permaculture

[Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>]

For me, the value of wild ecosystems is greater than the value of purely 
'native' ecosystems.  My own personal fantasy is for the humun population, 
and its consumption, to fall to the point where 75% of the planet could be 
wild, free from domination by people.  The idea that humuns have the right to 
manage the entire planet and choose which species will be where is total 
arrogance, and that is exactly what is happening.  While I do feel we are in 
a crisis that requires more management than in the past (just to be able to 
maintain biodiversity until the crisis has passed), I view this as temporary. 
 I agree with Toby that campaigns to exterminate well-established exotic 
species probably do more harm than good, except perhaps on small, isolated 
islands and such.  Most of the ecosystems on Earth should have the right to 
freely evolve without humun domination.  Where people are willing to tread 
lightly, they could be part of these ecosystems, but otherwise most 
ecosystems should be
 allowed self-determination, just as humun communities desire and deserve.
 
I have spent time clearing Douglas-fir from meadows that used to be burned by 
Kalapooya Native Americans.  But this was a local effort to preserve open 
space and biodiversity.  Would I propose that Douglas-fir encroachment be 
prevented across the entire Willamette Valley?  No way!  The grasslands and 
oak savannahs of western Oregon have now been thorougly colonized by people 
with a radically different culture than the ones that existed before.  I 
would rather that the few existing wildlands (with a few carefully chosen 
exceptions) freely evolve with Douglas-fir than be managed by a corrupt, 
monolithic, and simple-minded bureaucracy.
 
So let me throw the term 'wild' into the mix along with 'native.'  As long as 
we have a preventative strategy to avoid introducing exotic invasives in the 
first place, we can let wild ecosystems evolve on their own terms.  
Restoration ecology must include 'wild' as part of its definition for a 
successful project.
 
Rain

                
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