Going NW

In two days I depart for Olympic National Park and Mt. Rainier. I hear the mountains whispering. I hear the sea stacks calling out. It is time to go.

Adious Gainesville

I am officially leaving Gainesville. As I type this blog I am a few blocks away from the Swamp at a friend’s house. I was here a few years ago back in my college days. Those days do not seem all that distant, but this will be my second time leaving Gainesville. I came up here six months ago to take a temporary research/field position with the University. The position has given me the opportunity to travel all over Florida. My travels have taken me all over the Greater-Everglades Ecosystem. The past six months have been great. The first time I was up here in Gainesville I rec’d a degree. This time I got something even better…you know who you are.

the Swamp

My Own Hetch Hetchy

John Muir

John Muir once said the following…

“Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.”

In the early 1900’s a glacial valley in Yosemite was forever changed. In the same century the river of grass was also forever changed. Both unique places were altered. Hetch Hetchy, in California, and the Everglades in Florida are both drastically different in ecological terms. Both would share the same fate…both become critical water sources that needed to be claimed in the name progress to meet the needs of growing local populations…all other things were not considered, and ultimately these unique places were forever changed. Back in these days the idea of more is better was just taking off. The pursuit of happiness meant cutting, blasting, removing, poisoning, or developing anything that appeared as a roadblock to man’s steady progress. All natural resources were seen as infinite and in many ways there was the perception that man could fix anything or science would one day yield the needed solutions all of mankind’s wants and needs.

Hetch Hetchy was a glacial valley that was similar to appearance to the famous Yosemite Valley found today in Yosemite Park. John Muir was very found of both. In the early 1900’s the blossoming city of San Francisco needed water. Unfortunately for Muir and Hetch Hetchy the valley was viewed as an ideal place for a dam. John Muir was outspoken about this project and many who were close to him feel that his painstaking efforts and the resulting disappointments of the dam finally being built may have utimatley led to Muir’s death. Some say that poor John Muir died of a broken heart. He was very passionate about Yosemite’s other valley. The valley would ultimately transform into the O’Shaughness Dam.

While John Muir’s battle to save Hetch Hetchy is often referred to as one of the greatest environmental stuggles the fight to save Hetch Hetchy continues today. Groups like the Sierra Club feel that the area should be restored. In many ways I feel that the Everglades is my own Hetch Hetchy. I live too far away from the Sierra landscape John Muir loved. Since I live in Florida I feel the most valid fight worth taking part in is the Everglades. It is quite strange to make this comparison because unlike Muir who was in place long before the dam was built, my Hetch Hetchy, the River of Grass, has already been altered.

The Central and South Florida (C&SF) Project was authorized by congress in 1948 with a number of conflicting goals. It was supposed to provide flood control and a steady water supply for industrial, municipal, and growing agricultural areas. As a result miles and miles of levees and canals were built. The addition of these water control devices allowed agriculture to expand and local human populations to continue growing. In the end the project created a mess of of pipes and canals so complicated that it puzzles the human mind to understand the true scale of these structures. It is a managed mess. In the end the river of grass was forever changed. To this day the water is still a matter of concern. There is either too much or too little, with no focus given to seasonality. Replicating the pattern of nature is difficult and to make matters worse there is less land now to work with. Like in Muir’s case nature lost the battle.

Fast forward to the present. There are now new efforts to restore the Everglades. For example, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) plans to pick up where previous efforts failed. It will ultimatley provide a framework that will ’some how’ manage to restore, protect, and preserve water resources while balancing the needs of a large south Florida population. In the end it will probably do some good, but the underlying catch is that both managers and scientist both admit that it will never create the Everglades that existed pre-1900’s. It is impossible to create the original system because change is constant and we have already changed the course of Everglades’ history. In addition, municipalities currently sit inside historic Everglades. The only other option is to have a forceful withdrawl of human settlement, but this option obviously is not feasible. So we are then left with the question…Will there ever be successful greater Everglades ecosystem restoration? The short answer is no.

The majority of land area originally composing what was called the greater Everglades ecosystem no longer is present. I do not want to sound negative, but the fact of this is well documented by the fields of agriculture and the groves of houses that have grown up around south Florida. In addition, consideration must be given to invasive exotics that have taken root. The habitat is also fragmented. How are Florida panthers to survive in a land of roads? And then there is climate change. Climate change implications for south Florida and the Everglades changes everything. How can the Everglades coexist with rising sea levels? Will there be salt water intrusion?

Recently at a conference in Naples I could not get past the threat of climate change in relation to the Everlgades. I started to question whether or not a multibillion dollar project would really hold back the seas. If we get water flowing again its hard to know for sure if we can keep the water right. Are we simply buying ourselves time?

I value and commend the efforts of all the individuals who attended the conference. I hope the good work continues. In the end I think the lofty price tag is worth it. If we magically curb emissions we have a shot. Science understands the basics of the system. Its time we question our moral obligations not only to Everglades, but the entire natural world we inhabit. Though some of the patterns we have set in place in the natural system may continue such as climate change, I feel that not all is lost. It is my hope that we can avoid the feedback loops that may further accelerate the process of climate change. Change is possible, but it is important to distinguish between change that is good and change that is bad. I have hope and that is all I have at this point, but having hope says alot. Its when you lose sight of hope that all is lost. The point where hope changes to action is the direction we need to proceed.