Zine :
Lien original : Deserted News
En français :
The Current Situation
I am writing this on April 11 th, 2022 in the Salt Lake Valley. 99.4% of the so called state of Utah is considered to be in severe drought. The most intense drought since monitoring began in 2000 was in January of 2021. The Western region of the North American drought stretches all the way from southern Washington to Veracruz, Oaxaca, and even into pockets of Chiapas. A drought of this magnitude has not existed on this continent for 1,200 years. With drought comes crop failures, unprecedented wildfires, toxic dust storms, collapse of wetland ecosystems, and untold ripple effects. This is the era of climate entropy and runaway warming. Yesterday was too late, tomorrow is far too late. Things look no brighter the next year or the one after. Greenwashed technology seeks to repackage resource extraction. No amount of solar or wind energy satiates the hunger for plastics. Carbon capture tech continues to fall short while energy consumption rises.
The “Solutions” of The State
This is an inconvenient reality for the property owning class and the warlords of capital that sit behind every state. This reality has been in the consciousness of the corporations and the government apparatuses responsible for decades, and still emissions are on the rise. They know their solutions are empty promises, and they know the bleak future they have crafted for generations to experience over the course of hundreds to thousands of years. Water rights are for the rich land owners; arable farmland is deeded to the ultra rich minority; billionaires build doomsday yachts; and those with means flee burnt out cities. Climate salvation is for the rich. No one is coming to save us. The states primary purpose is to maintain its power, and in times of turmoil that power is reinforced through violence. When we need bread, the state will bring bullets.
The Nihilist’s Case for Action
So, this ship is sinking, and the water is coming on faster than we can throw buckets of it back into the sea. When many people hear nihilism or hopelessness they think of apathy. I suppose some may label their apathy a black pill, nihilism, doomerism. Personally, I ascribe to nihilism as the embodiment of nothing to lose, and with nothing left to lose there is everything to be gained. We cannot shutoff oil drills on the seafloor; however, we can spend some time with our pals shoving superglued toothpicks into the card readers of gas pumps and ATMs. Is that action significant? Probably not, but it could be fun and it is tangible. The list of things that are fun and tangible is as
robust as your imagination. There are golf courses to be sabotaged, oil carrying semis with valve stems to be broken, wilds to be reintroduced.
Is it too late to the stop the construction of that ugly fucking condo? There are aggressive rooting trees to damage its foundation years down the road, tampons to be flushed by sympathetic tenants, and paint to be sprayed by passersby. That lawn might look better with clover, mint, and dandelions overpowering it. It would be a shame if a large amount of silicone found its way into the irrigation system of that over-watered lawn. This destruction of the urban/suburban ornamental/lawn ecosystem breaks down into space for wild things to grow and reclaim what rampant extraction has taken. We can grow space to adapt and mitigate in ways that capital will never willingly allow. Even when the sun showers rays and the thermometer reads 117 degrees, heavy metal infused dust storms swirl, and still we can have something beautiful to be a part of. We do not need water rights from the state if we harness what we need from run off of decaying parking structures, do not let what little rain we have go to waste. We will live with the nature that endures and not at odds with it. In the spaces we create, harmonized with the biosphere and our changing climate, we can grow and love together in an expanding fashion to claim ever more of the concrete for a sustainable future for all. We need not extract when we can take all that has been extracted over the last 200 years, and we need not give up fighting just because a return to the previous climate is unlikely. I fight for love, fun, and a better world–not just to win. Everything we need is right here. Let’s take it!
A Primer on Guerrilla Rewilding for the Salt Lake Valley
Let’s look at what and how we can begin to grow in this desert and explore the intersection of creation and destruction through autonomous ecology together.
Safety protocols:
The nice thing about chucking seeds around is that it is nondescript, and it can be several days or even months before the signs of your labor begin to appear. That said, many who are backed by state violence might not take kindly to this sort of action. Keep an eye out for cameras, and don’t be too noisy about what you are doing or why (if caught, maybe you just think flowers are pretty). Have a plan to get into the area and to get out (especially if trespassing). Be particularly discrete in high profile areas and stick to the margins of the land that are less likely to garner attention from a groundskeeper.
Target selection:
Recently developed land (many plants enjoy disturbed soil), vacant land (think fast growing perennials that can reproduce through rhizomes so it’s more likely to stay after development), parks/buildings/neighborhoods (hard to mow spots on the periphery, areas that don’t seem to be sprayed with herbicides). You can realistically sow your seeds even the sidewalk cracks, don’t let this list limit you.
Plant selection:
Utah has been dry for a very long time and many plants here are already adapted to severe drought and can withstand extreme heat. For ease I recommend exploring possibilities with buckwheat, lewis flax, prairie cone flower, sunflowers, globe mallow, dandelion, wild tobaccos, purslane, lambs quarter, lomatium, blue mustard, indian rice grass, blue grama grass, white yarrow, butterfly weed, desert marigold, pigweed. There are thousands of possibilities and you could even decide to work entirely just with the seeds you come across on walks throughout the year. For information on choosing plants and the sort of sites they’ll thrive in I recommend https://extension.usu.edu/cwel/water-wise-plants and the various plant fact sheets that can be found there.
Planting:
Just chuck seeds. Make seed bombs, throw them loose. Help them get around. The more the merrier. These aren’t ideal conditions for germination and growth. Most of these seeds will not sprout. High germination rates require care that can’t be given due to legal ramifications. Quantity is quality in this situation. Do not fret if only 1/10 sites you sow end up with growth. Just imagine how one dandelion can transform the lawns of an entire neighborhood and know that even 1/10 sites is a step towards the wild. Clay seed bomb recipe (https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-make-seed-bomb) Recycled paper seed bomb recipe (https://www.instructables.com/Paper-Wildflower-Seed-Bombs/)
Playing with invasives and ecology as sabotage:
Care must be taken if you decide to branch out into invasive species. Many are just invasive because they damage commercial agricultural operations. Others may have the label because they can damage existing ecosystems if they are introduced. Do your research before spreading anything around. If the plant and site are right, the rewards are potentially immense. Plants like Japanese knotweed are incredibly hard to get rid of, taste like rhubarb when young, and mowing them down can often just spread them further. Knotweed can also wreak havoc on wetland ecosystems by out competing native plants that some species are reliant on for survival. Garlic mustard and mints can easily overpower a lawn, they can also overpower under-story plants in our forests. Keep these sort of plants away from waterways (an isolated golf course water feature is great though). Limit them to the parts of metropolis and empire least likely to interact with the more mildly subjugated parts of nature in our biosphere (don’t plant near the bench of the mountain or near a canyon). There are many plants with aggressive root systems that can damage foundations, pipes, and concrete worth exploring too. For relevant plants to learn about and inspire you, check out https://extension.usu.edu/pests/research/invasive-species.
Farewell and Have Fun
The most important thing to remember as you explore these possibilities is, have fun. Even if the climate will warm for the foreseeable future (and the violence of the state escalating alongside it) we can find joy in resistance no matter how small or local. There can be changes we can see and experience. Our attacks do not need to be spectacular to begin to build something. Our attacks can be constructive. I hope you are able to discover the radical joy in rewilding and every day acts of sabotage. Lets grow together in love and solidarity.
– an anonymous raccoon