Stewardship In Our Natural Areas
Increasing the Land's Capacity for Self Renewal
When you visit our nature preserves, you will immediately notice that we have been busy clearing trails and erecting signs so visitors can enjoy the forests, rivers and grasslands that lie within. But more subtle changes are stirring—changes which may be more easily noticed by animals than people.
Gradually, through wise
stewardship, we are increasing the integrity, stability and beauty of our
nature preserves. These landscapes are already richly diverse and many are
home to threatened plants and animals. By acquiring these properties through
the Natural Areas Preservation Program, we are protecting the land from
development. But conservation does not stop there. In the words of Aldo
Leopold, "Health is the capacity of the land for self renewal.
Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this
capacity."
How do we preserve this capacity for self renewal? Practically speaking, we remove the invasive species and let the land heal itself. Invasive species don’t fight fairly, and they don’t share territory easily. All plants compete for water, nutrients and sunlight but invasive species use a number of tricks to gain unfair advantage. Some raise soil nitrogen levels so high that it is toxic to other plants (think of "burning" a plant with too much fertilizer). Others take up water so fast that other plants dry out. Still others cast such dense shade that native plants are unable to photosynthesize, and essentially starve. This alters the balance of competition. Once invasive plants become established the native plants begin to fall like dominos and the land can lose its capacity for self renewal. Ultimately, diversity can become so impoverished that animals may not be able to find the food, water and shelter they need. Species extinction in these fragmented landscapes is a very real possibility.
Many ask if it is meaningful to preserve islands of habitat when we are faced with such massive challenges as global climate change. The noted naturalist John Muir puts it this way, "The battle we have fought, and are still fighting for the forests ... we cannot expect to see the end of it ... So we must count on watching and striving for these trees, and should always be glad to find anything so surely good and noble to strive for." Wise stewardship of our natural areas, both large and small, will continue to be a priority for WCPARC because of its significant contribution to the quality of life for all county residents—plants, animals and people! h
