I thought the film was interesting. It was very in your face with it’s message and made you feel like you were part of the problem too almost. That being said it was a little abrasive and maybe longer than I cared to watch for, but still had a valuable point to make. I’d probably recommend seeing the film at least once because I think its so powerful that even one viewing would be enough to change the viewers perspective on humanity and nature.

The film made use of all types of media especially musical score and the shots taken. The film wants the user to realize the drastic differences between the natural world and the modern civilizations. It focuses early on large desert landscapes, using a slow ominous score to highlight the grandness and the meandering pace of nature. One contrast that I thought was interesting was the shot that pans across a winding river in a canyon, which would have been formed over millions of years, later compared to the enormous abandoned apartment complex, which is eventually demolished. Shots like these contrast the longevity of nature relative to human creations.

The film is filled with shots like this that are intended to make the watcher question their ‘crazy lives’ and wonder if they are just another cog in the machine. As the film progresses it shows more and more people and eventually peaks at images of apparently frozen or distorted computer images. This shot emphasizes that we may rely too much on our technological advances and again be caught when they too fail.

Koyaansqatsi wants us to reconsider our existence as a society and wonder if we might not simplify a little, back towards our natural past. It is a powerful message, powerfully conveyed through cinematography and music, without words.

I though Kareivas idea of the necessity of humans in nature conservancy is an interesting idea and not one that is mentioned. Often it seems like the conservationists and preservationists point most of the blame at humans. Instead the author argues that by balancing the basic human needs of water, food, livlihoods, security and health. But for The Nature Conservany, this is the endgame, but argues that there will be room for wilderness after this is met.

To me, it seemed like the article made a lot of heavy assumptions that might not be true or possible without serious changes to our behavior. They offered some small scale examples of successful ecological conservation efforts but seem to only get more difficult if the population continues to increase.

On our trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary I noticed a particular side of Nature, the center seemed to want its visitor to experience. The sanctuary wanted to immerse us I in Nature and let us observe some of the best that nature can offer.

Before going to Hawk Mountain we read a passage from Silent Spring, that discussed the harmful impacts of pesticides like DDT on animals besides insects, especially birds. These impacts were the result of human negligence toward the environment and brought to center stage by Rachel Carson. Similarly, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was the result of a similar motivation by an environmentally concerned citizen. This citizen was the Sanctuaries founder, Rosalie Edge. Edge decided to purchase the 1400 acre site after discovering the thousands of hawks and other birds being shot from the sky by hunters seeking bounty or even simply for game. Carson even mentions Hawk Mountain in her book and acknowledges the significance of the work done by those who observed and tracked birds there on the site. This part of what people are attracts people to Hawk Mountain now, rather than hunting birds themselves they are there to watch them.

When I was on top of the mountain I found the scene to be much more lively than I anticipated. There were a group of ‘serious observers’ with scopes set up on tripods keeping an eye for birds. There was also a number of other employees from the Sanctuary giving us a background of Hawk Mountain and offer their own binoculars so that we might get a better view ourselves, the more casual observers.

The observers would shout out when they saw a bird in the distance, so that even the casual observers, could get a glimpse and the other trackers could I.D. the hawk. The moment that struck me the most was when one of them spotted a rare hawk, a Goshawk. Every one of the spotters stopped and went silent to watch this lone hawk glide across the sky. This is why they did it, standing out in the cold on a Saturday in late November, to get a chance to see a part of nature they find truly beautiful. This is what nature should be to those who work and visit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

…

Funny that when doing research on Hawk Mountain the ad next to a picture of dead hawks is for Cabela’s. 

Cabela’s obviously carried a lot different vibes than were found at Hawk Mountain. At Cabela’s it seems that nature is what man is of master of, Nature is conquered rather than something that we can observe or be a part of. To the average Cabela’s customer, it was sort of like they were selling you merchandise to help you on this quest and promoting man as the ultimate predator.

