By The Way I See It

Nature alone cannot defend itself against humans

Mar 26, 2018 | 5:34 AM

KAMLOOPS — Few are the things able to ward off the ugly memory of the growing garbage revealed by the melting snowpack. Where garbage lies, there are also cheery birds such as robins and meadowlarks, and serious ones too like hawks and owls. There are deer, bears, coyotes, and cougars. The muffled sound of a big bird’s wings flapping away over your head, or the many animal tracks you find fresh every morning have a magnificence that erases, for a moment, all that’s ailing the very ground you stand on.

The concept of nature is not just a definition; it comes with a promise we ought to heed if we are serious about life. There are many layers to the promise. Garbage for starters. More appears with each warm day that melts the snow.

Here in Kamloops and the surroundings, the garbage issue is a recurrent pain. I often write about Peterson Creek Park because that is where I spend many of my mornings hiking with the dog. There are many types of refuse that lie on the main trail, including food and beverage containers, straws and bagged poop (alongside bag-less mounds.) There are discoloured plastic shards of ‘who knows what that one was’ peeking from the bunchgrass, in striking and disgraceful opposition to new grass appearing.

There is also the grasslands and Tranquille beach. They are littered with garbage. In some places, such as the Dewdrop, the patches of refuse appear often, plastic shotgun shells included, and lots of them, according to Frank Ritcey, Provincial WildSafeBC Coordinator.

The cleanups will take it away, as much as possible, but it’s hard to escape the doubt that the efforts will last. Do your best, like I do, to stash that doubt somewhere out of mind. The purpose is much bigger than the doubt.

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I carry bags which I fill with whatever garbage I find on my wanderings. There is a stark reminder of how we’re only part of this complex equation called life when I do pick up a weathered straw lying next to deer tracks. We’re not the only ones that matter. Wildlife is here to stay too. Or is it?

The unfortunate presence of a cougar cub in the downtown area brought the very question to our attention. Lost and confused, the cub was eventually euthanized, much to the dismay of many who hoped to see it relocated. Too young for that, the conservation officers said.

It’s sad to think of the distress of that young animal. Sadder yet is to know that seeing that whole story unfold was only a small part of an issue that is so much bigger. Habitat reduction due to human activity, both industrial and recreational, poaching, they create tragic stories that we see but the end of, and while most of us feel sorry for a beautiful little cub, we ought to look at the big picture we’re altering a bit more every day.

And because on the day of this writing we celebrate World Water Day, let’s take a quick peek at our globally dwindling vital resource. Shortages and droughts happen somewhere else for now. Here…it’s spring, this morning the sun is out and springs are gurgling, overflowing with freshly melted snow. We fear flooding, yet what we should also pay attention to is our dwindling water supplies. Without a stroke of panic (yet), but by remembering the reality of water shortages in South Africa, what is there to learn while we still can? Freshwater is a limited resource, as simple as that. We are among the fortunate ones who have plenty of, still. Which means preserving it by taking another look at our habits and doing with less. Adopting a lifestyle water diet if you will.

How lucky we are! To have so much; so much in fact that though we have been reckless long enough, there is still lots of it to save. Which many of us are willing to, whatever it takes. From carrying garbage with you rather than dropping it, to ditching plastic from your life as much as you can, to being an unobtrusive nature visitor, to living mindfully. Truly, there are many ways to do better.

‘If you’re available, garbage cleanups will take place April 8, 9am out on the west side of the flats on the Dewdrop (just past the Ecological Reserve, organized by the Kamloops Naturalist Club) and April 22, 9am in Peterson Creek (organized by Sagebrush Neighbourhood Association.)