For the last several years, Chris Chrystal, serving as writer/editor/photographer and production manager, has been the heart and soul of Biodiversity News. In early March, Chris left the Resources Agency and all of us who know and respect Chris for her contributions to the Biodiversity Council wish her well. We will miss the knowledge, enthusiasm and professionalism, as well as the unique style and wit she called upon to produce Biodiversity News. Good luck, Chris, and thank you!
When I was asked in the spring of 1993 to edit a newsletter on biodiversity, I said, “I’d love to. Whatıs biodiversity?” Being new to the Resources Agency, I wasnıt sure. Before long, however, I was crowing about the beauty of biodiversity to my friends and trying not to feel superior when they, too, asked, “Sounds great, but what is it? ”
California Biodiversity Council chair Doug Wheeler, California’s Secretary for Resources and Ed Hastey, state director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), wanted to start a Council newsletter. The BLM and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (thanks to Roger Patterson and Jeff McCracken) put up the money to get the publication going, and Pat Foulk at the BLM put her considerable talents to work laying out the first issue on her Mac. Andy McLeod of the Resources Agency provided guidance and advice. Over the years, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has contributed enormously with mailing list services and postage, and many other Council agencies have kicked in with support in various ways.
After five years of participating in Council activities and writing the newsletter, I look at nature differently. I see that each piece of the natural world is part of a big picture, from the tiniest organism to human beings. I understand that it is up to each of us to protect biodiversity, whether or not we work in the natural resources field.
I appreciate what the Council has accomplished pulling together local, state, and federal administrators of natural resources policy in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. As I see it, the Councilıs greatest achievement is its ability to bridge barriers among governmental departments, boards, and agencies.
Each entity has its own agenda to push and differing political influences to deal with. But the fellowship the Council engenders helps create a congenial, focused atmosphere for members to get acquainted and communicate informally about resource issues of mutual concern. The Council has no power to make regulations; itıs strictly a forum, and that’s the beauty of it. Thanks to the commitment and support of Wheeler, Hastey, and the DWR, the newsletter flourished, and the Council developed from a handful of members into an entity with more than three dozen agencies and the University of California. Behind the scenes, staffers like Joanne Cemo of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Susan Cochrane of the Department of Fish and Game, Carl Rountree of the BLM, Janine Stenback and Rebecca Fawver of the Resources Agency, Mike Chapel of the U.S. Forest Service, and many others keep the Council running smoothly, in addition to their regular jobs at member agencies. The talented team at CERES, the state’ s excellent environmental web site, puts biodiversity programs on-line. (Kudos to Sheila Hurst, Effie Milionis, Deanne DiPietro, Lowell Kepics, and their leader, Gary Darling.)
Wheeler and Hastey believe in developing policy from the bottom up, listening to people and giving them a say in creating policies that affect their communities. The newsletter reflected this attitude in its focus on local projects and community interviews.
Editing California Biodiversity News was a labor of love. From issue No. 1 until issue No. 20, my last as editor, the newsletter was the most significant task my job entailed. I am grateful for having had the opportunity, and I hope that it will be published for years to come, evolving and changing with each editor, as it should.