“Sometimes conservation feels a lot like dragging big limbs around.”
I smiled as I said this to Dave and Claudia, land stewards over a city-owned chunk of land that they have volunteered to manage. They know the realities of pruning and dragging invasive plants better than any of us, so they just smiled back. That particular volunteer work day, Dave tasked a crew of conservation-minded locals and a Scout troop from the area to join the fun by removing large buckthorn trees and bush honeysuckles that have taken over major portions of the property.
A big lesson that I learned was that conservation is not glamorous. Well, it’s not always glamorous. In the context of fancy, wildlife banquets in Aspen or ‘friends of this or that National Park” dinners, maybe. Advertisements and commercials from big organizations or eco-friendly companies can make it seem grandiose with incredible videos and expert storytelling, but the reality is that the lion’s share of effective measures to protect and manage our lands is good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Regular people putting regular hours in at local places.
The good news about this reality is that just about anyone can take part in it on some level! You don’t need a forestry, wildlife biology, or fisheries degree to get involved. Are you a ‘regular Joe’? There’s a place for you! You don’t need to make it a full-time job. Just a few hours, one Saturday a month, can make a huge impact. Lastly, you don’t need to fight wildfires west of the Mississippi if you live in the suburbs of the Midwest, there are local parks that would benefit from trash pick-ups, rivers that would benefit from planting native aquatic plants, and wildlife rehab centers that need someone to sweep the kitchen area! Some of these places may be minutes from your home!
Can you drag some branches to a pile? Can you wade a river? Can you hold a pointy stick and a trash bag? You, friend, may be qualified to do some of the most important work for the actual land you live on. Are you good with a computer, social media, marketing? You may be able to get more people to events or network with local businesses to get them involved. Do you have a bunch of money? Give me a call; I’m accepting donations for my kid’s college fund. Jokes aside, find your niche’ and do it!
Conservation work may not be glamorous, but it’s important. Like changing babies’ diapers, folding your laundry, filing your taxes, and a host of other things we do to take care of our children, our stuff, and our finances, it’s the regular, menial maintenance of good things that shows their importance. The land we live on, the water that sustains us, and the air we breath are important, so let’s treat them that way.
Some might think it’s state regulations, the game warden, or a wildlife biologist who limits the amount of fish they can catch. That’s a very wrongheaded view considering these people help maintain healthy populations and manage the resources we love. They are enemies like a doctor or dentist would be! You have to misunderstand what they are doing to be against them. Maybe we should look elsewhere for a worthy foe.
Well, what about the fish itself? We do battle against it in one sense. But is the fish a foe in any true sense? An archenemy? A nemesis? I feel compelled to argue against that position. Remember, we love fish beyond just the meal, beyond the sport, and beyond the preparation to catch them. We love that they are out there. We love to learn about them and watch them. It’s hardly right to call them a nemesis or enemy. When fishing is done right, it’d probably be more accurate to view the fish as a dance partner when caught or an artist’s muse!
So, now that we know what it is not, let’s go back to the original question; what is the fisherman’s nemesis?
I think the antithesis to the angler and his or her chosen activity and lifestyle is the modern swimming pool. I know that this may come as a shock, but hear me out!
First, the modern swimming pool is a sterile, life-less place. The nature of a swimming pool is to remove any kind of biological environment. This means no substrate, no algae, no microorganisms, no insects (except the ones floating, dead on top of the surface), no small animals (except the ones floating dead on the surface), and – most importantly to us – no fish!
Loaded with chlorine because of its capability of keeping out the majority of bacteria harmful to humans, pools just can’t support anything living for very long. Sure, the water clarity is something dreams are made of, but I’ll take staring at stained water and mosquito larvae over crystal clear water and pool tiles ten out of ten times!
Flyfishermen and women like life. We like to enjoy it, but we also like to engage with it.
