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Hi Randy & All, Apr 30, 2013
This has been a high-volume topic so I will not try to respond to =
comments from all but instead will back up a step and explain more fully =
the lens through which I see things.=20
My lens is 78 1/2 years old, so my memory spans about 75 years. The =
extent of environmental destruction, degradation and fragmentation that =
has taken place during this period is nothing short of staggering. And =
the rate of change is exponential; in the order of 10 times the loss in =
the last 30 years as in the previous 45.=20
=20
And you may with justification ask; "So what ?" All this has =
happened in spite of a Conservation Movement in North America that spans =
at least 150 years, Naturalist Societies that span up to 100 (?) years =
and a more activist Environmental Movement that spans 50 years. These =
movements have exercised considerable clout due to the large numbers of =
votes involved.=20
And now it is my turn to ask a question. With all these good people =
doing good works with increasing intensity over time why is the =
environment in tatters ? And remember, for a healthy natural world only =
one condition is required; a healthy environment.=20
I think the environment is in tatters because the primary cause of =
this mess, the internal combustion engine, the private automobile and =
various energy demands that developed as consequences have been accepted =
from the start as positive, progressive and inevitable.=20
But unless some way can be found to wean people from this mindless =
pursuit of the horizon, and all the consequences that follow from it, =
then the natural world will hit the wall. Splat. Not picking flowers =
will not be sufficient to avert global warming; already well underway. =
Nor will it bring back to life road kill, bridge impassable barriers to =
animal movement, resurrect dead streams, unfill frog ponds or restore =
vegetation to the huge expanses of pavement.
And, with this backdrop in view, it is relevant to look at =
demographics, attrition and recruitment. The Hunting & Sport Fishing =
ranks, core Conservation support, are thinning. Attendance at National =
Parks has been in decline for 4 decades (?). Most young people are more =
interested in virtual trees that grow in 5 seconds than they are in real =
trees that need 5 decades just to get started. And practical =
level-headed people are repeatedly turned off by the zany egg-head =
notions that keep escaping from the contemporary version of Pandora's =
Box. .=20
So the really tough problem lies ahead and the political clout of =
those who might wish to do something may be on a downward course. =
Consequently the focus should be on the truly destructive forces, and =
how to diminish them, not on politically correct thought and deed or =
youth indoctrination.=20
There is something about flowers, garden or wild, that attracts =
pre-school children; as seen by a child's eye the typical flower says =
'pick me'. Used as a launching pad this affinity can lead to the =
realization that "everything that lives is holy" and to a life-long =
interest in the natural world. One should accordingly be very careful to =
not turn children off with a 'don't touch anything dictum."
And in this vein, we were often reminded that mighty oaks from =
little acorns grow. The world of popular natural history might be far =
less advanced than it is today if the Jamestown Chief of Police had been =
less enlightened and not granted the teenager Roger Peterson written =
permission to stay out till 11:00 pm to collect Leps. at street lights; =
more than 2 hours after the curfew when all youth had to be off of the =
streets.=20
At this point I want to interject a personal note. We (I and my =
older sister Gladys), when 5 & 10 respectively, were allowed to pick =
Blue Violets and Mayflowers without limit and why not; we literally had =
acres of both within a short walk of home. These were just rituals of =
spring, like cutting Pussy Willows, or making Willow whistles and =
harvesting Dandelion Greens. The novelty soon wears off and one small =
bunch of Violets or Mayflowers is enough. [Having gone all winter =
without even Cabbage we pigged out on Dandelion Greens and I suppose =
seriously depleted the genetic diversity of the local population. =
Fortunately they pulled through, probably by the skin of their dents de =
leon, and the survivors can be seen to this day; more than a few on my =
lawn. :)].
And the first time I saw Lady's-Slippers, really quite localized =
on our land, I wanted to pick some also and was told I could pick one =
flower but no leaves. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was =
a lot more attractive in the woods than it was in a vase and I have not =
picked one since. But there was only one small patch of Yellow Violet on =
our land; Cornwallis meadow near the river. We and, in later years, =
everyone who worked on the farm were shown where this patch was and were =
under orders to not disturb it in any way; no picking and no mowing =
within a span of it. At the prevailing conditions I think this graded =
approach (go ahead, use restraint or no) was a lot more enlightened than =
a total ban but even that was slightly misguided. Changes in land use =
wiped them all out in any case.
=20
On another personal note, Alison, I & kids sometimes walked along a =
path, pioneered by schoolchildren, that ran from the dead end of a =
street (Parkview) to Palmeter's Subdivision (?). This crossed a =
steep-sided ravine and then ran through an area of open woods that had =
been cut, briefly pastured, and then allowed to gradually become wooded =
again. As long as it remained open there were numerous Common =
Lady's-Slippers, and these persisted longest in the vicinity of the path =
because traffic discouraged regrowth (in spite of being routinely picked =
by children).
With the above as a backdrop we can consider one of the original =
questions. Is it unethical to pick them ? If they were growing near a =
path or anywhere else in a park where others are likely to walk then, in =
my view, it would be inconsiderate to pick any. But if they were distant =
from traffic then why not let your child pick some if they wish ? The =
potential negative consequences are zero. The potential positive =
consequences are greater than zero. How can this be a difficult choice ?
But, as Randy observed in one of these posts, that flower might be =
the very one that would have produced seeds if not picked. For =
reassurance on this question there are two approaches; quick and dirty =
or slow and laborious.=20
For the quick and dirty approach estimate as best you can how many =
of these flowers you see per year and estimate how many seed capsules =
you see per year. And as a subset of the quick and dirty approach, =
estimate how many seed capsules you have seen in your lifetime. [This =
was the