Rooted In God's Word and Lands: A Celebration of the Earth that Nourishes Us
The Good Earth
From towering mountains to stark deserts to glorious forests and wide open fields, God's lands are an integral part of creation. Just as it was for the ancient Israelites, the land is more than real estate or mere dirt under our feet. While it includes the gifts of soil, air, and water for material sustenance, it is also the foundation of human community - where we live, work, play, and find spiritual renewal. The lands we know and enjoy encompass both human-built communities and the wide open spaces of wilderness, which provide habitat and nourishment for God's other creatures.
Like trees putting down roots in the soil, we are deeply imbedded in the land - physically, culturally, and spiritually. Sharing the land with our neighbors and with other creatures gives us a sense of place and belonging within our communities and the whole of creation. Experiencing the solitude and beauty of wilderness reminds us of God's power and grace in our lives. We are called to be faithful stewards and good tenants on God's lands. It is a role of privilege and responsibility, which requires us to work actively to safeguard the land, the bountiful gifts flowing from it, and the integrity of the ecosystems and communities that rely on it
Lands At Risk
Humans utilize God's gift of land and open space for a range of activities, including recreation, farming and ranching, extracting minerals and water, building communities, and experiencing solitude. When conducted carefully - in ways that can be sustained and that allow us to leave healthy lands to future generations - these activities show reverence for all life and appreciation for the lands God has entrusted to us. But in many cases, we are abusing and overusing the land, polluting and degrading the soil, and destroying the communities and ecosystems that depend on it. We are also overtaking God's forests, deserts, and mountains with our cities, highways, and oil rigs and leaving little truly wild land to be experienced as God created it.
Energy Development
Our communities need energy to run, but what type of energy we choose and how we find and make use of that energy can have a great effect on God's lands. In the U.S. drilling for oil and gas to feed our dependence on fossil fuels continues to take a major toll on the land, especially in the West. In recent years, leasing of oil and gas reserves has increased on lands held in the public trust, and sensitive areas that hold cultural and ecological value are being opened to energy development. The natural beauty of the landscapes, functioning of ecosystems, and livelihood of nearby communities are being disrupted by pollution of air and water resources, erosion and soil degradation, destruction of wildlife habitat, and damage to human health. Ranchers who don't hold rights to the minerals beneath their land are also feeling the consequences as the government leases those minerals to energy companies. They are finding themselves struggling to live on and run their ranches amid oilrigs, service roads, and noisy truck traffic.
Agricultural Abuse
Land is one of the vessels through which God sustains us, but we often take for granted the soil beneath our feet and the meals on our tables. Low food prices and overflowing grocery store shelves hide the true environmental and social costs of our food and agriculture system. If not conducted correctly, grazing and crop growing can damage the land by leading to rapid erosion and degradation of soil, chemical contamination and depletion of water, loss of genetic diversity, poisoning of wildlife and destruction of habitat, loss of family farms, and impoverished rural communities. In particular, large, industrial "factory farms," which emphasize producing lots of cheap agricultural products and often crowd livestock together and use excessive fertilizers and pesticides, are harmful to the land, to the life that depends on it, and to the viability of local communities.
Sprawl
As communities grow, the homes, businesses, and roads of our cities and suburbs are rapidly overtaking areas of God's lands that were once open. Poorly planned, sprawling development threatens both wild areas and agricultural lands. Increasingly, the human-built community is fragmenting wildlife habitat, intruding on wilderness, and pushing up against areas set aside for protection. In some cases, the boundaries of protected areas like national monuments are actually being adjusted to allow development to spread further. The closer proximity of population centers also means more use - and in some cases abuse - as well as increased pollution in wild areas. At the same time, thousands of acres of the most productive farmland are being degraded and paved over. Currently, 86 percent of our fruits and vegetables come from farmland that is in the path of development.
Recreational Abuse
The opportunity for outdoor recreation is one of the greatest gifts of God's wild lands. Getting outside and interacting with the land and the wildlife it sustains can bring peace and reconnection to creation. But like any activity, excessive or uncontrolled recreational use can be damaging to the land. The explosion of off-road vehicles - dirt bikes, ATVs, dune buggies, and snowmobiles - poses one of the fastest growing threats to wildlands. Poorly managed off-road vehicle use on public lands is splintering the landscape into a web of trails and roads, leading to erosion, the spread of invasive weeds, damaged wildlife habitat, contamination of water, and disruption of solitude.
Today, more than ever, we understand the interconnectedness and harmony of all life in the web of creation and the damaging impacts humans can have on this delicate balance. Degradation of God's lands is not only an act of disobedience and destruction in an immediate sense. It is also an unraveling of the web of creation, which can have long-term consequences for our communities and for all of God's creatures. As we grow in our understanding of how we are connected to the land, we also gain an understanding of our calling to work with God towards the healing of creation. We have a moral obligation to act on this knowledge and protect God's lands so that other creatures and future generations can share in the bounty that flows from them.