Secondly, it is a place filled with uncatchable creatures! What a curse! Here you have a body of water, usually a few miles from home or possibly in your backyard, and the only thing that can survive in it is people. As far as I know, we aren’t allowed to catch people. A body of water where the only living thing in it can’t be caught is a miserable place for a fisherman. Could there be a thing more opposed to the sensibilities of an angler!?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying a pool is useless or bad. I’m not assigning a moral quality to this observation either. I take my family to the pool a few times a year, and we have a pretty good time! I’m not in the position to own one, but I don’t begrudge those who are. In fact, I’ve found that most of the people I know who have them love to invite others over for parties. The problem is not the pool itself. It’s more complicated than that; It’s what the pool isn’t.
Picture it with me. It won’t be hard. If you haven’t been in this place before, you’ll track with me because you’re a fisherman.
As I slip off my sandals and take off my shirt, I realize that the closest thing to mineral substrate here is the concrete I’m standing on. My mind starts to wander to gravel beds and muddy banks where I have to put on waders and a uv shirt to enter that world unscathed. It’s not a safe place in all respects, but it’s where I want to be.
I walk over to the edge of the pool, and I look in. Nothing. Wait, is something moving in there? Nope, just a diving ring in the deep end. I adjust my polarized lenses – a critical tool when I’m wading a river or scouting a local lake. Here, they don’t help me find anything. They’re only a shield from the sun’s reflection on the chlorine bath in front of me.
There’s a dead frog in the pool skimmer. I imagine the dozen or two frogs I see or hear each time I wade the skinny river nearby. I don’t get sung to from the pool skimmer. That guy has joined the heavenly choir. While I take another look at the crystal clear pool, the only debri to the naked eye is a raft of floating mayflies, mosquitoes, house flies, and the occasional bee. Those are also dead – they have ‘ceased to be’.
I take a deep sigh, and a swig of whatever the host has handed me. Everyone is smiling. Kids are splashing around. But in my mini-daydream, I’m out in nature. I’ve got a 6 weight with a bass popper, knee-deep in brown water, eyeing a downed branch in a slower part of the stream. I saw something move there. It’s not sterile. It’s full of life and life that I’m excited to engage with.
Sadly, many people in this increasingly digital era just aren’t ‘into the outdoors’ at all! Some, no doubt, were raised by parents already awakened to the majesty of nature. Others were introduced to the natural world through a hobby they picked up or a move to a rural context.
My personal story of connection to the land came through what some call adult-onset hunting. I’d been fishing most of my life, but with little exposure to the wild side of this world as the majority of my fishing excursions took place at local ponds in the suburbs. Over time, exposure to hunter-conservation organizations like Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and voices like Charles Post and Steve Rinella helped me develop a more complex view of hunting that appreciated the process and purpose beyond just the kill. I began reading Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry. I began frequenting rivers and forests of the American Midwest for less-consumptive reasons as well. Conservation was now on my radar! These organizations and men began to shape my mind to grasp the connection between my love for doing things on the land to my part in caring for the land!
To many, it seems obvious that outdoorsmen and women have an uphill battle for the heart and soul of American society and “land enthusiasm”. Knowledge of our public land system, methods of wildlife management, and environmental protection are lost on the average person. Also, many sportsmen and women who love the outdoors tend to feel that it is a very personal – maybe even private – thing, so it’s hard for them to envision bringing others along. Thirdly, there is an almost cliquish tendency in the outdoor world to cling closely with those most like us, and to steer clear of people outside of our immediate sphere.
I’d like to propose a few tactics to fight this uphill battle of land disconnection. I believe we can help others connect to the land in three ways: educational, experiential, and communal.
One of the best ways to protect the land is to educate people in how our land system works. I’m not talking about convincing someone to get a degree in Environmental Studies. I’m suggesting that when people understand the basics of ecology, our agricultural system, or wildlife management, they seem to develop a newfound respect for the land and interest in being involved. Educated people are then able to have meaningful conversations with others. When minds are opened up to the reality that there are philosophies, systems, and worldviews that underpin human relation to the land, a layer of depth develops around these topics.
