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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Where we should invest.

Under all this grass is a thriving river spilling into a lake, spilling into the ocean.  These wetlands, once, were thought to be a nuisance, full of mud, unnavigable, too wet for construction, too dry for water way.  This little estuary, and those like it,  didn't seem important at all until we began to understand the value of wetlands, the value of intermediary places where life begins for aquatic species.

This is prime real estate!
Priceless!
But, unmarketable.  You can't make money here.

In our capitalistic thinking, if we can't make money in a piece of land, we don't want it.  We look at this piece of land from a narrow perspective. For this wetland to be appreciated, we need to ask all the residents in these parts if they enjoy their clean waters, their healthy fish, their pristine surroundings.

What we should all invest in, collectively, without each of us making any profit out of these decisions, is the protection and expansion of these spaces, for they are true investments in our way of life, in healthy life cycles for all species.

So, go on. Stop by your planning commissioner and find out how your community protects and invests in the preservation of these places.

If you live near these places, if your community has invested in their protection, you are most lucky.
Before you invest in anything else, invest in your community well being by protecting their wetlands.
Water, my good friends, is our real gold.


29 comments:

Helen said...

You have the rare ability to rally the forces, present us with facts, raise awareness!

Happy Mother's Day, Rosaria.

Meryl Baer said...

Too often we don't realize what we have until it is gone. We "...pave paradise and put up a parking lot."

Brian Miller said...

i know in our area there is a certain level of protection and zoning that assists.yn.....i know we had to be careful when looking for land...and i agree with merc

rjerdee said...

Thankfully, I live in a town where our 13 miles of pristine beaches have been unsullied by pavement and rich-people condos. Our city government deliberately keeps our town underdeveloped...we have walking parks with reconstituted waters where local water animals can live and survive. Lovely backward thinking :) No builders' development going on here!

ellen abbott said...

on the Texas gulf coast it was decided that the wetlands were wasted space that did nothing and so effort was made to fill them in or dredge them out. it wasn't until years later it was discovered how important they are to the ecology of not only birds but the land and water itself. now some attempts are being made to restore the wetlands.

Dawn said...

YES!!! It has always amazed me when I heard someone say a piece of land was useless. I never understood that mindset! Good post...again:)

Unknown said...

This was a very interesting and informative post!

Eleonora Baldwin said...

I'm fighting with my communal office. They don't understand what a community garden is. And I'll be damned if I can't teach them!

Thanks for the inspiration, Maestra.

Suz said...

Oh boy you are preaching to the choir on this one Rosaria...I am so on your side...
This kind of land wasn't valued because, I think, at the time it was developed..there was so much of it....and we took wildlife for granted
In an old neighbor in Chicago..I remember my grandfather refering to it as Ducktown...I thought when growing up that he was making an ethic joke ..Chicago is filled with ethnic slices....It was only when I grew up that I found out that that land was a swampland..wetlands....filled in by time I was born..So there is nothing new....going on
We know that wildlife is disapearing..that these paving overs are killing off habitat...We who car must get involved...whether with our time, talents or treasure...
we must before it is gone forever...like so much of our Illinois dark prairie soil farmland
...there's so much of it...where have we heard that before?

Michael G-G said...

You write powerfully and thoughtfully about things, Rosaria. Thank you!

quilterliz said...

G'day Rosaria. What you say is so true. We don't realise what we have until it's not here anymore and of course by then it's far too late. In our area here in Australia we have wetlands and thankfully they are nurtured and appreciated. I hope it always stays that way.Take care. Liz...

Boodhooram Ignoramus said...

yes!

Rob-bear said...

Ah, yes, Rosaria. "We look at this piece of land from a narrow perspective." In fact, we look at pretty much everything "from a narrow perspective." Sadly. And I see us, more and more, almost everywhere, paying the price for having a narrow perspective — from our health, and health care, to education and the environment. Thanks, again, for a challenging thought.

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

A very powerful and persuasive post! I so agree. Water truly is gold and our natural resources precious. We need to do everything we can to protect them. We're having a fight here in rural Arizona to keep a foreign firm from installing a copper mine only a mile from town with the possibility that the water that services this community and the farmlands surrounding it could be poisoned by toxic chemicals used to get the copper out of the bedrock. Our clean water and natural resources are not replaceable once destroyed.

Tabor said...

I have not stopped by your blog in a while...and I forget that there is some good stuff here! I live in a area that tries very hard to preserve wetlands and to protect lands within the 1,000 buffer of our waters. You have given me some ideas for a post to pass on this mission!

Arkansas Patti said...

Well put. I saw the Florida Keys badly damaged but thoughtless dredging to create more valuable land, ignoring the fact that the most valuable treasure, life in the shallows, was destroyed.

Joani said...

As a child that was ingrained in our brains. "Don't waste water." We lived on a ranch in western Arizona where the only source of water was a spring that was fed by rains. Not wasting water was a daily routine for us and continues with me today. It's what the children are taught about these things that will keep the GOLD. Thanks for the inspiration.
Happy Mother's Day.

Linda Myers said...

I joined the planning commission in my town in January of this year. We all got a tour of the wetlands. I learned a lot. I'm grateful to live in a community whose code protects the wetlands.

What About The Girl? said...

My dad used to always say....conserve, conserve, conserve!


Happy Mother's Day!

Rosaria Williams said...

Thanks for your visit! Hoping all mothers this weekend get appreciated and cherished. Like Mother Earth herself, our main job is to maintain life, and conserve our resources. Happy Mother's Day!
I'll be visiting you at your places in the next few days.

Trish said...

I should send this post to the Florida governor, who is eager to turn all unused real estate over to developers. Without the Everglades, Florida becomes a desert.

Cloudia said...

yes, an important issue!

did you see my post about Hawaii's water last week?



Warm Saturday Aloha from Waikiki


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Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Well said, Rosaria.

Unspoken said...

Yup. Watching so much of this kind of land disappear.

Step-parent's Cove said...

I agree with taking care of our surroundings. Yesterday, my husband and I took a ride to the mountains here in Colorado. We found this lovely place called Nevadaville. Oh, it was so peaceful, yet, a small amount of it had been destroyed by mining. At first glance I was sad.

We inquired about the town. In hopes we could buy a small parcel. The information we received was heartbreaking. According to a local she warned us not to buy land there. She said the water is awful and of no human use (not even to wash clothes). Sad!

I couldn't help but to wonder if the mining caused the water to go bad. Oh, well I must press on in finding land else where, but your posting was great.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hilary said...

Excellent post, Rosaria. We do have protected areas close to home. I'm just glad that the importance of wetlands were understood and are preserved.

Hilary said...

Yes, we all look at things in a 'marketable' mind set.
But you are so right, some things are 'priceless'.

Anonymous said...

You are so right...excellent post!

Out on the prairie said...

Many around here now are seeing the value of these wetlands and returning many back to where they were.