On June 19, 2013, Bob Williams, a certified forester practicing in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, received New Jersey Audubon's Richard Kane Conservation Award--- their conservationist of the year award. He has successfully planned timber harvests for commercial and government forests for more than twenty years, converting little-remembered and poorly cared for forests into … [Read more...]
The Balance of Nature Belief Is Alive and Vigorous, Even Though it Never Existed
I have written for more than 20 years that we need to move away from the ancient myth of the balance of nature---the idea that nature, undisturbed by people, is constant. This idea has formed the premises for many environmental laws and policies. Recently, some of the major U.S. Environmental organizations have expressed the need to move away from this ancient myth, a very … [Read more...]
Bridges, Wayfarers, and Risk Assessment
Thursday, May 23, 2013, the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River at Mount Vernon, state of Washington, collapsed. The immediate cause was a truck carrying an oversized load hitting the bridge. But a federal database had listed the bridge as “functionally obsolete.” This suggests that the feds knew that the bridge ought to have been repaired or replaced.As someone who … [Read more...]
Novel Ecosystems and the Balance of Nature
Two important books suggest major new ways we need to think about nature and our connection to it: Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order by Richard Hobbs, R.J., Eric Higgs, and Carol Hall and Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World by Emma Marris. Both start with the premise that people have changed the environment in major ways, and … [Read more...]
Is There a Balance of Nature?
NO: THERE IS NO BALANCE OF NATURE, BUT WE KEEP ACTING AS IF THERE WAS.It is common to believe that nature --- our entire environment ---is constant, as long as people stay out of the way. But as an ecologist with more than 40 years’ experience in research, I have studied every aspect of our environment. And it is clear that there is no balance of nature. Everything … [Read more...]
Should We Introduce More Wolves On To Isle Royale National Park?
Wolves and moose have lived on Isle Royale National Park since the 1940s, the wolves feeding mainly on moose, the moose trying to avoid being killed by wolves. They live in one of America's best wilderness. Isle Royale in Lake Superior, is 45 miles long and 8 miles wide. A new report from Michigan Technical University, Houghton, MI, states that the island’s wolf population … [Read more...]
Radio Interview on AM Ocala Live!
Why is my book called “The Moon in the Nautilus Shell” and why do I write about the “Discordant Harmonies” of nature?In the radio interview I did with Robin MacBlane and Larry Whitler on “AM Ocala Live!” I got a chance to explain these. It led to a discussion about why music and its harmony are a good way to think about what nature around us is really like. And also to tell … [Read more...]
Reconciling Economics and Ecology
It is common to believe that economic and environmental considerations run counter to each other --- that actions taken to help the environment always take away from economic gains, and vice versa. But when experts from these two fields work together, both economics and environment can benefit. The Property and Economics Research Center (PERC) of Bozeman, MT. held a workshop … [Read more...]