Two messages that force a choice between humans and ecosystems…

If this Humans Always Cause Damage» frame were widely held, then it would undermine the
environmental movement because it forces a choice between humans and ecosystems. 3 Most
infamously, when forced to choose between humans and the earth, Earth First! activists, for example,
have chosen the earth. Other groups include the Voluntary Human Existence Movement, currently
championed by Les Knight. He writes, Phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed will
allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health.

Although many academics, scientists, and activists have avoided making a choice and have rightly
recognized it as a false dichotomy , many members of the public have felt the need to choose and have
done so.

…and undermine environmental solutions

By fostering the notion that human touch is bad for the environment. the claim that «All human touch is
damaging to ecosystems» undermines active stewardship. Stewardship programs require positive
human touch, but under a «Humans Always Cause Damage» frame, such touch becomes an oxymoron,
an impossible contradiction.

That means that these two messages -- «All humans are in competition with the ecosystem» and «All
human touch is damaging to ecosystems» -- pit humans against the environment. For example, an
Audubon Louisiana wetlands restoration project in New Orleans in 2012 involved taking a beautiful,
thriving Tallow forest and cutting it down, and then spraying the tree stumps with poison to make sure
the invasive tallow trees could not grow back.