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Bill Berry: Earth Day events show it's all interconnected

Bill Berry  —  4/15/2008 7:09 am

There's a wise old saying among those who study the natural world: Everything is interconnected. Events around the state of Wisconsin and beyond as Earth Day 2008 approaches are proof.

Earth Day is next Tuesday, but events are scattered throughout the week.

Up here in Stevens Point on Saturday, three men will be inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. This year's inductees include Madison's Buzz Besadny, who headed the Department of Natural Resources from 1980 to 1992.

A career natural resources guy, Besadny was chosen by the Natural Resources Board, not the governor, in the days before the governor's office grabbed that power. He was a wildlife researcher, but will likely be best remembered for environmental gains achieved under his watch. Wisconsin became the first state to achieve federal Clean Water Act "fishable and swimmable" standards during his tenure.

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund for land acquisitions was created in the Besadny years. Reauthorized and strengthened last year, the fund remains the major state program for acquiring and protecting lands of significant environmental importance.

Groundwater protection, soil erosion control, toxic substance regulation and recycling were other environmental initiatives at the time.

In each case, Wisconsin and its people have been better for the changes, contrary to the pitched cries of those who opposed them. That should serve as an important reference point as we face many ongoing environmental challenges.

Besadny had all the skills of a trained scientist, but came off in the public's eye as a down-to-earth guy from Kewaunee. That's no easy trick for someone heading the DNR, which gets kicked around more than a playground soccer ball.

Another inductee this year will be Mel Cohee, a career soils guy who was among a small group of pioneers, including Aldo Leopold, in development of the Coon Creek Watershed Demonstration Project in southwest Wisconsin in 1933. The first of its kind in the nation, the project was chosen by the fledgling federal Soil Erosion Service to show the nation how we could have productive working lands and protect the environment. We're still learning on that subject, but have beautiful and effective reminders in the form of the driftless region's characteristic verdant contoured fields.

Since the theme here is connections, it's interesting to note a happy coincidence. Another event this month will also focus on accomplishments at Coon Creek. What better than a field day in Wisconsin's driftless region, celebrating rich conservation history? The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the modern-day equivalent of the Soil Erosion Service, gives us that opportunity Friday, April 25. It will host a 75th anniversary celebration of the Coon Creek project in the village of Coon Valley in Vernon County.

Not every Earth Day gathering celebrates success. In the driftless region and elsewhere, agricultural agents and conservationists worry that market pressures on farmers to grow more row crops will compromise soil erosion gains.

On the wildlife front, a gathering on Friday through Sunday here in central Wisconsin will focus on the prairie chicken and the grasslands needed to protect this fragile species, which some call the wildest of birds.

The Central Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival will highlight decades-long efforts of groups like the Dane County Conservation League to protect suitable prairie chicken habitat. The DNR today manages 11,000 acres of grasslands in the Buena Vista Wildlife Area. Despite all the efforts, the long-term viability of the prairie chicken remains in doubt. Here, some ask the age-old question: What good are they?

The answer, of course, is embodied in the land ethic taught by Leopold and upheld by Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson and hard-working professionals like Buzz Besadny and Mel Cohee. Leopold's simple message was that human beings are part of an interconnected community that includes soils, waters, plants and animals. Tinker with one part, and all are harmed. Another famous Wisconsin conservation figure, John Muir, was on the same track when he put it this way: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

Muir and Leopold both played major roles in the preservation of wilderness areas across the U.S. Speaking of which, if you'd like to see some of Leopold's handiwork, take a trip to New Mexico, where he first worked as a forest ranger and where huge tracts of wilderness are preserved thanks to his efforts. You might want to go in 2009. That state will be honoring Leopold and his work throughout the year on the 100th anniversary of his arrival there. New Mexico and Wisconsin connected? Why, sure.

Bill Berry of Stevens Point writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times.

Bill Berry  —  4/15/2008 7:09 am