Bulldozers and Mother Nature: A Bad Combination

Hmmm, what makes us think that we canimprove on Mother Nature?

I have always been an advocate of the IfIt ain’t broke, don’t fix it school of thought. Admittedly, there are plentyof things in our world that need fixing.

But too often, instead of focusing onwhat is broken, human beings in their hubris look at something that is functioningproperly and decide: I can make it better. My response to these ill-consideredinitiatives is often: You did not make it better. You made itdifferent and in the process arguably made it less than it was before.

When it comes to Mother Nature, she increasinglyneeds protecting but never needs to be improved. The trouble beginswhen those in positions of authority confuse the two terms.

Case in point. For many years, I was regularvisitor to Hilton Falls Conservation Area near Milton. The photo at the head ofthis post was taken there. I had not been back there for several years and decidedto make an overdue return visit earlier this month.

Hilton Fills has many kilometers of hikingand biking trails. My typical hike takes me around the reservoir on the Red OakTrail branching off onto the lengthy Beaver Dam Trail which winds throughwoodland with occasional sunny glades and wetlands. I only venture a shortdistance on the Beaver Dam Trail to a few good spots for viewing my cherished wingedwonders.

In the past, the Beaver Dam Trail was ahard-packed dirt trail about 12 feet wide with grassy margins. But when Iarrived at it this time, I discovered to my dismay that Conservation Halton haddecided it needed to be improved.

Their improvement involvedwidening the opening through the woods to about 40 feet demolishing many treesin the process. They built a raised berm in the middle with a gravel trail ontop of it, steeply sloped sides and plastic fencing at the tree line to ensureno one commits the cardinal sin of coming into contact with the woods.

The end result is a sterile, urban-styletrail with the equivalent of a moat on either side. Anyone hiking the trail nowexperiences a visual and space barrier between themselves and the very naturethey came seeking. Not improved in the any sense of the word and causingvery real harm in the process.

Conservation Halton no doubt brought in largeexcavation equipment to do the work. Mother Nature does not respond well tothis kind of intrusion. The wetlands along the trail used to have numerous dragonfliesand damselflies cavorting about them. But on my recent visit, they were barrenof any such activity. The ecosystem is damaged and may take years to recover.

The arrangement of anecosystem is like a clock where each part works closely and in harmony witheach other such that it is able to tell time. (Credit to Patrick Regoniel, EnvironmentalScience Professor, for the metaphor.) Throw a spanner into the clock andthe parts stop working together. Time stops while the ecosystem struggles torepair itself.

Conservation Halton: You batteredand bruised Mother Nature on the Beaver Dam Trail. Now we have to hope and praythat she can undo the damage over time.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, ChaptersIndigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories byMichael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Untilthe Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner inthe Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.