Don’t Dam Patagonia: Now Is the Time to Dig In

Craig Childs / Jul 5, 2011 / 1 Min Read / Activism

As the new Patagonia catalog hits your mailbox, we asked Craig Childs the author of "
[Taking the power of the Rio Baker's still-wild waters. All photos: ©James Q Martin]

We did good work down there – interviews and camera lenses. We sat in a bishop's house in Coihaique, his cigarette tucked into his palm as he blew smoke to the ceiling and told us Chile's water is not for sale. A young man sitting by a warm cocina in a one-room shack explained to me that he is a habitante, one who inhabits this place. Because of that, he said he was necessarily an activist.

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[Team Rios Libres. ©James Q Martin]

Find out more about this issue, as well as our our current environmental campaign: Our Common Waters.

For updates on the dams project in Chile:

– Natural Resources Defense Council's Save BioGems Campaign

– The 180º South-inspired ¡Sin Represas! effort

– Conservacion Patagonica

– International Rivers

– The Rios Libres effort

Author Profile

Craig Childs

Craig Childs is an Arizona native who grew up back and forth between there and Colorado, son of a mother hooked on outdoor adventure and a dad who liked whiskey, guns, and Thoreau. He has published more than a dozen critically acclaimed books and is a commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. At High Country News, he’s a contributing editor, and he teaches writing for both the University of Alaska in Anchorage and Southern New Hampshire University. He lives off the grid with his wife and two young sons at the foot of the West Elk Mountains in Colorado.