Nature is not that fragile
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera, June 2016
Last week's decision on where to put the North Sky Trail may be a turning point in our local government's attitude about human use of publicly-owned land. Open space now comprises almost 18% of all land in Boulder County and, since 1967 when we started acquiring all that land, we've debated what to do with it.
On one side has been the Old Guard who led the initial charge to acquire open space. In a May 28 Camera editorial, longtime activists Ruth Wright and Oakley Thorne described their view of the goal of the Open Space program as, "to protect these lands for their beauty and fundamental value as unspoiled nature." Implicit in this statement and clear in government decisions over the past 50 years is the view that we, the people, can only spoil our open space and contact between this precious land and humans should be minimized.
On the other side are advocates of the idea that humans can be part of ecosystems without spoiling nature. They promote increased access to open space with a careful eye towards preserving the flora, fauna, and scenery that make it special.
By and large, the Old Guard have had their way as, time and again, proposals for trail access to open space has been stymied. As a result, our open space is today largely untouched by humans. Using data from local government websites I determined that, even if you assume that the human impact on every open space trail is 20' wide, less than 0.2% of all City and County Open Space in Boulder County is accessible to people.
The recent flash point for this issue was where to locate key parts of the North Sky Trail – in the more desirable foothills or on the plains. The Old Guard fought hard to keep us out of the foothills and they lost. A turning point, perhaps.
But, are the Old Guardians of Open Space right when they tell us that nature in our Boulder foothills is so fragile that any contact with humans will spoil it?
Lo and behold, I actually know something about how humans and nature can live harmoniously in Boulder's foothills. I've lived for 35 years in a foothills community just west of US 36 and south of Left Hand Canyon – right smack dab where the North Sky Trail would go if our community wasn't there. And, in the time I've lived there, I've witnessed the power of nature to wrap herself around us and make us part of the ecosystem.
When I first moved to the foothills in 1981, we had deer, mice, and a few rattlesnakes. But the wildlife diversity was limited – probably chased away by the preceding decade of homebuilding. But, natural systems are resilient and it took no time for our community's ecosystem to begin to feel nature's presence in the foothills that surrounded us.
With the abundance of deer soon came the mountain lions, including the one that had a standoff with my wife over his right to eat our dogs. Lion sightings are common today and, by eating the occasional Bambi, they're doing their job.
The rattlesnakes disappeared for a while but they've been coming back. My first contact was when one showed up at my Grandson's first birthday party. Rattlesnakes are hard to love, but they belong here, too.
But what has been most exciting has been the constant evolution of who comes to live with us. Over the years, we have shared our land with bears, bobcats, owls, eagles, fox, raccoons and all sorts of other interesting and beautiful creatures, and they have always been welcome members of our community. Like the family of birds that nested in my attic every spring so, when I opened my closet door, I could hear baby birds chirping. They got a place to live and I got a reason to smile.
I'm not advocating building homes on open space, to be sure. However, even when the human footprint is heavy, as in my community, natural systems flourish and thrive.
Nature is not that fragile and humans do not spoil every ecosystem we touch. The small footprint of the North Sky Trail through a vast mountainside will only help us to appreciate nature's flora and fauna more, as I have come to during my years living on that same mountainside.
Let's hope that local leaders, too, have finally come to appreciate that the only lasting consequence of allowing people to coexist with the rest of nature on public land is continued appreciation of and support for open space programs well into the future.
Last week's decision on where to put the North Sky Trail may be a turning point in our local government's attitude about human use of publicly-owned land. Open space now comprises almost 18% of all land in Boulder County and, since 1967 when we started acquiring all that land, we've debated what to do with it.
On one side has been the Old Guard who led the initial charge to acquire open space. In a May 28 Camera editorial, longtime activists Ruth Wright and Oakley Thorne described their view of the goal of the Open Space program as, "to protect these lands for their beauty and fundamental value as unspoiled nature." Implicit in this statement and clear in government decisions over the past 50 years is the view that we, the people, can only spoil our open space and contact between this precious land and humans should be minimized.
On the other side are advocates of the idea that humans can be part of ecosystems without spoiling nature. They promote increased access to open space with a careful eye towards preserving the flora, fauna, and scenery that make it special.
By and large, the Old Guard have had their way as, time and again, proposals for trail access to open space has been stymied. As a result, our open space is today largely untouched by humans. Using data from local government websites I determined that, even if you assume that the human impact on every open space trail is 20' wide, less than 0.2% of all City and County Open Space in Boulder County is accessible to people.
The recent flash point for this issue was where to locate key parts of the North Sky Trail – in the more desirable foothills or on the plains. The Old Guard fought hard to keep us out of the foothills and they lost. A turning point, perhaps.
But, are the Old Guardians of Open Space right when they tell us that nature in our Boulder foothills is so fragile that any contact with humans will spoil it?
Lo and behold, I actually know something about how humans and nature can live harmoniously in Boulder's foothills. I've lived for 35 years in a foothills community just west of US 36 and south of Left Hand Canyon – right smack dab where the North Sky Trail would go if our community wasn't there. And, in the time I've lived there, I've witnessed the power of nature to wrap herself around us and make us part of the ecosystem.
When I first moved to the foothills in 1981, we had deer, mice, and a few rattlesnakes. But the wildlife diversity was limited – probably chased away by the preceding decade of homebuilding. But, natural systems are resilient and it took no time for our community's ecosystem to begin to feel nature's presence in the foothills that surrounded us.
With the abundance of deer soon came the mountain lions, including the one that had a standoff with my wife over his right to eat our dogs. Lion sightings are common today and, by eating the occasional Bambi, they're doing their job.
The rattlesnakes disappeared for a while but they've been coming back. My first contact was when one showed up at my Grandson's first birthday party. Rattlesnakes are hard to love, but they belong here, too.
But what has been most exciting has been the constant evolution of who comes to live with us. Over the years, we have shared our land with bears, bobcats, owls, eagles, fox, raccoons and all sorts of other interesting and beautiful creatures, and they have always been welcome members of our community. Like the family of birds that nested in my attic every spring so, when I opened my closet door, I could hear baby birds chirping. They got a place to live and I got a reason to smile.
I'm not advocating building homes on open space, to be sure. However, even when the human footprint is heavy, as in my community, natural systems flourish and thrive.
Nature is not that fragile and humans do not spoil every ecosystem we touch. The small footprint of the North Sky Trail through a vast mountainside will only help us to appreciate nature's flora and fauna more, as I have come to during my years living on that same mountainside.
Let's hope that local leaders, too, have finally come to appreciate that the only lasting consequence of allowing people to coexist with the rest of nature on public land is continued appreciation of and support for open space programs well into the future.
