ECO-TERRORISM?
2007-06-26
Eco-terrorism!? Not people running around "protecting the environment" Monkey Wrench Gang style.... But folks in the profession of restoring rivers and lakes. You know that nature can heal itself don't you? Everyone should just leave everything alone. .......Right?
I can understand this line of thinking but there are some issues... Out here in the arid West - water IS gold. As the saying goes... Wiskeys for drinkin' and waters for fightin'! Throughout the settlement of the West, many have manipulated this precious resource... for mining, logging, agriculture (crop irrigation and producing hay for cattle), municipal water storage, electricity generation, navigation (for trading) and most recently for recreation and restoration. It is easy to put the typical poster child Dam blocking the fishes trek to die spawning and say THAT is bad... Is it? At least it is not so black and white.... the electricity generated by the Dam is not pumping a huge amount of carbon into our atmosphere - you know the stuff that is arguably changing the climate!
Anyway... yes, nature can heal - to a point. However, there are places that have experienced such change that they will never function the way they did prior to disturbance.... so, should we just let it go and let it be "natural" (it is such a pleasant sounding word....hmmmmm?) or should we try to put it back into balance?
This is not only the question for river restoration professionals - it is a question to all of us.... Are there ways to restore the climate?... or once it changes are we stuck with it and will have to make the best of it then? .........We'll all be eco-terrorists......
.......drift
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