Cal DeWitt, former professor of ecological studies at the University of Wisconsin and former director of the Au Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, is a good friend.  Once when he was campaigning for wetlands conservation and restoration in his township, he came across a couple farmers who told him they didn’t see much value in preserving their wetlands.  Dr. DeWitt knew they were both avid pike fisherman.  As an ecologist, when he explained to them that pike fingerlings depended upon wetlands for their survival, he won their support.

The truth, however,  is that all natural systems are important in God’s scheme of things—the value of most of them not so quickly grasped.  That God would care for a sparrow, the humblest and least attractive of birds, ought to be a sign to us to we should not see anything in nature’s community as being valueless or unnecessary.  All things in nature are interrelated.  And the unspoiled wilderness provides us the best of laboratories in which to learn about these connections.  That fact may well have been what Henry David Thoreau had in mind when he said “in wildness is the salvation of the earth.”

Modern science often gives us the impression that we really understand the complexity of wild nature.  The truth, however, was stated well by another ecologist: Frank Egler: “[Wilderness ecosystems] are not only more complex than we think, they are more complex than we can think.”  It’s in part because of such complex interconnectedness that our planet’s wild areas make us humble—which is the right attitude to have in the presence of our Creator and His priceless handiwork.

See you outdoors!

Dean