In Defense Of Local Wilderness

Human population pressures in southeast Michigan are on the rise and are threatening the remaining wild areas around us. Looking to pave and sterilize the woods, marshes and farms in an insatiable quest for the Lord Dollar, "developers" are invading the most precious undisturbed land in these parts. For those of us who love and appreciate this place of rivers and trees, our land is in need of protection and the time has come to defend it. To this end,

Wapin' Earth First! (Wapin' EF!) is declaring the Waterloo Pinckney State Recreation Areas and their adjacent ïands a Wilderness Recovery Area (WRA). Wapin' EF! is a newly-formed group of people who have come to understand the ecological and spiritual values of whole, intact ecosystems. (Wapin' is the Potawatomi Indian word for daybreak.) The group derives much of its information and energy from the international Earth First! movement, which seeks to protect and restore the vast tracts of unspoiled wilderness necessary for the maintenance of life on the planet. The movement promotes a philosophy known as "deep ecology" (concerning the wholeness and integrity of the Earth), an uncompromising defense of the great mosaic of life, and visionary wilderness proposals. In addition to those concerning the mountains and deserts of the western U.S., several groups have proposed WRAs in areas where humans are more densely populated.

There are three basic steps to the wilderness recovery process. The first step includes identifying the existing wild areas, discovering who controls their use, and ensuring they are preserved from disturbance. In the case of the Waterloo Pinckney WRA, much of the core is controlled by the state of Michigan in the form of recreation area (similar in management to state parks). Designated uses on the land include horseback riding, hunting, hiking, fishing, skiing; generally non-motorized activities except for power boating. Outside of the core, the rest of the recovery area is controlled by individual landowners, some of whom control forest and marsh areas, others who are ranchers and farmers.

The second step in the wilderness restoration process is to heal the areas with human-inflicted scars, such as illegal off road vehicle (ORV) trails. These scars occur on state land where that use is prohibited. Once access to the trails has been sealed off, Wapin' EF! plans to rehabilitate the land with efforts such as building natural erosion control structures on steep hillsides and helping to re-establish the conditions necessary for native plants to repopulate and thrive.

The third step is to begin large-scale land restoration in the WRA adjacent to and inside the core. There are several pieces of state land where the process of plant community succession can be "jump started." More importantly, a group dedicated to the recovery effort could play a key role by securing agreements with landowners to maintain or enhance wilderness characteristics and by buying and controlling parcels of land.

When all of these wildemess restoration objectives have been accomplished, the land to our west and northwest will be a vast green space where low-density, low-impact human populations co-exist with healthy, sustainable populations of native species of plants and animals. We hope, in the longer term, to create the conditions necessary for the re-introduction of beaver, moose, bald eagle and other endangered species. Then we will be able to experience and feel what it's like to have a wilderness within a short distance of the city.

Wapin' EF! is planning a series of work days for the wanner months. We have purchased several hundred native tree seedlings and will be planting them in early May. Several days of repairing land damaged by ORVs are on tap. In addition, being a fun-loving, outdoors-oriented group, we will be continuing our explorations of the little-known, out-of-the-way and unique places of the area, followed by good food and lots of dancing. If you are interested in any of these activities, feel free to call 1-878-3805 and we'll be happy to set you up.