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Returning the Forest
A conservation plan returns the natural landscape. In this picture you can see that the trees have completely restored the forest canopy. That is the good news.
However, when a farmer has a right-of-way to travel through a place to get to his corn fields and he keeps this way open he knowingly and unknowingly interferes with the natural landscape equilibrium. Thus the deep woods cannot restore the forest floor in the area taken by the road. Note the gravel surface without vegetation or forest litter.
Above the trees; restored.
Below the trees; not restored.
The farm road creates an artificial way used by animal both native and domesticated. Wild dogs and cats use such roads to easily hunt in the deep woods. Human hunters also use farm roads to make illegal forays into conserved areas to kill mammals and birds. Walkers also use these roads.
Places that rate a 6 on the NLATS scale will return to the natural landscape if abandoned for a few decades. Lands that contain such roads are usually rated a 6.
2 comments:
Dick,
I mean this in the kindest way possible. I have read al your posts. I think three things:
1) Your thinking has more in common with religion than free thinking. You seem to lack vision, faith (in the universe, not a god), and common sense.
2) How do you reconcile your existence with your own views? You are human and yet you think you are worthy of controlling the rest of us-- at least our thinking. You are into control, are you not? Isn't that the problem here on earth? Perhaps you are emboding the shadow of your own thinking...
3) We are part of the natural processes that gave rise to us. We are as natural as the star dust we are. Invasive plants are native to somewhere and they all got where they ended up through the natural process of riding the hair of a deer or a man. What is natural and what is not is more complex than your thinking allows.
I do wish you luck and hope you have some practical success in your restoration efforts. It's clear that the earth could use a little respect right now, but she can't use more ignorance. Please preach less and learn more about her. Get out there. Be well and good luck in your efforts.
Well, I'm not religious or spiritual. I am a total, ethical vegetarian. I don't need to kill animals for food. I just want to leave them alone. One way is to return acres to the natural landscape. Not eating them is leaving them alone. Just one acre is filled with animals and plants. A meat eater eats the equivalent of one cow a year. Pretty simple to understand. I understood these things spontaneously when I was 14 years old.
"How do you reconcile your existence with your own views?" Not sure what you mean. I think I'm missing something here. If you are talking about hypocrisy I guess every one is guilty of that to some extent. I think that if people act in good faith that sort of excuses it in most cases.
Well, yes. What is invasive in one place is native in another. Invasive cause extinction of other plants and animals. I don't think anyone wants that insofar as people have transported them. I've personally seen lot of new invasive plants in the last 50 years. In the northeast US most can't survive shade, so, a good thing is to return the canopy. Not hard to do. Native trees do it by themselves.
Not sure what ignorance you are referring to.
Thanks for the comment.
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