the different “roles” and perspectives found within Canadian society.

This 12 Point Priority Action Plan represents a sketch for issues which are complicated and it is our intention to expand on each of these points as the leadership contest moves forward. Environmental degradation looms large as natural resource extraction runs unchecked as ecosystems struggle in the wake of climate change and negligence. We are facing an unprecedented crisis as our tourism and hospitality industries are near collapse and as inflation and high interest rates batter ordinary Canadians. We have much to say about the need for Indigenous reconciliation and human rights both locally and globally. As Greens we will develop a conversation about a renewed or new Bill of Rights that takes into account the changing social landscape that we live within today in an effort to prepare for tomorrows dreams and aspirations as we navigate through difficult times.

Please explore our 12 Point Priority Action Plan:

CREATIVE FREEDOM
“Creative Freedom” is the safe and secure means by which to dream, imagine, engage and act. To be free to empower oneself including the holding of beliefs of choice. Creative Freedom is at the core for building an engaged and responsible society. Such personal freedoms are required so that we may create a genuine and caring society and this becomes an important building block for our civil liberties. So what we are saying, let's turn down the temperature and let’s get back to basics – lets encourage debate but be tolerant of each other – let's be neighbours who depend on each other.


RENEW AND UPHOLD TRADITIONAL GREEN VALUES
Canadians have depended on Greens to be advocates for environmental protection - the protector of people, species, places and the planet. Green leadership requires that we educate the public as to how the Greens have been essential with establishing environmental protection, conservation and regulation with regards to nuclear energy and warheads; impacts from pollution and natural resource extraction. Historically Greens have exposed negligence and even flawed science carried out by both industry and governments which in-turn have saved lives and places.

Today it is time for a new Green Bill of Rights to compliment the Canadian Charter. For every Canadian we need to secure safe food, shelter, clothing and fair and equal access to safe technology and transportation.


CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
We must develop and deliver practical solutions to address climate change and the end of oil, so we must divest while we invest. We must divest in all forms of energy production that requires a natural resource supply such as nuclear and fossil fuels but we must invest in these sectors as they adjust their profit centres into renewables.

As a priority we must support and invest so that advancements can occur in renewables while at the same time supporting efforts to create community-based utilities which will help with the distribution of affordable energy solutions.

We must deliver climate change action much quicker and this can be helped with a national conservation, soil and aforestation strategy.


FOOD AND MEDICINE SECURITY
Our local and domestic supply of food is uncertain which is why we are proposing a “Community Food Charter Program” which supports communities in their efforts to determine the level of local production and supply that exists and then to forecast what the community requires. These charters will determine on a local level what the community determines as “safe” food.

Existing food distribution networks must be assessed so that they support local food security efforts so what we are proposing is the establishment of a Food Security Envoy for each province who will sit down with food wholesalers and retailers in an effort to create tangible support for local producers and community needs.

And then finally based on food security needs, create programs that will support the expansion of community-based agriculture including value-added efforts.


STEWARDSHIP AND SENTIENCY
We must uplift responsibility, engagement and the elements of equality between humans, places and species. We would introduce efforts to incorporate “The Rights of Nature” into a Bill of Rights first and then eventually into the Canadian Charter.

We need to create a federal “Department of Continuous Ecology” which is tasked with protecting old growth forests and ecosystems and then expanding those environments into continuous forests and ecosystems which will be monitored and protected similar to our federal waterways.

As Greens we would expand Species at Risk legislation to include a 100 year moratorium on lands which hold a species at risk. This means that in the event that a species does become extinct that the land and its ecosystems remain untouched for 100 years after the point of legal extinction. This prevents resource extraction companies from involving themselves in these sensitive areas – and it allows for a period to recover or reintroduce that species into that area.


BIOREGIONAL LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
We must revisit Canada as a nation of villages and build a bioregional model of governance. 150 years ago we were creating provinces and then we stopped. We need to create provinces again so that Canadians are closer to their seat of government which will result in more community control over their environment and resources. We are proposing a national task force that will help Canadians imagine their future if they had provincial control locally.

