“Where the Wild Things Are”
On Saturday March 5th, The Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust Conservancy (MMLTC) will welcome Dr. Paul Keddy, an internationally recognized ecologist and Lanark County resident, to speak about some of the “wilder” features of our area that make it a unique and special place to live. The MMLTC works with private landowners and in the community to help preserve spaces where wild things are found.
“Wild places,” says Dr. Keddy, “are essential for the survival of other living beings, as well as for ourselves. I will describe our wild places of Lanark County, and also explain why they are important, and how scientists set priorities for protection. Not all wild places are the same, and it is important that over the next few decades we build a proper network of protected wild places. But we have to focus on the important places when we can.”
“Of course, in one way, it is obvious that wild species need wild places. Cities, subdivisions, farmland and clear cuts are not places where most wild species can live. Lanark County has some remarkable species. A few of my personal favorites are the Black Rat Snake, the Blanding’s Turtle, the Black-throated Blue Warbler, and the Gray Tree Frog. None of these will survive for the next generations without the wild places in which they live.”
“But it is not only wild species that need wild places. People do too. We have a deep need for wildness. Jesus, after all, spent 40 days in the wilderness of the Middle East. The Buddha spent years living in the forests of India. We too need wild places, even if we sometimes have difficulty explaining why. Canoe trips, wilderness hikes, hunting camps, and summer cottages all give us some experience of wildness.”
When he was younger, Dr. Keddy spent many hours canoeing on the Mississippi River and hiking in the surrounding forests. “In my lifetime,” he says, “many of the places I once loved have been turned into subdivisions or carelessly logged. Species that I used to see are missing, or there are only a few where they were once abundant. We forget so soon. People have already forgotten that Passenger Pigeons, now extinct, are recorded as having nested in Beckwith Township.
Although he has returned to live in Lanark County, Dr. Keddy still works on wild places elsewhere. He has recently worked on projects involving restoration of the Everglades, the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and even San Francisco Bay. He will be drawing upon some of these examples to provide further insight into Lanark County.
Although he has an international reputation as a scientist and writer, Paul is probably best known to us for writing Earth, Water Fire: An Ecological Profile of Lanark County. Now in its second printing as a revised edition, this book is an easy-to-digest, delightful and informative sail through the surprising natural and recent geological history of this area. The book will be available for purchase at his talk.
By the end of the talk, we should know where our wild places are, and what we should do to keep them intact. Since the Land Trust exists to take gifts of wild places to protect them for future generations, how better to spend an afternoon than hearing about wild places and meeting other people who care too.
Dr. Keddy will be speaking at MMLTC’s annual meeting which will be held Saturday, March 5, from 2-4 pm at the United Church Hall, 115 Clarence Street, in Lanark village.
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