When I arrived at the “Restoration Ecology in Greater Yellowstone” course, I was under the impression I would only be learning tangible restoration skills. And we did accomplish several restoration projects such as building beaver dam analogs out of sticks, mud, and hemp; replanting native grasses; and building rock weirs to slow water velocity and prevent erosion on mountainsides. While I learned a lot of good restoration practices and techniques, I also learned how complex restoration truly is. For example, is the point of restoration to restore ecosystems to how they were at a certain point in history? Or to recover an ecosystem to a new version of itself, where new life can thrive even though it isn’t the same place as it was before? Does replanting one tree cancel out the harm caused to a different tree that was cut down? What about a whole forest? Do humans only restore because we feel guilty for all the death and destruction we have caused? Or is there a deeper motive? As the course progressed, I found myself thinking most deeply at the intersection of scientific ecology and ethical philosophy.
Working with Nolan Salix building beaver dam analogs, I learned that it is nearly impossible to restore an ecosystem to how it was at a specific point in history because ecosystems change and evolve over time as plants and animals come and go and climate shifts. Therefore, the best thing we can do is set the ecosystem up for a sustainable future. This could be as involved as building beaver dams to push water deep into the soil to recharge aquifers, or as simple as sticking willow shoots in the ground to replant beaver food and lock in river banks. Doing this work reminded me how you can never stand in the same river twice because it is not the same river, and you are not the same person.
I find the human motivation to restore ecosystems particularly interesting. I’ve heard many reasons for restoration over the course of this class, such as moral repair because we feel guilty, restoration as a human purpose, because it makes us feel good, and even as an attempt to “play God” with the land. Although I can’t say for certain if any of these reasons are true, I can speak from my own personal reasons for restoration. I restore because I believe life is sacred and it is our responsibility to do what we can to reduce suffering in the world, especially if we caused it. In the words of Jane Goodall, “The least I can do is speak out [and act] for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
