By CRAIG D'OOGE
Speaking recently on a local talk show, Poet Laureate Robert Hass, who lives in California, said, "From my part of the world it looks like everything gets transformed into editorial cartoons when it passes through Washington."
Many others have made similar observations about the nation's capital, but, unlike most, Mr. Hass realized he was in a position to do something about it.
Soon after his appointment as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, he realized his unwieldy new title could be of use in advancing the cause of preserving the tradition of American nature writing.
"The nature writing tradition in America is one of the deepest things about us as a people," Mr. Hass has written.
"It includes the writing of Thomas Jefferson, the journals of Lewis and Clark, the sea novels of Melville, Thoreau's great Walden, the Sierra essays of John Muir, and the hunting stories of Hemingway and Faulkner, as well as the prairie books of Willa Cather and the popular scientific writing of Rachel Carson and Lewis Thomas. "All you have to do is name the names to see that this is a literary tradition that fuses science and art, advocacy and meditation, with a deep sense of place and of community."
After much discussion with friends and colleagues, including the poet Gary Snyder, Mr. Hass decided to create a little fusion of his own.
What if he could bring together those who write and teach about nature with those who strive to protect it?
Thus the idea for a weeklong conference was born. Mr. Hass knew he could assemble all the necessary literary talent and get writers to donate their time, but to cover the educational side he would need a partner. That partner turned out to be the Orion Society, an environmental education organization. Together, they raised the private funds to present "Watershed: Writers, Nature and Community" - six days of readings, lectures, dialogues, panel discussions, classroom visits and performances celebrating nature and nature writing, at the Library and other sites around the Washington area from April 15 to 20. The International Rivers Network and Poetry Flash magazine, based in San Francisco, were associate sponsors. Hundreds of other organizations also got involved.
The week opened with a Monday evening lecture on April 15 at the Corcoran Gallery, by author Peter Matthiessen, titled "Cranes and Wilderness." The next night at the Library of Congress, the Poet Laureate introduced a program called "Dirt Rich: An Evening of African American Reflections of Place in Words and Music," presented by poets Lucille Clifton, Cornelius Eady and Rachel Bagby.
The next four days were devoted to panel discussions during the day, followed by readings at night.
Among the many authors who participated in "Watershed" were Pattiann Rogers, Scott Russell Sanders, Linda Hogan, Richard Nelson, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, William Kittredge, Gary Paul Nabhan, Annick Smith, Rick Bass, James Galvin and Joy Harjo.
Many related events took place throughout the Washington area, including visits by writers to local public schools and an award ceremony for a national art and poetry contest for American schoolchildren on the theme of "watersheds."
When all was said and done, Terry Tempest Williams summed up the proceedings for the Denver Post, writing: "Robert Hass has flooded the District of Columbia with stories.
"Now we can thank him for bringing his vision of 'Watershed' to a town where many of our lawmakers have forgotten where the source of true power lies - always with the land."
Craig D'Ooge is media director in the Public Affairs Office.