At the same time we are proposing a national conversation about reforming the Canadian Senate. While we have a “House of Commons” we should have an elected “House of Regions” which is tasked with a bioregional authority and reviews legislation within the context of the Rights of Nature and the local people who depend on that nature.


ECONOMIC STEWARDSHIP
We will take a Buddhist Economics approach to the Canadian economy which considers that work is meant to be meaningful and creative, not stressful. This system is successful when it is able to focus on the health and spiritual well-being of the individual as well as economic goals being fulfilled.

We will apply considerable effort towards national, regional and local self-sufficiency and while we acknowledge that export is very important to Canada it must not take place at the cost of domestic prosperity.

We understand that the future requires divestment with investment as our country transitions which is why we must implement a Financial Transaction Tax that is both national, regional and community-based and replaces all other forms of taxation.

Inflation is relatively easy to slow but it requires a difficult shift within the morals of capitalism. We must stop growing global consumer consumption that is modeled after western wants. As this consumption is embraced by huge markets in both India and China greater levels of competition occur for basic supplies, and this forces prices to skyrocket – and this is why we have inflation.

We must lower interest rates, become more self-sufficient and reduce our footprint and then we must encourage the rest of the world to do the same.


BOLD AND PRACTICAL GREEN TRANSITION
As Greens we must take a personal and family-based approach as we focus on transitioning climate action, energy, industry, regions and communities. We are experiencing the end of oil, and this requires us to accurately determine our present state of supply and the capacity required to adjust towards renewables. We are proposing the immediate create of a Royal Commission which will deliver an independent review of the State of Energy.

We then need to develop and implement a ten-year plan to retool Canada so that we can transition to a new clean energy strategy. This needs to be done quickly and it’s less about meeting international climate targets which are important but more about the survival of Canadians and their place in the economy.


NATURAL RESOURCE CHARTER
We must completely shift our approach to natural resource extraction. As Greens we will support a Natural Resource Charter that encourages improved ethics and smaller footprint forestry and mining with a more value-added approach. We will support corporate strategies that place local-first-before-export.


BETTER HEALTH AND WELLNESS SOLUTIONS
Canada's approach to healthcare requires sweeping changes and at the core of it is our need to place more energy and resources into the prevention of disease. We must develop a pluralistic approach to healthcare that considers the importance of alternative health and wellness solutions.

As Greens we would wage a national campaign to combat diabetes, obesity, deteriorating mental health conditions and the short and long-term impacts of climate change and environmental toxins.

We support a healthcare system based on choice and we will embark on a massive investment into community-based healthcare that delivers both healthcare professionals and facilities that will meet future demands of a growing and aging population in both urban and rural areas.

Canada requires a watchdog who can track the behaviour of the medical industrial complex – never again should we see the conflict of interest that we witnessed during this pandemic period.


NATIONAL DETOX
We need to clean up our act. Industry has poisoned the Earth for far too long. As Greens, we will make it a mission to reduce Canadians exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. We are destroying our air, soil and water. We need to transition how we do business and embrace safer natural solutions which reduce and then eliminate chemicals and synthetics. We can begin by taking Glysophate off the market right across Canada.

In the wake of climate change most of our established industrial areas are in or close to flood plains. The flooding of an industrial area can be catastrophic to the environment and in particular to an estuary. We must carry out an immediate assessment to determine areas of risk and take action. Some industrial areas will have to be relocated. Those lands and others then must be cleaned up so that toxins in the soil are removed. This becomes an important national effort now not later.


PEACE – LOCAL AND GLOBAL
Canadians see themselves as peacemakers but more and more we are taking a police state approach to social conflict. We must renew the more compassionate side of Canadian peace keeping. As Greens we will offer support to the non-profit sector to help create a Canadian Peace Corps which will enlist volunteers and expertise who will be on-call to assist in solving real problems.

Whether it’s helping with constructing emergency shelters in an inner city or building a waterworks in a remote First Nations community the Peace Corps will be ready.

We must engage support from the public as we navigate through climate change issues because we don't have the financial resources to support the amount of work that will be required as we face up to the future.

Visit our website at:
www.donelzer.com
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