It wouldn’t be hard to create a profile of the average Cabela’s costumer; he’s probably a white male, middle-aged, probably has a wife and kids and can afford to shop for ‘competitively priced’ outdoors/hunting gear and have plenty of room to through whatever he buys in the bed of his pick-up. But Cabela’s wants this family man to bring in his family. There are very clearly distinct sections the store. While dad shops for a new gun or fishing rod, mom can take the kids to see the fish in Aquarium or the Deer County or go shopping for clothes and home-goods. Cabela’s is more of an experience than a place to go shopping. It’s why the first thing you see when you walk in is a Mountain of taxidermy. They are selling this experience and the guns, clothes, bait, furniture and food you buy are your souvenirs.

The displays themselves were rather impressive, especially the mountain. The display offered a few types of information. One was a touchscreen display, that offered a short description of the animals on display, showed a short video clip that creature in the wild and for some let you play that animals call through a speaker disguised as a rock.

The other information, visible on most of the taxidermy in the store, was the animals name and also the date it ‘taken’ and by whom. This was slightly more disarming, cause it was a reminder that everything on the hill was once a living animal now the center of a display as a trophy. This idea that nature was out there to be taken was one very clearly present in the store.

As with mentioned the mountain display, the Deer Country exhibit also displayed certain information. The hall included, I’m guessing, about 300 or so “trophy bucks” from across North America and the more prominent ones mounted on the walls with an article featuring the hunter and the bucks’ statistics. The stats, of course, were the point value assigned to the buck based on the B&C (Boone and Crockett Club) score. The scores are based on criteria like number of points on the antlers, the length of the spread and the length of points. According to the B&C website a typical record buck for Whitetails would rank somewhere in the 220 range. And though this room was seemed to highlight the hunt and glorify those who took these record bucks, it seems like it might not have been all about bagging the biggest buck but perhaps there was some conservationist promotion as well. On the way out of Buck Country was a sign overhead that read; “Ensure the beauty of the Outdoors – Support Wildlife Conservation”. This is arguably the most important sign in the store, but also probably the most widely ignored. Because I think the majority of people going to the store are not likely there to buy a gun to help contribute to conservationist efforts by hunting for the sake of population control.

There was another good quote I got out of the trip, taken from front of the biography Rosalie Edge, Rosalie Edge: Hawk of Mercy, found in the visitor center. The quote is actually the second subtitle of the book, ‘The activist who saved nature from the conservationists’. I think, in this case, the conservationists were the ones shooting hawks out of the sky about 80 years ago. These conservationists then, might have a lot in common with those leaving the Deer Country in Cabela’s, taking hawks or deer in the name of conservation or population control.

“A kind of northing is what I wish to accomplish, a single-minded trek towards that place where any shutter left open to the zenith at night will record the wheeling of the sky’s stars as a pattern of perfect, concentric circles. I seek a reduction, a shedding, a sloughing off” (Dillard 255).

I always thought Dillard was awesome and now an entire chapter based on a reference to surveying.

This passage sort of the reminded me back to “Living like Weasels” and Dillard urges the reader to simplify and live more deliberately. She remarks the difficulty in achieving this but encourages us to strive for it.

The passage uses this idea of the sky as a heaven and a place to look toward as we slough off.

“’The turkeys are kind of guilty by association…They are large animals and they are out there in the daytime, so the farmers see them and think they did the damage. It’s like seeing teenages on the corner and assuming they are up to no good”. (155).

I thought this line about the modern perception of wild turkeys was very interesting. Sterba essentially spends the first ten or so pages of the chapter talking about the plight of the wild turkey and how they very nearly went the way of the Dodo. However, through about a half century of repopulation efforts, this species was saved and eventually came back to be a menace in some peoples opinions due to over population. Sterba argues these birds were being falsely accused for their interference with farmers crops.

I thought it was ironic to see this huge effort to save the wild turkeys and then once they were saved they became a nuisance again. It just continues to emphasize this idea that humans want to preserve nature as much as possible until it starts getting in the way again.

http://www.aark.org/WP/

The link above is a link to the AARK, a non-profit animal rescue center next to my house i mentioned last class. The site features descriptions of their mission, events and photos of the animals the rescue.

