Preserving Our Preservation

When many think of the word 'preservation', they usually talk about preserving historic landmarks and structures to their nostalgic past conditions with the usual needed maintenance. Preservation is sometimes misapplied to isolated and fractured woodlands since all things in Nature are in constant flux. To preserve a pocketed and isolated environment within an urban abyss of development (as is often prescribed as development leftovers not applicable to construction) is not preservation as much as it is a window to stagnation and a 'desert forest'. Preservation is often a last grasp for humanity for people in a city to hold on to something that is most basic and essential to our existence: our planet.  In landscapes, we build false worlds on restricted budgets, and in the minds of engineers, on 'Complete Streets,' and in over-expansive parking lots, with made-up landscapes and insufficient green spaces, hoping to give us some sense that we're not leaving our world behind.  We blaspheme in our efforts to be god-like in our personal application of the 'creation' of our modified 'natural' environments.

A recent article in the local daily about a land preserve in Garland caught my attention. The City of Garland and Dallas County were placing expanded paved trails around the Spring Creek Forest Preserve to open up new trail links along its perimeter.  I won't spend much time on this. Human improvements alongside a natural area doesn't normally get people stirred up.  People like to see nature without getting their feet dirty.  How you put in a perimeter trail without damaging the forest edge - essential to many species - might be my first concern.

The issue for me was that, in my opinion, the intent of the preserve was violated once the City took upon itself to counter the suggestions of the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest.  According to the report, the Society had suggested some less intrusive options that were essentially ignored. The Society was founded to act as the trust to protect the land and manage its activities.  If they're not allowed to perform this function as it was deemed necessary decades ago, what is the point of their existence but to be an annoyance to planners and Council members once in a while? But this isn't even the real issue.

The real topic of concern for me was this: areas that were intended for preservation through a County-wide effort to preserve our last remaining wild places should not have any intrusion that has ANY motive or incentive than the preservation, management, and restoration of the preserve.

But, in general, how does a community that determines that something is worth saving in one decade begin to take steps to decide that they are not worth saving in another - and in one lifetime?  They whittle away at this piece, and that piece, until eventually they take off a whopping huge portion because somebody looked at it and saw a revenue source. Once the financial and personal value for economic gain takes hold, then the natural value of the land becomes meaningless and pointless.  Once the investment of engineering and putting pen to paper begins, there is little hope of protection. Just as preservation fails in efforts to preserve historic structures, the efforts to preserve the sensitive lands that the community once cherished is also lost.

Throughout the region, areas that we might think are protected are not. Forty years ago, communities around Dallas County saw the expansion coming and decided some things were worth protecting from our invasion.  We have lost sight of this and have allowed apathy, convenience and ignorance to take place of our once impressive 'Green Fire' to protect what we knew could be lost.  It is being lost.  Before your closed eyes.  One acre at a time. One tree at a time.  Today.

The continuously growing Dallas County Open Space and preserve system was to be the beginning of preservation for our most sensitive areas.  It was not intended to be the end.  If we allow for unabated intrusion into our protected sensitive areas with an open door of economic destruction development, it's obvious we lose our protected areas.  It's also the subtle introduction of ourselves into the edge of these 'preserves' that should also alarm you. Incremental changes as minor as a few feet may as well be miles to some species.

If we were to fully preserve these places, we would once again restore vast acres to open prairie and woodland and protected cliffs so we could also restore natural ecological functions as they were intended.  This will not happen. Our best hopes lie in conservation.  Our preservation of woodlands and prairie that we did deem as important is a noble effort to retain our humanity component in our natural community and it should be rewarded by assuring these places are protected 'forever'.  When something is protected, it should remain that way.  It should not be bartered off to the highest bidder or the convenience of real estate location.