People or Nature?

The sun never sets on TS crew. That being said, what we do at the end of the day is almost as important as our activities during the day!!!

These include:

• Developing professional hacky skills (see photo) while attempting not to be run over by tourists
• Having snowball fights (yes, in july)
  
• Attending popular ranger-run presentations for park visitors
  

A presentation on park birds revealed the source of all of the chirps and caws we've heard for weeks now, and also gave us some insight into the effects of habitat fragmentation on migratory birds. Neo-tropical birds, who live in equatorial latitudes and return to the north each summer to reproduce, are being threatened by development-related fragmentation of their habitats. Fragmentation of habitats corresponds with a growth in the number of edge habitats. While certain birds thrive in these edge habitats, the change in predators, competitors, and climate, endanger the neo-tropical birds whose populations are beginning to fade.

We also studied the biological and political history of the gray wolf. An eradication effort in the late 19th century left the wolves on the brink of extinction and consequently they have been protected for much of the past century by the Endangered Species Act. The first pack of gray wolves to return to the northern rockies were found in Glacier National Park in 1986 and were referred to as "The magic pack."



So what do the wolves and the birds have in common? That their habitats (and arguably their lives) have been protected by this very park!!!!!! Wolves--top predators-- require land and space to thrive. And the neo tropical birds, endangered by those who are more adapt to the edge habitats, need the safety of the park's inside habitats. While no one would openly argue for the reduction of a national park, they might argue that there is something very odd and unnatural about people being so separated from nature by having government-protected public lands such as National Parks. While our National Parks are well established institutions, many species rich habitats are being destroyed all over the world and conflict exists over whether or not to protect them. Is it fair to remove people from their land for the sake of the land? It is a difficult question. Is it fair to destroy habitats for the sake of people? Also a difficult question. Both questions are painfully simplified, of course, but perhaps the case of the wolves and the birds are indication of the necessity to protect wide expanses of land the world over for the sake of ecological balance and health.

And how do these issues pertain to us at the MCC? We, like the great Going to the Sun Rd., open up opportunities for people to explore what great parcels of nature we have left. Hiking on our trails, maybe they will come to understand what it means to have this great park, and so many others, and how much we need to defend the existance of more parks and fight the fragmentation of habitats the world over!

To read up on the people v. nature debate, check out Requiem for Nature by John Terborgh or Breakfast of Biodiversity by John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto and explore what you think!!!

In the meantime, TS crew is happy to be working some of the best trails in the greatest national park around!