While the center has a noble mission, my family and I have questioned a few times whether they are using best practices to the aid these rescued animals. Like I mentioned in class, on multiple occasions, we’ve had specifically young deer wander up to our house or barn looking for food. The deer released from the center had clearly been domesticated to the point where they didn’t have a problem approaching people. While this was entertaining for us, its sad at the same time when these wild animals are released and have no idea how to survive in the wild for us.

Even though the intentions were good the impacts for some of these animals could still be negative.

“His trade here was that of a ditcher. Napoleon went to St. Helena; Quoil came to Walden Woods”

In our reading from Walden, Thoreau talks about a man Hugh Quoil, who supposedly fought in the Battle of Waterloo. He references Napoleon’s exile to St. Helena. I thought Quoil got the better end of the deal since he wasn’t stranded on an island in the middle of the Atlantic.

But really he ends up meeting the same fate as Napoleon, but maybe a little less spectacularly, too. Quoil dies on the road and has his house at Walden torn down. Whereas when Napoleon died on St. Helena, the great Emperor’s funeral was attended by millions in Paris.

I thought this passage was trying to speak to the fleeting nature of our lives in these places. But he has another line that seems like he, as someone who is living in a place previously uninhabited, to be the oldest one in the village.

“It was vast, Titanic, and such as man never inhabits. Some part of the beholder, even some vital part, seems to escape through the loose grating of his ribs as he ascends” – HDT

This trip to the Catskills was a pretty humbling experience this weekend. I think the long drive was definitely worth the trip, as we got close it was like looking at the sides of the mountains on fire. The burnt orange leaves transitioning to bare trees.

The trip was extremely rewarding for myself and I really felt connected to some of the pieces.

I’m continually reminded of the Thoreau quote on Katahdin, especially at the views from the Giant Ledges, that talks about the ancient power and presence in the mountains. These moments and views that were removed from human contact really gave this impression.

On my trip around campus at the end of class today, I set out with an idea of how the lay out of the trees on campus might work. After looking over the campus’s brochure of trees I noticed an extensive number of non-native species. But in listening to our discussion of the campuses recent revision of their masterplan and the emphasis, even if it wasn’t until the second to last page, on making sustainable decisions on new development. So I thought I’d look to see if this was evident in the foliage found on recently renovated parts of campus versus the older areas.

I began right outside of Acopian and grabbed a few samples from the surrounding trees that would have been planted during the Anderson courtyard renovation in 2012. I found on the courtyard three different examples of local species:

Alleghany Serviceberry – Amerlanchier Laevis – Found this little guy right outside Acopian in beside the retaining wall. Native to Eastern North America.

Slippery Elm – Ulmus rubra – Also on Anderson Courtyard, outside of Hugel, another native species.

American Hornbeam – Carpinus Caroliniana – Anderson courtyard, 3 for 3 on native species.

I then wandered over to a couple of older buildings, between Kunkel, Ramer and Farber to see if this older part of campus had less native species:

Little Leaf Linden – Along the side of Farber Hall, I found this species, native to Europe pretty untouched

Eastern Redbud – Cercis Canadensis – Another native to North America, I found on the edge of March Field. Old campus: 1 for 2.

I didn’t take the time to look for more species but in looking at the map and the plan on campus I think its clear the college is consciously moving towards the trend of using native species, which I’m sure Tallamy would be thrilled about.

“When extinction adjusts the number of species to the land area that remains for the plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and invertibrates of North American (something that will happen within the lifetimes of most of us), we will have lost 95 percent of he species that greeted the Pilgrims” (31).

This quote, towards the end Tallamy’s piece on suburban gardening is intended to wake up he reader and make them realize what has happened to this country over the past 400 years. He goes on to say, as most conservationists will, that we need to change the way we live to not only save ourselves but other species as well. He says that through use of a “reconciliation ecology” we could meet the needs of the millions of species on the planet by simply using native plants in our landscaping.

I thought this piece offered a great reality check for us in that every interaction we have with nature is impactful on a given ecosystem. The fact that a nonnative species being introduced can disturb a whole ecosystem and result in the extinction of any given species does not really cross our mind when we bring it in. This reminded me of the Japanese Knotweed problem we have had on the East Coast.

If we are simply more thoughtful and responsible for leaving things the way we found it in our landscaping we as a planet will be better off in the long run.