Are We the Weeds?

While in Wood Buffalo National Park, we encountered an extraordinary comment by our guide.  When I asked her if hunting was allowed in the park, she told us that it was and offered this reasoning:  humans had been part of this ecosystem for over 10,000 years and remained a vital segment of Wood Buffalo National Park.

I admit that it took several hours for her profound statement to soak in… here at Wood Buffalo National Park, humans are considered part of the ecosystem, not separate from it.  David and I have been wrestling with this statement ever since we heard it.

It is truly a phenomenal concept… could it be that humans belong?  How long has it been since any of us have felt that we belong?  As environmental concerns grow, humans are most often considered the culprit… the perpetrators… the weeds.

Several years ago, David and I had the opportunity to host Dr. Jay Richards during a presentation on his phenomenal book and DVD, The Privileged Planet, which he co-authored with nuclear physicist, Dr. Guillermo Gonzales.  During a candid conversation about man’s position in our world, Jay told us that the ongoing battle can be summed up in this one question:  Are we (humans) the weeds?

So what is a weed?  I found these interesting quotes about weeds...

“No matter what definition is used, weeds are plants whose undesirable qualities outweigh their good points, according to man.”  Dwight D. Ligenfelter, Assistant Extension Agronomist, Department of Agronomy, Penn State University

“But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else.  In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit.  Weeds are people’s idea, not nature’s.  Anonymous

At Wood Buffalo National Park, humans definitely are not the weeds.  The First Nation people have hunted this area for over 10,000 years.  They are spiritually bound to this land and use it and its resources for subsistence living. 

There are those who will caution me at this point.  They will tell me that these are ancient traditions playing out in current times.  We cannot compare this to the environmental concerns of today.

I beg to differ.  In 1949, no more than sixteen whooping cranes lived in the wild.  Scientists,  environmentalists, and ordinary folks from two countries worked together to bring this beautiful bird from the brink of extinction to a viable flock of over 300 in 2011.  Wood Buffalo National Park and Texas’ Aransas Wildlife Refuge became sister homes for this endangered bird.  As a result, these joint efforts by humans have, in fact, saved a species.

Are humans the weeds?  In some cases, one could definitely argue the point that we are… however, with the whoopers and the Wood Buffalo ecosystem, one could also argue the opposite position as well.  Has the industrial revolution and our migration to cities taken us further and further from our connection to nature?  

I remember a quote from a visit to the University of Alaska museum last year that speaks directly to the disconnect that can happen when we live in cities:  "We all die and go back to nature eventually.  When we are in the city, we tend to forget -- we don't really think about it.  But nature reminds us it's not a sad thing.  It gives us energy.  Nature has a kind of power to encourage you to live because Nature teaches -- you are going to die."  Michio Hosino, Alaska Airlines Magazine, August 1991

Could our transition from a rural to urban society cause a disconnect with nature?  And as a result of that disconnect, have we become the weeds?

For me, the Bible offers the purest answer to the question.  It tells us that man was given dominion over this earth in service of man and for God’s glory.  That means that humans have been given the distinct opportunity for dominion over the earth in God’s work… not to exploit it… not to sacrifice it on behalf of ourselves… but to caretake it and to bring God glory. 

And God blessed them (humans) and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.  (Genesis 1:28, Amplified Version)

It is truly an astounding proposition.  What would it look like if each of us worked in concert with our world’s vast resources to bring glory to God?  Could the whooping crane success story be a small testimony for future endeavors in bringing Him glory? 

For the first time since I was a child on a small cattle ranch in south Texas, I feel like I belong.  I will be ever grateful to Wood Buffalo National Park for offering a glimpse of what being part of an ecosystem might look like for all of mankind.