Our Basin of Relations

Water does not lie. Here in the Champlain Basin—a flowing landscape of mountains and rivers, forests and farms, towns and cities—it is the water that whispers difficult truths. From erosion, pollution, and habitat loss, to the toxic algae blooms that close Champlain’s beaches every summer, this once vital ecosystem is coming undone. And while there is no shortage of proposed technical and legislative solutions, it is clear that we also need distinct cultural responses to the problem—ways to see, hear, feel, and understand what the water is telling us. That is where this book comes in. Featuring the fine art photography of M.E. Sipe, the curating vision of Trevien Stanger, and over a dozen essays written by thinkers, academics, poets, farmers, and activists who call this region home, Our Basin of Relations presents new ways of thinking and old ways to remember, helping us chart a more honest path forward toward preservation and renewal. With open hearts, wild minds, and attentive bodies, these essayists deepen our insights and advance our sense of the possible for all of the beings, and for all of our relations, that constitute our home: this beautiful place, the Champlain Basin.

Trevien Stanger

Trevien Stanger is a poet, tree-planter, educator, and writer living and working in the Champlain Basin of Vermont and New York State. Since his early twenties, Trevien has worked seasonally for the Intervale Conservation Nursery, where he leads crews in completing ecological restoration projects along Vermont’s rivers and wetlands. Throughout this decade of tree-planting, he has witnessed first hand the realities of Lake Champlain’s clean water issues, while also helping play a small, direct role in generating new technical and cultural responses to the situation.