Bioregionalism and The Upper New
What is bioregionalism?
It is a term that has been in use (in the United States, at least) since the mid 1970s.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines bioregionalism as “advocacy of the belief that human activity should be largely restricted to distinct ecological and geographical regions.” Merriam-Webster defines bioregionalism as “an environmentalist movement to make political boundaries coincide with bioregions.”
As with many concepts involved in paradigmatic mindset shifts, bioregionalism can be a bit hard to define in a single sentence, especially when it’s more important to think about what it means to “actually do” bioregionalism, to become a bioregionalist in practice, or dwellers in the land…
Dwellers In The Land
To begin a better understanding of what bioregionalism actually is, we turn to Kirkpatrick Sale, author of “Dwellers In The Land”.
“But to become dwellers in the land, to relearn the laws of Gaea, to come to know the earth fully and honestly, the crucial and perhaps only all-encompassing task is to understand place, the immediate specific place where we live. The kinds of soils and rocks under our feet; the source of the waters we drink; the meaning of the different kinds of winds; the common insects, birds, mammals, plants, and trees; the particular cycles of the seasons; the times to plant and harvest and forage—these are the things that are necessary to know. The limits of its resources; the carrying capacities of its lands and waters; the places where it must not be stressed; the places where its bounties can best be developed; the treasures it holds and the treasures it withholds–these are the things that must be understood. And the cultures of the people, of the populations native to the land and of those who have grown up with it, the human social and economic arrangements shaped by and adapted to the geomorphic ones, in both urban and rural settings—these are the things that must be appreciated.
That, in essence, is bioregionalism.”
Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land, p. 42
So, as we begin “to understand place, the immediate specific place where we live”, we can begin to become bioregionalists.
Bioregionalism: A Paradigm Comparison
Speaking of paradigmatic mindset shifts, Kirkpatrick Sale actually offers us a table to compare two paradigms, the Bioregional Paradigm and the Industrio-Scientific Paradigm, across four areas: Scale, Economy, Polity, and Society.
| Bioregional Paradigm | Industrio-Scientific Paradigm | |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Region Community | State Nation/World |
| Economy | Conservation Stability Self-sufficiency Cooperation | Exploitation Change/Progress World Economy Competition |
| Polity | Decentralization Complementarity Diversity | Centralization Hierarchy Uniformity |
| Society | Symbiosis Evolution Division | Polarization Growth/Violence Monoculture |
We recognize scale as a tangible mechanism for beginning to understand bioregions, especially since we see The Upper New River Basin as a bioregion.
The Scale of Bioregionalism
The surfaces of each continent on planet Earth can be divided into hierarchical or heterarchical divisions, or regions, across scales. According to Kirkpatrick Sale and others, there are three basic “levels” of regions: ecoregions, georegions, and morphoregions, with ecoregions considered the largest of the three. Sale provides example descriptions for each size region.
Ecoregions
“The widest natural region, taking its character from the broadest distribution of native vegetation and soil types, might be called the ecoregion. It is a huge area of perhaps several hundred thousand square miles, normally (in the American setting) covering several states, its outlines determined largely by the spread of its trees or grasses at the time when its natural development was at its climax phase of maturity and stability. The boundaries are likely to be most imprecise at this stage but one can identify about forty such ecoregions across the North American continent.”
Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land, p. 56
Wikipedia has an entry for Ecoregion that describes them as such:
“Ecoregions (ecological regions) are ecological and geographic areas that exist on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources.[2] Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions.”
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecoregion
Georegions
“Within the large ecoregion it is possible to distinguish smaller bioregions with their own coherent characteristics, identified most often by clear physiographic features such as river basins, valleys, and mountain ranges, and often some special floral and final traits as well. A watershed—flows and valleys of a major river system—is a particularly distinctive kind of georegion, more easily mapped than most, with aquatic and riverine life usually quite special to that area and with human settlements and economies peculiar to that river.”
Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land, p. 57
Based on initial research, it appears that georegion is uncommon terminology, perhaps used solely by Sale in the context of bioregionalism.
Morphoregions
Finally, in some places, the georegions break down into a series of smaller territories of perhaps several thousand square miles identifiable by distinctive life forms on the surface—towns and cities, mines and factories, fields and farms—and the special landforms that give rise to those particular features in the first place. A watershed, for example, will often change its character perceptibly as it flows from its headwaters to its mouth; with it change the kinds of human activities that accompany the river on its journey and thus the varying styles of human culture and agriculture along the way.
Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land, p. 58
Based on initial research, it appears that morphoregion is also uncommon terminology, perhaps used solely by Sale in the context of bioregionalism.
However, we appreciate Sale’s emphasis on watersheds as easily definable georegions and morphoregions.
One other perspective that can be taken concerning bioregionalism is that of the bioregion as “life-place”…
Bioregion as Life-Place
In his text LifePlace: Bioregional Thought and Practice, Robert Thayer, a professor at UC-Davis, provides alternative terminology for bioregions: the life-place, or lifeplace.
“A bioregion is literally and etymologically a “life-place”—a unique region definable by natural (rather than political) boundaries with a geographic, climatic, hydrological, and ecological character capable of supporting unique human and non-human living communities. Bioregions can be variously defined by the geography of watersheds, similar plant and animal ecosystems, and related identifiable landforms (e.g., particular mountain ranges, prairies, or coastal zones) and by the unique human cultures that grow from natural limits and potentials of the region. Most importantly, the bioregion is emerging as the most logical locus and scale for sustainable regenerative community to take root and take place. In reaction to a globally shallow, consumer-driven, technologically saturated world where humans are alienated from nature and offered simulations of it instead, the bioregion offers an appropriate venue for the natural predisposition toward graceful human life on earth. The bioregional or “life-place” concept suggests the efflorescence and emplacement of biophilia, our innate affection for the totality of life in all its forms. Although by no means a unified philosophy, theory, or method, the bioregional approach suggests a means of living by deep understanding of, respect for, and, ultimately, care of a naturally bounded region or territory.”
Robert Thayer, LifePlace: Bioregional Thought and Practice. (pp. 3-4)
We’ll expand these bioregional descriptions and perspectives as we continue to practice and learn.
Why are we interested in bioregionalism?
The Upper New is a hydrological (watershed-based) bioregion, intersecting and complementing other bioregions. We are a case study for bioregionalism, as our bioregion is (relatively arbitrarily) divided by the political boundary between NC and VA.
We want to serve as a model for bioregional communities (of practice) across the biosphere. As such, we are building a Bioregionalism Platform For Participatory Place-Based Informal and Incidental Learning. We know, that sounds like a dissertation topic. Basically, it is. An informal, incidental continuation of previous dissertation work, in a more practical setting.
Bioregionalism is a core component of The Upper New and all its projects.
Beginning with our home bioregion The Upper New river basin, as well as our nine immediate neighboring basins, we are designing and developing a comprehensive database of basin pages, basin books, basin flyers (maps), basin cards, and basin catalogs: hybrid bioregional catalogs for each basin in North America. Our intention is to make all of these materials available as open educational resources (OER), ideally listed on the OER Commons, where The Upper New could register as an OER Hub.
We also intend to design and implement several workshops, short courses, and longer courses and series on bioregionalism and The Upper New as a bioregion.
Get in touch!
If you’re interested in bioregionalism, the Upper New as bioregion, or any aspect of our work, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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