Page 92 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

6 Local Matters, EcoJustice, and Community 69

community (e.g., bringing about changes to the Official Community Plan by engag-
ing in the political process), the Hagan Creek–Kennes Project was part of sets of
continuously changing relations, along with the creek around which the people
have rallied and the community in which they work.
The activists believed that they were working in and against an adverse political
climate. Farming continues to be the predominant form of land-use in the municipality.
The other major landowners tend to be wealthy individuals living on large 2–10-acre
“rural residential” lots. Both of these types of landowners are considered to be conser-
vative, pro-property rights, and suspicious of people who “tell them how to manage
their land.” Since most of the land in the municipality is private, the activists felt that
building and maintaining good relationships with everyone they possibly could was
paramount to their success in bringing about desired changes. There is not yet a
broader sense that valuing this place, in which we dwell and which provides for us,
also requires a broad-based, shared sense of ecojustice. Such a sense, as I articulate
below, is part of what got seventh graders so excited about doing something for their
community by engaging in Hagan Creek-related activism.
In doing their work, the activists transformed the creek and community (e.g.,
Fig. 10). For example, as they were planning the construction of a large riffle in a
2
very strategic location, the horse riding community insisted that they still be

Fig. 10 The environmentalists have already brought about changes in the watershed, such as the
split-rail cedar fencing (front) that prevent access to the creek and signs that explain historical,
biological, and environmental issues (front left). This section of the creek has been revitalized and
is trout-bearing once again (© Roth 2007. With permission)

2 A riffle is a structure from rocks and wood (logs) designed to make the water tumble, thereby
introduce oxygen into the water and increase the levels of dissolved oxygen.