Green Root Podcast

Poisoning California’s Most Famous Lake?

On episode 131 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), Melissa Soderston, president of Tahoe Forest Matters, exposes California “land management” agencies’ scheme to log, burn, and poison public lands surrounding Lake Tahoe.

Host Josh Schlossberg talks with Melissa about:

-How the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies spray toxic herbicides after destroying forest ecosystems with ineffective “wildfire fuel reduction” logging;

-How glyphosate/Roundup threatens the waters of California’s iconic Lake Tahoe;

-How the region’s forests are growing back beautifully after the so-called “devastating” Caldor fire of 2021;

-The myth that California’s public lands are “unmanaged” as they are subjected to some of the largest, most destructive logging schemes in the U.S.;

- Melissa’s take on a root cause of the ecological crisis.

Nature Lover, User, or Abuser?

On episode 130 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), host Josh Schlossberg asks the controversial question: Will more recreationists (Nature Users) join with wildland and wildlife protectors (Nature Lovers) or keep teaming up with resource extractors (Nature Abusers)?

Josh talks about:

-The difference between being a Nature Lover, User, and Abuser;

-How important it is for those of us who take from nature—recreationists—to give back;

-Why such a small proportion of recreationists support and/or are engaged in genuine conservation;

-How recreationists are running cover for resource extraction, such as Colorado’s Clearcut Initiative 308 (coloradosmokescreen.org/clearcut-initiative), which would fund industrial logging in endangered species habitat, old-growth forest, and protected Roadless Areas;

-How Nature Lovers might bring more Nature Users over to our side.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.

Defending Australia’s Threatened Forests

On episode 129 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), forest defender and artist, Holly English (Hollyenglish.com), fills us in on the state of Australia’s native hardwood forests along with past and ongoing campaigns to protect these ecosystems from industry, government, and NGO degradation and destruction.

Host Josh Schlossberg talks with Holly about:

-Her past involvement in nonviolent direct-action forest defense campaigns;

-Australians’ awareness of and politics around environmental issues;

-How wildfire is exploited as an excuse by industry, government, and some NGOs to log forests;

-The connection of indigenous Australians to these iconic landscapes;

-Holly’s take on a root cause of the ecological crisis.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.

Clearcut Ballot Initiative Unconstitutional?

On episode 128 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), host Josh Schlossberg asks whether a new ballot initiative to expand taxpayer funded logging on public lands—“Clearcut” Initiative 308—might be violating the Colorado State Constitution.

Josh talks about:

-Clearcut Initiative 308, which would fund clearcutting and industrial logging in endangered species habitat, old-growth forest, and protected Roadless Areas;

-How it’s being sold to the public under the guise of recreation and “conservation”;

-How the measure is funded by Trump-aligned NGOs that take tax dollars to promote and/or carry out public lands logging;

-How its language makes outright false claims—that logging can somehow “prevent wildfires”—that not even the U.S. Forest Service defends;

-How Clearcut Initiative 308 may violate the Colorado State Constitution’s “Single Issue Rule” by lumping three topics—recreation, conservation, and logging—under one measure.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.

Colorado's War on Wildlife

On episode 127 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), Delia Malone, president of ColoradoWild, pulls the curtain back on how Colorado government and certain NGOs promote some conservation efforts while also decimating the state’s iconic wildlife and wildlands at the behest of well-funded special interests.

Host Josh Schlossberg talks with Delia about:

-The successes and challenges of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction;

-The stranglehold the state legislature’s Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resource Committee has on conservation policy;

-How Colorado Parks and Wildlife is stacked with hunting and trapping interests;

-How Delia was banned (!) by the Sierra Club for her powerful advocacy for wolves;

-Delia’s take on a root cause of the ecological crisis.

The Activist’s Paradox: Unite or Divide?

On episode 126 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), host Josh Schlossberg talks about—and not-so-subtly coerces you to read—his latest semi-controversial essay for Eco-Integrity Alliance’s Substack entitled, “The Environmental Activist’s Paradox: Unite or Divide?”

Josh talks about:

-How good Organizing seeks to Unite while strong Advocacy looks to Divide;

-How both roles are crucial—each with benefits and risks—yet seemingly contradictory;

-A specific example of Uniting coming into conflict with Dividing;

-Whether enviros have focused too much on feel-good Uniting at the expense of necessary Dividing;

-How to better integrate both Uniting Organizing and Dividing Advocacy into the grassroots environmental movement.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Trees

On episode 125 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, writer at “Speaking for the Trees, No Matter Where They’re From,” guides us through the wild enchanted forests of J.R.R. Tolkien’s (Lord of the Rings) Middle-Earth.

Host Josh Schlossberg talks with Kollibri about:

-Kollibri’s five-part essay series on Substack, “Tolkien & Trees”;

-The factual and fictional forest ecology of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion;

-The ongoing relevance of Tolkien’s work for taking action against environmental destruction;

-Ents!!!

- Kollibri’s take on a root cause of the ecological crisis.

A Global Vision for Public Lands

On episode 124 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), host Josh Schlossberg shares Eco-Integrity Alliance’s long-term global vision for public lands.

Josh talks about:

-How public lands are the last best ecosystems in the U.S. with both the legal and cultural frameworks for genuine protection;

-How we can no longer afford to sell off nor “sell out” public lands to corporate extraction;

-How only 4 percent of U.S. “timber” and 2 percent of beef come from public lands anyway;

-The importance of establishing public lands as Biodiversity, Watershed, and Climate Refugia (BWCR) and the new petition to get out the word https://www.change.org/p/protect-u-s-public-lands-as-biodiversity-watershed-climate-refugia

-How BWCR fits into the Global Biodiversity Framework and Half-Earth vision.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.

Nature Therapy

On episode 123 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), Julie Brams, psychotherapist and author of THE NATURE EMBEDDED MIND, lays out some paths for humanity to reconnect with nature to save the planet and ourselves.

Host Josh Schlossberg talks with Julie about:

-How separation from nature harms mental health;

-What it means to be an Earth-centered psychologist;

-Examples of nature-based therapy;

-The inspiration behind the book, THE NATURE EMBEDDED MIND;

-Julie’s take on a root cause of the ecological crisis.

JUDGE’S RULING: Did Pro-Logging Politician Violate "Open Records" Law?

Green Root Podcast 122: JUDGE’S RULING: DID PRO-LOGGING POLITICIAN VIOLATE “OPEN RECORDS” LAW?

On episode 122 of the Green Root Podcast (the official podcast of Eco-Integrity Alliance), host Josh Schlossberg announces a District Court judge’s final ruling on his lawsuit against Jefferson County, Colorado Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper for allegedly deleting emails about public lands logging in violation of the Colorado Open Records Act.

Josh talks about:

-How Jefferson County perpetrates some of the most aggressive Wildfire Pretense Logging in Colorado while ignoring peer-reviewed science and public opinion;

-Evidence proving Dahlkemper has deleted emails related to logging;

-An email from a fire chief to Dahlkemper with “information you’d asked about” revealing one of Eco-Integrity Alliance’s funders;

-An email from a media editor claiming Dahlkemper had been making (defamatory) attacks against Josh;

-The Jefferson County District Court’s ruling on the lawsuit.

The mission of Eco-Integrity Alliance (eco-integrityalliance.org) is to unite U.S. grassroots ecosystem advocates through common campaigns of mutual support.