Raise the Stakes Archive

“Raise The Stakes, the Planet Drum Review, a bi-annual publication, presented thought-provoking essays on issues ranging from restoration ecology to the greening of cities from 1979 – 2000. In addition [it had] a “Circles of Correspondence” section describing the activities of bioregional groups throughout the U.S. and internationally, Raise the Stakes included original poetry, articles on a variety of ecological subjects, unique graphics, new publications and other announcements.”  It was printed in tabloid format on book paper.

                        “…the periodical Raise the Stakes was of immeasurable importance in                             defining and disseminating the ideas and possibilities of bioregionalism…”

—Gary Snyder, 2011

 Naturalists, alternative energy advocates, poets, permaculturists, social activists, and others attracted by the bioregional idea eventually required more regular means to communicate with one another than the infrequent “Bundles”. Planet Drum began publishing its biannual review Raise The Stakes! (the first two issues had an exclamation point after the name), with an issue in 1979 titled “Soft Borders,” that declared the following intention:

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“Humankind. Our identity as a species sharing life on this planet is emerging to break through the political concrete…and cultural artifacture of the machine-dominated Age of Production.

 We are becoming the peoples of the planet.

Our lives are growing more directly related to each other and to the life of the planet itself.

What “freedom” meant in the 18th Century and what “social justice” meant after then has become for us now the spirit of interdependence.

RAISE THE STAKES! will present ideas and information from the opening terrain of humankind identity.

SOFT BORDERS is an introduction to the spectrum of new political vision that is relating ethnic and regional preservation to wider questions of our species’ adaptability and the diversity of the biosphere…

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Below is an index of issues. Each issue has a table of contents and a PDF that may be read online or downloaded, The articles are continuing sources of valuable ideas. Some issues are still available for purchase and complete sets are available for libraries.

No.	Title	Date
1	Soft Borders	Fall 79
2	Eco-Development: Decolonizing Ourselves	Winter 81
3	Cities: Salvaging the Parts	Summer 81
4	The News Doesn’t Come From One Place	Winter 82
5	Natural Provision	Spring 82
6	Harvesting the Trash	Winter 83
7	What’s Happening to  The Water Web	Spring 83
8	Recovering Autonomy	Fall 83
9	Livelier Sense	Spring 84
10	Open Fire: A Council of Bioregional Self-Criticism	Summer 84
11	Urb an’ Bioregion: Green City	Spring 86
12	Emerging States: A Bioregional Directory	Spring 87
13	Nature in Cities	Winter 88
14	Borders	Winter 88-89
15	North “America” Plus: A Bioregional Directory	Fall 89
16	Europe Now: The Bioregional Prospect	Spring/Summer 90
17	Exploring Urban Frontiers	Winter 91
18/19	Eco-Governance: Bioregional Gatherings	Winter 91/ Spring  92
20	Eco-Governance II: Anatomy of the Shasta Bioregional Gathering	Fall 92
21	Bioregional Culture	Spring/Summer 93
22	Food as Place: Bioregional Agriculture	Winter 93/94
23	Things That Really Work: A Bioregional Toolkit	Summer 94
24	Bioregional Directory & Map	Winter 94/ Spring 95
25	Connecting Our Species: Planet Reports	Winter 95/96
26	3 R’s and a B: Bioregional School	Fall 96
27	Mainstreaming Watersheds	Summer 97
28	Reinhabitation or Global Monoculture?	Spring 98
29	A Deep (ecology) Breath Before 2000: Raise the Stakes Anthology I	Winter 98/99
30	Eco-Realism about Water,Food, Cities: Raise the Stakes Anthology II	Winter 99/2000