Our language seems rather poetical when we describe crowds. What else could phrases like a murder of crows, an obstinacy of buffalo, a bellowing of bullfinches, a scold of jays, a gaggle of geese, a knot of toads, a glaring of cats, a bask of crocodiles, and everyone's favorite, a congress of baboons be besides poetry?
Last week during a symposium, my mind began tinkering with what a gathering of environmentalists might be called. These good folks, who work in environmental education jobs and projects, want a clean, safe, healthy, respectable world to live in. One repeating concept seemed to stretch across their diverse approaches to that end. "Quality," explained our program leader, was the predominate word on their web sites that linked the attendees' various mission statements and goals.
To achieve a quality environment requires constant vigilance toward indicators of harm, measurements of change and degrees of degradation. Since environmental educators work in the present to preserve a quality future, I thought, how about a "hope of environmentalists," as a name for cohorts of similar values working for quality of life?
We met at the Ozark Natural Science Center to collaborate on what programs are going-on and on-going among the participants. The center is, of course, the perfect setting for such a discussion, since its mission works toward understanding nature by putting people of all ages into Ozark ecosystems, where they see first hand how ecology, conservation and stewardship are all part of quality-of-life decisions.
Located 24 years ago in a 489-acre part of Bear Hollow Natural Area, which is managed by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, this non-profit organization hosted 1,600 students last fall from both public and private schools in northwest and central Arkansas as well as eastern Oklahoma. Around 1,500 kids are expected at the center this spring for experiences in biology, ecology, geology, forestry and even social studies, which are integrated into activities such as hiking, cave exploring, fossil collecting, animal tracking, and in the summer camps, crafts, stream exploration, swimming and canoeing. Programs are also available for adults, teachers and families, which makes this center one of the Natural State's greatest assets for hands-on learning of the natural sciences.
Gathering to share information, this "hope of environmentalists" included representatives from three different solid waste districts, the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, the Master Naturalists, Beaver Water District, the Applied Sustainability Center of the U of A, the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Hobbs State Park, the Arkansas Forestry Association, Washington and Benton counties' Extension Services, the Arkansas Water Resources Center, the Arkansas Environmental Education Association, the Fayetteville Public Schools, Project Learning Tree, the University of Arkansas STEM Center for Math and Science Education, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Arkansas Dept. of Environmental Quality, the Ozarks Water Watch Foundation, the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, and, of course, numerous members of the nature center's staff.
With such a wealth of devoted and knowledgeable practitioners, one ought to be able to relax and feel the world is in good hands, the environment is safe, and there's nothing to fear. But environmental education has always had to play catch-up and constantly push for its place at the learning table. Our society has been painfully slow to comprehend that we are not so special as a species that we don't also require the basics (air, water, soil, food, shelter, other living creatures) to survive. Therefore, education contrary to the notion that humans aren't invincible remains an uphill battle of logic vs. denial. And, to depend solely on education to save us is like being handed a thimble with which to bail out a ship.
It's also foolish to think that once educated, humans will become avid devotees of a healthy world no matter what it costs to sustain high quality. The condition of our planet today is proof that something else besides ignorance is our problem, and, of course, greed, gluttony, consumption and overpopulation are the likely culprits. To my way of thinking, however, heroes are the ones who keep plugging and searching for solutions no matter what the odds are. They have hope and won't let go of it, which is why these people I've listed above, and the thousands across the globe trying their best to explain how our world works to our fellow humans, are a "hope of environmentalists." It may sound strange at first, but really, is it any less appropriate than a "congress of baboons?"
Commentary on 03/30/2014