Today I spent the entire day in a training in central Connecticut in a corporate convention room of a hotel. It was an experiential trauma training and therefore somewhat draining emotionally.
They ended the training by showing an inspirational Vimeo called "Wolves Can Change Rivers" which was a sort of Hallmark Card of a mini documentary about Yellowstone Park and the re-introduction of wolves to the ecosystem in 1995. The movie's claim, which they demonstrate through lots of dynamic National Geo-like photos, is that wolves caused a "trophic cascade" ending in the change in the course of the actual river. What does that mean? Good question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
Wolves killed off deer and elk who were over grazing meadowlands. With the wolves there deer avoided the open meadows, which soon grew back more forest. More trees brought more birds and then beavers to the area. These brought more wildlife who liked the pools created by the dams and the whole ecosystem became more lively. The trees also stabilized the land around the rivers so that they would not meander as much and stay within their river bed. Sounds beautiful right? Sounds too simple and easy right?
Right. It's since been debunked. Wolves returning to the wild do have an impact on Yellowstone, but man has probably a greater impact. The claim that they can change the course of rivers is a fairytale made for a TED talk, but...
If that is a fairytale or a white lie I'll take it anyway. I like the idea of wolves back in Yellowstone and I wish the woods around us were still wild enough for these creatures. Maybe we would have less deer then and I could keep my tulips in the Spring.
I'll take the Hallmark Card lie about Yellowstone over Donald Trump/Breitbart/Spicer/Conway Alternative Facts any day - even if in some ways its just as bad. At least its easier on the eyes and inspires people to cheer for the environment.
Today was a good day for anyone who cares about health care. A large victory for the resistance. The result of many small contributions. Hooray.
They ended the training by showing an inspirational Vimeo called "Wolves Can Change Rivers" which was a sort of Hallmark Card of a mini documentary about Yellowstone Park and the re-introduction of wolves to the ecosystem in 1995. The movie's claim, which they demonstrate through lots of dynamic National Geo-like photos, is that wolves caused a "trophic cascade" ending in the change in the course of the actual river. What does that mean? Good question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
Wolves killed off deer and elk who were over grazing meadowlands. With the wolves there deer avoided the open meadows, which soon grew back more forest. More trees brought more birds and then beavers to the area. These brought more wildlife who liked the pools created by the dams and the whole ecosystem became more lively. The trees also stabilized the land around the rivers so that they would not meander as much and stay within their river bed. Sounds beautiful right? Sounds too simple and easy right?
Right. It's since been debunked. Wolves returning to the wild do have an impact on Yellowstone, but man has probably a greater impact. The claim that they can change the course of rivers is a fairytale made for a TED talk, but...
If that is a fairytale or a white lie I'll take it anyway. I like the idea of wolves back in Yellowstone and I wish the woods around us were still wild enough for these creatures. Maybe we would have less deer then and I could keep my tulips in the Spring.
I'll take the Hallmark Card lie about Yellowstone over Donald Trump/Breitbart/Spicer/Conway Alternative Facts any day - even if in some ways its just as bad. At least its easier on the eyes and inspires people to cheer for the environment.
Today was a good day for anyone who cares about health care. A large victory for the resistance. The result of many small contributions. Hooray.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please tell me what good thing you encountered today.