Yvon Chouinard: Hero for the American Landscape
I don’t have many heroes in my life. The second I start holding someone in such high regard, their actions or information about them normally lets me down.
Thankfully a current rising hero of mine, Yvon Chouinard, hasn’t disappointed yet.
Environmentalist, rock climber, adventurer, and most notably wealthy businessman who owns outdoor clothing company Patagonia, Chouinard reminds me of other iconic moguls of a given industry — Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos. Whether you like any of these men or not, it’s fair to say that each one impresses by remaining staunch in their beliefs and principles.
They constantly have a fire in their bellies.
Chouinard has demonstrated this characteristic more recently than the rest, when his company announced that they would sue Donald Trump over the president’s decision to reduce the size of national monuments and public lands.
We’ve heard few updates over the past month of Chouinard’s legal efforts against Trump. So, who knows what will happen next.
The 2017 news cycle felt like it brought constant buzz, stories that made us believe our president — our big bad wolf — was finally exposed and would fall. But these allegations and legal pursuits seemed to move at a snail’s pace.
Patagonia vs. Trump may be no different.
I think many of us would be surprised to learn of the philanthropic and compassionate nature of these big outdoor clothing companies — Patagonia, North Face, L.L. Bean.
They’re constantly working towards land conservation and protecting beautiful wilderness areas, which the American landscape has identified itself by for centuries. It’s not simply a stunt by these owners and CEO’s to improve their brand (though donating to environmental causes probably helps). Patagonia, North Face, and L.L. Bean have effectively used their wealth and notoriety for good.
Chouinard, as well as North Face founder Doug Tompkins, is featured prominently in a 2010 documentary called 180 Degrees South. A film I highly recommend.
A young adventurer, Jeff Johnson, is retracing the journey that Chouinard and Tompkins made to Patagonia, Chile in the 60’s.
Jeff’s journey causes Chouinard and Tompkins to reminisce on their travels, but also comment on how the land — our use and interaction with it — has changed since the 60’s.
It’s clear, even without seeing Jeff’s trip through California and Mexico and Chile, that North and South America’s lands have been exploited for profit. The anthropocentric impact on different towns or cities and their culture is unbelievable. Places have been forced to adapt to industrialization or be wiped out entirely. (We see real examples of this throughout the documentary.)
Though as Chouinard says, this behavior — the behavior of big business — towards the land and the environment is probably not even intentional. I tend to agree with that sentiment. Why deliberately harm the environment you live in each day? It’s not worth it.
Chouinard and Tompkins leave viewers with many great nuggets of wisdom throughout the documentary.
In the same vein of the great environmental writers I’ve read, these two guys recognize and can effectively articulate the importance of preserving our wild lands. It’s why they’ve spent their lives “fighting” for conservation and pouring millions of dollars into it.
The last thing Chouinard and Tompkins leave us with is a brief discussion on where we go from here.
How do we fix land issues? Can we stop what we’re doing?
“The hardest thing to do in the world is simplify your life,” Chouinard says.
Reductionism is difficult in an age of rapid technological or industrial growth. Even on an individual level it’s tough. To that end, anthropocentrism is not suddenly going to stop.
Tompkins, then, compares our current situation to walking on a cliff. Do we proceed with another step forward? Chouinard responds saying, “the solution may be for many of the world’s problems to turnaround and take a forward step.”
Continue to take action, but focus our efforts in a new direction from where we’re currently going. Sage advice, if you ask me.
180 Degrees South is both a celebration of the landscape and a critique of our anthropocentric use of it. Philosophically, the critique and subsequent solutions offered by the film hits the bullseye.
Stripping away wilderness is clearly negatively impacting the world’s culture. To preserve what’s left is imperative.
I’ve never boughten anything from Patagonia. For that reason I can put aside my consumerist feelings and see Chouinard as an environmentalist, first and foremost. I so appreciate and value Chouinard sticking to his guns and fighting for what he believes in, what I also believe in.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Present Trump’s desire to shrink national monuments is an abomination.
Whether Chouinard and Patagonia is able to help prevent such appalling action is to be seen. Regardless, a statement has been made by Chouinard — someone who certainly has customers that support President Trump.
For Chouinard to use his platform to vocalize his stance on public lands is important for the ecological direction we need to go. It’s an attempt at stopping our tracks as we walk towards the edge of that cliff, advising that we make our 180 degree turn and move forward in a different direction.
Politicians certainly have a large influence on environmental decisions, therefore they must hear the outcry. And to me, the outcry hits harder nationally when it comes from someone like Chouinard.
As someone who’s never shopped at Patagonia, I’ve never taken the time learn lots about Chouinard. But what he’s done lately and the ideas he’s expressed on conservation sound pretty heroic to me. I hope he continues to fight the good fight against Trump’s government. I hope he continues to tell the U.S. government to shove it.
