[env-trinity] LA Times Op-Ed: The Myth of the Wild

[Sari Sommarstrom]

http://latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-geoengineer-salmon-russ
-george-20140429,0,841306.column

latimes.com     Op-Ed   by  Jonah Goldberg     6:11 PM PDT, April 28, 2014

The myth of the wild

The notion that America was 'wild' when Europeans found it is more than a
little racist; it assumes Indians didn't act like humans everywhere else.


 

	

The pristine natural world is gone; get used to it.

Nearly all of the earthworms in New England and the upper Midwest were
inadvertently imported from Europe. The American earthworms were wiped out
by the last Ice Age. That's why when European colonists first got here, many
forest floors were covered in deep drifts of wet leaves. The wild horses of
the American West may be no less invasive than the Asian carp advancing on
the Great Lakes. Most species of the tumbleweed, icon of the Old West, are
actually from Russia or Asia.

The notion that America was "wild" when Europeans found it is more than a
little racist; it assumes Indians didn't act like humans everywhere else.
Native Americans weren't Ur-hippies taking only drawings and leaving only
footprints. They cultivated plants, cleared forests with extensive burning
to boost the population of desired animals, and otherwise altered the
landscape in ways that may have seemed natural to newcomers but were
nonetheless profound. As biologist Charles Kay observes, "Native Americans
were the ultimate keystone species, and their removal has completely altered
ecosystems . throughout North America."

Kay goes on to note that when we set aside a "wilderness" and then let
"nature take its course," we aren't preserving "some remnant of the past."
We are instead creating "conditions that have not existed for the last
10,000 years."

And even then, these supposedly wild places aren't truly wild. That's
because to the extent they are preserved in their seemingly natural state,
it is by humanity's will. Also, the remaining wild animals in those places
are often the ones we decided should live or didn't accidentally kill. And
the plants and animals that ate - or were eaten by - those creatures have
never been the same. Without humans, dogs, cows, pigs and chickens wouldn't
have evolved the way they have.

The wild environment isn't just about trees and bears and other forms of
charismatic mega flora and fauna. I heard Bill Gates on NPR the other day
talking about the great strides his foundation has made against malaria and
how we may be on the brink of actually eradicating polio forever. Diseases
play a huge part of any natural ecosystem, and we've been trying to drive
them to extinction for centuries.

Last year, the salmon catch in southeast Alaska was the largest ever
recorded. It may have been because controversial scientist-businessman Russ
George, under contract with the Haida tribe in British Columbia, dumped 120
tons of iron sulfate into the ocean. The idea was to create a phytoplankton
bloom that would in turn create feeding grounds for zooplankton, which in
turn provide food for salmon and, in turn, the critters that eat them.
Supporters believe George's experiment was a win-win-win all the way up the
food chain, for grizzly bears and lox-and-bagel aficionados alike. Skeptics
want more data, arguing - fairly - that the experiment needs more study.

Geoengineering proponents hope that such techniques might one day be used to
sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere (though studies are
mixed on this score), thus diminishing the need for wealth-crushing fossil
fuel prohibitions while making food cheaper for humanity. In principle, this
is no more outrageous than draining swampland to eradicate malaria and
create farmland.

As Robert Zubrin recently wrote on National Review Online, George's efforts
have been condemned by U.N. bureaucrats, environmentalists and many
scientists. The scientists are understandably cautious; the bureaucrats
claim George may have violated some treaties.

But some of the ideological responses Zubrin cited are ridiculous. Naomi
Klein, writing in 2012, was excited to see so many killer whales when she
was in British Columbia on vacation. But when it dawned on her that the
orcas might be there to partake of George's "all you can eat seafood
buffet," she was horrified. In a world of geoengineering, she lamented, "all
natural events can begin to take on an unnatural tinge.. A presence that
felt like a miraculous gift suddenly feels sinister, as if all of nature
were being manipulated behind the scenes."

That ship sailed at least 10,000 years ago.

 <mailto:jgoldberg at latimescolumnists.com> jgoldberg at latimescolumnists.com

Copyright C 2014,  <http://www.latimes.com/> Los Angeles Times

 

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