The golden rays of the setting sun peek through the branches of the trees as I sit beside the river. The water rushes by, flowing over rocks in waves of blue and white. I glance beyond the river at the mountains in the distance, covered top to bottom in shades of green and towering over the landscape below. A squirrel darts past me to my left, quickly disappearing in the nearby brush as two birds fly overhead, gliding along with the warm breeze. At this moment I have no worries and no stress, nothing but time to take in the view. I think about the history of the land, how long the mountains have gazed down at the valleys, and how long this river has flowed. For millions of years this landscape has existed, perpetually changing, yet somehow still the same. I consider my life at home. A bustling city full of life, buildings reaching to the clouds, and people I don’t recognize everywhere I go. While I have lived everyday among this craziness, the calm and serenity of the scene before me has existed. I find comfort in the notion that even though I am not there to see it, the beauty still remains untouched and unchanged. While I run to catch the bus at home, a deer dashes through the trees. While skyscrapers tower over campus, mountains tower over a river and grassland. These thoughts keep me grounded and calm my mind in knowing that there is escape from the chaos, even if it is out of reach in the moment.
This beautiful scene however, cannot exist without efforts to conserve and preserve. Preservation is the practice of letting the landscape be, in hopes of a future filled with prosperity and vitality. Similarly, conservation aims to protect the land while still utilizing what it provides. Through these efforts, ecosystems can thrive in their natural states, with intentional and conservative use. Species across the planet have faced adverse effects from human interference, being unfairly exiled to new habitats affecting their overall population, health, and overall viability.
The Blackfeet Nation in Montana, whom we have had the opportunity to study and meet with members, has a deeper connection to the land and sees it differently than we typically do from a western perspective. Rather than viewing nature in a dominating matter, they see it as a partnership, recognizing how the land provides for them and respecting it as such. This technique fostered the earliest methods of both conservation and preservation. The Blackfeet formed a connection with the land that established a sustainable lifestyle that made sense for both them and the ecosystem they interacted with. These values contribute to a sense of community with the non-human aspects of our world that are often overlooked and taken for granted.
In such a fast-paced world, we need to stop and consider the consequences of our actions before it’s too late. If we fail to look towards the future, and what it could look like, the landscape before me might not exist. At the end of the day, I want to give back to nature what it has given to me. To ensure we are able to find comfort in the natural world, we need to protect it. Thinking back to that moment where I felt such peace brings me a daily comfort that I want to preserve. Out here I can cherish the sun on my face and watch in awe as it sets over the mountains. This however, is a luxury and a privilege, a memory I get to hold on to for the rest of my life. To allow others to create memories or feel that sense of comfort, we must play our part and give back to the Earth for what it has given us.
