Kuthai Lake, southeast of Atlin, BC
On some level I have always understood the importance of conserving an ecosystem as a whole. But I realize now that the farther into “academia” I get, the more the conservation hair gets split. Some how the conversation got moved from the earth as a whole to the importance of the sub-populations of the Socorro Wren in southern California?
Since I have come to the Taku, this incredibly large, wild expanse that puts the “wild lands” from home to shame, the importance of the large scale functioning ecosystem has sunk back in. It began the first night we had Jackie Williams (“Uncle” Jackie) over for dinner. He did what a thousand scientific, peer reviewed articles cannot. He related the conservation of the land to me as a person. Often times we read shocking studies on the loss of biodiversity, thousands of acres of ransacked rainforests, skyrocketing high levels of atmospheric carbon but what does this mean for our lives? What does it mean for your grocery list? Your job? Does it affect the ins and outs of your daily life? How does it translate into changes in our attitudes about the Earth?
What Uncle Jackie did was call the river and the land my grandfather. “Treat it as you would your grandfather, so it may live a long time and well. Respect it.” That I understood. As a human, a grandchild, a part of a family. I can revere, respect, love, and learn from the land just as I would my grandparents. Not just wild lands either. All lands, whether they be back yards, cattle ranges parks, or back country. All lands have something to say and teach.
I have heard people talk about the Earth this way, but I don’t believe anyone ever meant it as much as Uncle Jackie did. His people are from this land, born and died here. He is tied to this ecosystem because he is a part of it. He told us that the river is the big artery that carries blood to our heart. As this sunk in, I realized if the river is the aorta, the salmon are the blood, the trees and plants the muscles, and the animals all the organs performing their functions. Damage to any part of this being will cause cascading complications throughout its body, causing pain and suffering. The natural world is not a machine as you so often hear it described. It cannot be lubricated to extend it’s life, replacement parts are not standing at the ready. It lives and breathes, it requires nourishment, space and freedom. Just like you and I. As a scientist I have to remember this and live by it. It isn’t just numbers on a page, DNA samples in tubes, or specimens to be keyed and recorded. This is our grandmother, we must care, respect, listen, and learn from her. We cannot forget that she is a part of all of us and in her fate we foresee our own.