To Want to Save Nature We Must Appreciate It and Use It First...Right?

    

    Challenges present in the wildland-urban interface would be the hunting lines being blurred for staters. I mentioned in my previous blog post that Kohler, WI is known for a tourist attraction known as River Wildlife. This place specializes in having tourists go out into the ground and go hunting for wildlife including deer, turkey, and many other species. The site where the hunting center is located has also become a lodge and well-known restaurant causing the tourism industry to invade the wildlife once again of the area. The blurred lines however continue beyond just tourism as I think it transcends into all people wanting to build a house in a gorgeous area or go hunting for entertainment. This is a problem dominated by all many kinds, but just emphasized and maximized by people in high-up positions. This correlates to another interesting feature to point out would be greed within this space. The owner of Kohler is actually Mr. Kohler who runs the company, the tourism industry of the town, and the village itself. He has a mansion built in the woods, creates golf courses impending nature, and has tourism attractions that hurt wildlife intentionally. The desire for income is overwhelmingly apparent in his actions and intentions with the land he owns and as a result, is a huge challenge for managing shared urban-wild spaces in my opinion. If I was a manager of the Kohler foundation one of my main goals would be to dedicate land for nature preservation and make sure that there were rules and regulations in place that would enforce it to never be touched or harmed by those in power. For instance, this is apparent with the state park in Kohler, Terry Andre State Park, and Mr. Kohler wanting to turn it into another golf course to generate revenue for the village and mainly himself. I think protecting lands, especially already dedicated state parks and recreational facilities would be a key directive I would have as a manager to address at least a majority of concerns and struggles within this field.

    Throughout my time traveling throughout Wisconsin, I love hiking in Devil’s Lake State Park or spending time out on a paddle board in Door County. It is important to acknowledge that I personally have these blurred lines of where my life is and nature preservation needs to be. I think that this is such a grey area with truly no right or wrong answer as well. The question is two-fold for starters. In order to want to protect nature we have to appreciate it, but to appreciate it we must understand its beauties, worth, advantages, and wonders which come from experiences of using it to our benefit. The trails we make, placing ourselves in an animal or plant’s habitat, to begin with, building safety features, etc. are all destroying natural habitats, but also giving humans a reason to want to protect them. I think policy and lawmakers really need to lean in on environmental scientists, Native people who know the lands better than ourselves, and other professionals to come up with a plan. I think whether it be only every square mile can have so much urbanization, or if there is so much garbage found littered in a state park it will be shut down, or other strategic tactics that there can be a way to pair our desires with protecting nature. I think finding this balance is key as if we want to protect nature we must use it to understand, appreciate, and desire it in the first place.

Source: https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/news/local/2015/12/05/golf-course-activists-march-against-kohler/76835614/