We have come to a point in our culture where the best response to anything we do not like is to kill it. Humans are doing this to each other, and we are doing this to the land we have called home since the dawn of Creation. If you don't like that person, don't like that plant under the powerline or along the side of the road, don't like that groundhog digging holes in the bank, kill it.
As I hiked The Ridges in Athens, Ohio I came upon a powerline on the south side of the property. They had done some work in the powerline early in the year, but imagine my shock and surprise when encountering it this time and finding that it had apparently been nuked. Not hardly a single living thing remained.
The especially sad part of this for me is that I did my graduate research at The Ridges. I cannot begin to tell you how many trips I have made to the former home of the mentally ill. It would appear to me that somebody is still mentally ill. One of the things my floristic inventory of the site back in 1994 found was that powerline cuts had the greatest species richness of any habitat on the site, including different age woodland habitats, wetlands, or fields. As you can see in the photo above, there is no species richness in this shot, because there are no species.
On my trip home I visited another of my favorite botanizing sites, Ohio Route 56 between Athens and Ash Cave. Along this stretch of road are some very interesting plants, plants that one does not see everyday. In fact, I believe I commented in an earlier blog post that I believe this stretch of road is one of the most botanically intriguing of any state road in Ohio.
This stretch of road however is also now under attack from poor land management practices. I observed herbicide being used with reckless abandon and mowing practices that force the question, "Why?". In the past, I have collected seed of several milkweed species, thistle, Indian Plantain and other wonderful butterfly plants along this stretch of road, but sadly, as far as this year is concerned, there will be no seed to gather because it all got chopped down.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that the power company does not want trees growing into the powerline. I understand that for safety reason the edge of the road needs to be clearly visible. But why can't we hire people to go into the powerline and cut down the stuff getting big and leave the rest. Why do we need to mow a full 45 feet from the edge of the road (I measured). It would seem that the only possible answer is, "because its there."
I know a lot of folks do not understand the value of this roadside habitat, and while its not the best habitat it is still beneficial, as evidenced by the photo below of two swallowtails and a fritillary enjoying the nectiferous bounty of a roadside thistle. Your home landscape can provide the same bounty. A photo that I did not stop to gather was of a roadside ditch that had been hit with herbicide. The front yard of this home had a putting green lawn that extended to the ditch which was reduced to bare dirt, every living plant which had called the ditch home having been nuked.
My prayer as I wrap this post up is that at some point people will learn that a world exists beyond ourselves. I pray that we come to the respectful recognition that God thought it important to populate this world with other organisms besides us, and that those organisms deserve a place to carry out their short but valuable lives. That God expects this.
I just read yesterday words of Aldo Leopold that speak so clearly here: "We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." This is the sig file on the email of a friend who is completing her Masters of Environmental Science... and I plan to share this post with her! (And a professor in that department who is a friend.) Thank you for sharing, Chris!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thesis of the wanton destruction of natural places. But I am not convinced that it is because people kill what they don't like -- as much as I think that people fear what they don't understand and think more of their own convenience than anything that they don't fully understand.
ReplyDeleteThe Arizona Bark Scorpion has one of the deadliest venoms of all the scorpions in the world, they climb walls and drop down in cribs. People Fear them. The Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion is bigger, does not climb, and its venom not deadly (though not pleasant either). People don't understand the difference and kill either species on sight -- "it is a scorpion, after all, and doesn't belong on my property.". But the Giant Desert Hairy is responsible for eating many pests -- including the Bark Scorpion -- and is a generally benign addition to human habitat. People do not understand and so they fear.
Many desert trees have nasty thorns. But when they are brought under domestication and used for landscaping, thornless varieties are bred so they are not as dangerous (ouch!) to prune into the desired shape. It is not convenient (or aesthetically appealing) to wear a band-aid.
I could go on with examples (as i am sure you could, too). Do you think education is the solution (or at least part of it)? You are right that God has made man -- as the highest of his creations -- stewardship over his creation (or at least those parts that man can currently reach and study).
Well Dave, yes I am probably exaggerating. However, I know we live in a very violent nation, a nation in which life of any kind has less and less value each day. As example, here in Ohio a few months back a burglar running away from a house was shot dead at the edge of the woods. Was this a case of fear? I think not. THis was a case of "that jerk deserves to die because he robbed me." BTW, the shooter got off with a $1000 fine and 60 days probation. There have been way too many of those kinds of examples lately. Don't like dealing with weeds in the ditch? Nuke 'em! The impact that action will have on anybody or anything else doesn't matter.
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