The Columbia River was just named one of America’s most threatened rivers. Demographers project millions more people moving to the Northwest in the next 25 years, adding to the pressures on our natural resources. We’ve seen across the country that population growth and resource extraction can overrun the very nature of treasured places. We’ve all seen places called Cedar Grove or Elk Meadows devoid of cedar or elk. It would be easy to descend into pessimism and hopelessness about the future of the Northwest.
And yet here in the Northwest, we have a history, originating in native cultures and extending to today, of understanding the value of nature. Northwesterners care about clean air and water, recreation opportunities and scenic vistas. We know that nature serves us well, providing an infrastructure that is vital to our way of life.
Solutions to our existing challenges and coming growth are around us, if we can only develop new ways of conserving those resources. In the last 25 years, thousands of Northwest landowners have entered into voluntary conservation plans or improved their habitat through voluntary backyard habitat certification programs. This has resulted in hundreds of square miles of the Northwest’s great places being set aside for all time.
Let’s pour our energy into wise actions that maintain the integrity of our natural places. Let’s be sure not to diminish the natural infrastructure that provides us with benefits that we could never re-create as efficiently or affordably.
