Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Wilderness

Federal Court Rules Against Wild Rivers

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Queensland’s Wild Rivers legislation was declared invalid in Cape York by an Australian Federal Court judge yesterday.

Cooper Creek, Cape York. Photograph by Jen. June 2012
Cooper Creek, Cape York. Photograph by Jen. June 2012

The court decision focused on the previous Labor government’s declaration of the Archer, Lockhart and Stewart Rivers on April 3 2009 as an election promise to secure green preferences in inner city electorates.

Two years earlier Neil Hewett wrote at this blog that:

“The progress of the Cape York Conservation Agenda is carving a deepening rift between indigenous interests and those of metropolitan-based ‘green’ groups. Whilst the former lobbies for social engagement within real economies, the latter crusades for an often over-simplified notion of environmental protection. Over-arching this ideological tussle, government verily executes authority for the political rewards of popular support.”

Graham Young has described yesterday’s decision as a victory for indigenous progress.

 

Cooper Creek Wilderness in Direct Path of Ita – UPDATED

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SEVERE Tropical Cyclone Ita, Category 5, is expected to move in a general southwest direction towards the far north Queensland coast tonight and into Friday, while possibly intensifying further. That’s the advice at the Bureau of Meteorology website. cyclone ita

Neil Hewett, who has contributed so many beautiful photographs to this website, and his beloved Cooper Creek Wilderness, are in the anticipated path of the cyclone.

I know Neil built the family home, nestled in the the oldest surviving rainforest on earth, with a cyclone bunker: a specially reinforced windowless pantry. That is where Neil and his family sheltered through Cyclone Yasi, a category five that hit the Daintree Rainforest in 2011.

Anyway, my thoughts will be with the Hewett family over the next couple of days.

Update: Hewett family and cassowaries survived Ita! Walking trails have already been cleared of debris and Cooper Creek Wilderness is back open for business. Neil expects that there will be increased flowering and fruiting over the next year, and perhaps even two breeding periods for the cassowaries, in response to the cyclone. More here…http://www.ccwild.com/enews/display.php?M=1776&C=46f0d1866283fd3d64930902be67673c&S=366&L=14&N=114

Best Book: Belly of the Beast

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“AS a generalization, most hunters love animals, most foresters love trees, most fishermen love fish, most miners love rocks and most farmers love the soil.

“Strong proponents of the intrinsic values of wildlife today tend to be intolerant of any uses of wildlife by people, particularly consumptive uses, because the uses clash with the moral and ethical positions they have adopted.

“It does not make intrinsic or use-values right or wrong, but does tend to confirm that intolerance of values held by other peoples and cultures is the root cause of a great deal of conflict in the world today.”

I’m quoting from page 6 of an interesting new book, part philosophy, part history of animal conservation, lots of quirky cartoons, and many case studies from turtles in Cuba to crocodiles in Australia.

Written by someone I much admire, Grahame Webb, entitled Wildlife Conservation: In the Belly of the Beast, it is a must read for anyone who wants to have an informed opinion on wildlife conservation.

More information and order form here… http://www.crocodyluspark.com.au/pages/Wildlife-Conservation-%252d-In-the-Belly-of-the-Beast.html

Belly of the Beast

What is Wilderness (Part 13)

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What is wilderness? Dave W provides some insights…

IT is a place that is not under human control: a place where people might pass through, but not stay: a land where the wild beasts rule. Before people existed, the world was one vast wilderness. Since we’ve been around, wild areas are less and less common. An antonym would be city or any other noun defining more or less permanent human habitations, e.g. town, village, campsite. A campfire is a very basic method of keeping wilderness at bay.

This, I think, has been the generally accepted meaning of wilderness. I find it a more robust and useful word than ‘nature’, which is usually debased by the attempt to exclude people from the definition. People are part of Nature – we evolved here and we haven’t left yet. People are not part of a wilderness.

Of course, once ‘wilderness’ has been defined by legislation, other definitions may apply, but at least the US Wilderness Act (1964) seemed to follow the general sense: “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

I think it is reasonable to define wilderness as a continuum, rather than an absolute. Areas are more or less wild depending on how much control people are able to exert. I don’t think that pollution, exotic weeds, or similar effluvia of human life are of any relevance to defining wilderness. Those do not result from attempts to control an area. Also, I don’t demand that everyone respond the same to wilderness. Some may find it exhilarating and renewing, others may find it terrifying. I’ve been lost in wild areas, so I’ve felt both extremes.

Wilderness Dave

The picture/image is of a wild place, but not a wilderness: White Spruce regenerating in Alberta Aspen Parkland thanks to fire suppression regime (favours spruce), the reintroduction of beaver (eat aspen), and increasing moose populations (eat aspen before spruce) thanks to hunting regulation and extermination of wolves. Click on the image to see more, to gain perspective.

Dave W is a biologist who has worked in North America and Au​stralia and has about 150 scientific publications including one in Ecological Modelling on climate change that Google Scholar tells him is his 13th most significant publication, but that he thinks was just an interesting ‘what if?’ exercise with little or no relevance to any actual ecosystem.

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For some other perspectives on wilderness click and scroll here https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/tag/wilderness/

Perhaps send me your thoughts on wilderness…
jennifermarohasy at gmail.com

Enchanted Pools, Sierra Nevada, California

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Jennifer,

I would like to share a photograph of a ‘magical place’ from a cross-country hike, from several years ago, of the Enchanted Pools loop, in the Northern Sierras. The amateur photographer is tiocampo.

Here’s a link to all of the photos taken by Frank Farmer (aka tiocampo) on that day.
http://tinyurl.com/c2rsa5t

He includes a short write-up of the hike, including a topo map, as well as a link to a report of a possible Bigfoot sighting in the area.

The total distance of the loop version of the hike is approx 5 mi (8 km), with several hundred feet of altitude gain. The Enchanted Pools are just over 7000 ft elevation. Frank calls this hike Larry’s Rockbound Ramble.

Cheers,
Larry (from California, USA)