This requires us to be informed enough to speak responsibly on these issues! It requires nature lovers to be up-to-date with solid, science-based solutions to ecological issues. It requires us to read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch documentaries about the land and its use. It requires us to have compelling reasons to be listened to! We want to be measured in our pronouncements, not always doom and gloom. We also want to be winsome in our tone. Nothing is more annoying than being beaten over the head with information without context, so make sure to meet people where they are. Ask a lot of questions and be willing to find out the answer if you don’t know. Don’t fake it. If the reward for respectful, intelligent conversation is another soldier in the fight to care for the land, then we should all add this tool of education to our arsenals.
Another way for exposing others to the land is to help others actually experience it! No amount of flowery language or articulate explanation can match the experience of seeing a sunrise in person. Society values artists, poets, and photographers who capture a portion of the experience. How can we describe a wild experience to someone who really doesn’t have a meaningful definition of the wild? It’s not impossible for someone to grasp your definition, but it’s an incomplete one if they haven’t experienced it.
Helping others experience the land requires us to let go of viewing our outdoor life as something that is ‘just for us’. As I mentioned before, it’s far too easy for us to keep our wild places, activities, and acquired skills to ourselves. Does your heart still skip a beat when you’re surprised by a whitetail doe as she darts through the woods at an almost inexplicable pace? What about the sense of accomplishment when you’re dragging the raft out of the river? These things are intensely personal, but these experiences – and many more – have the ability to change someone else’s life as well.
By introducing someone to the land in this way, you equip them to stop viewing the environment as a political topic because the places, animals, and experiences become deeply personal. By involving them in your experience, you give them a tool to remember smells, feel cool wind, and taste fire-grilled food when they hear people speak of the wild places. Give someone something to daydream about in their cubicle by taking them with you.
The final way I suggest to help provide a gateway to the land is inviting people into a healthy outdoor community. This requires the outdoor community to actually be a healthy community. It’s an unfortunate thing that we in the outdoor world have a real temptation to view each other as enemies rather than friends. Are there situations where one hobby’s activity annoys the other? Of course! Are there times when preservationists and conservationists aren’t going to agree on the best course of action to care for the land? Absolutely! Are hikers going to feel weird about gun season on public land? Yep. Will fishermen and women cringe when kayakers float through the pool they’re casting into? You bet. The problem is not disagreement or even a little conflict now and then. The problem is us versus them. We’re living in an era where all outdoor sportsmen and women, all foodies interested in agriculture (from hobbyist to professional), and all land-care advocates have the opportunity to unite rather than divide.
This is going to require people to connect and talk. When you’re afield, be cool. The other guy scouting for wild game is probably a good guy – you know you at least have one thing in common! After a few minutes of chatting, he’ll probably be less likely to mess with your trail cam too. If you see kayakers floating the river, recognize that the river is theirs too. You have the chance to ask them if they’re having a good time, and, while you’re at it, find out what the water is like upstream! You also may want to consider joining an advocacy group that stretches your views. If you’re a member of a political organization focused on environmental change, join a local conservation group to get a better view of your local land and water issues! If you’re part of a hunting and fishing organization, find an organization that specializes in protection of non-game animals.
We have an opportunity to live out our ecological views. We can be different, yet unified in purpose. We have the chance to see the places where our views and activities interconnect. This isn’t mystical kumbaya mumbo-jumbo. I’m talking about mutual benefit. I’m talking about doing things that are good for you, good for others, and good for the land. If we can demonstrate these values, we become an attractive community, guiding those who need a connection to the land.
It won’t happen immediately. It’s not easy. If it’s working, you’ll begin to notice people around you looking for their gateway to experiencing the land. They may bring up something they saw in the news about water quality in your region, where their food comes from, or an interest in wildlife that wasn’t there before. People will start asking you questions. They may even ask if they can come with you.
Which tactic will you use to help someone find their gateway to the outdoors?
Angling Advocate 