Hands-on Environmentalism. Brent M. Haglund & Thomas W. Still GE195.7.H34 2005

After acknowledging the deficiencies of command and control environmentalism--top-down, hierarchical, and bureaucratic regulation of natural resources--Haglund and Still (2005) propose a different, grassroots approach to solving problems. They cited civic or participatory environmentalism as a citizen's activity, which could eliminate the win/lose and risk adverse consequences of the former model. The State of Wisconsin has employed civic environmentalism through its Green Tier program.

Wisconsin has divided civic environmentalism into three components, environmental charters, environmental contracts, and environmental management systems. Focused on specific community environmental concerns, the Green Tier program charges active participants to "enter into legally binding contracts that address multiple environmental goals" (p. 10). The environmental charter binds private and state actors, specifying their "responsibility, activities, authorities and service needed to achieve superior environmental performance" (p. 10). Similar to environmental charters, environmental contracts legally obligate the parties to realize a common goal. Typically, a private concern engages the state, with enticements or supports. Environmental management systems entail businesses that measure and monitor environmental improvements.

The authors attributed the inspiration for this shift in environmental thinking to Aldo Leopold, a Wisconsin conservationist and writer. He prescribed a simple formula for action, "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" (p. 19). The writings of prominent American figures illustrate the democratic nature of civic environmentalism, according to the authors. They found the basic premise of this philosophy in the writings of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Law Olmsted, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others.