On Saving Beauty
David Myers
President
The Wildlands Conservancy
Mule deer in the aftermath of the El Dorado Fire.
Photo by John Trammell
Friends, we all know the compassion in helping our children save a weather-beaten monarch butterfly or rescuing an abandoned dog or cat. We do these acts of kindness simply because it’s in our hearts to do. Devastating, unnatural, human caused fires, severely impacted three of The Wildlands Conservancy’s Sand to Snow Preserves over the past weeks. Our staff rescued everything from bear cubs, to bobcats, to grey foxes that had their foot pads burned that, unfortunately, wildlife agencies would have “put down”. Like your rescued dog, they are healing and will be released back in Oak Glen.
Our staff worked through many nights protecting the oak forest of Oak Glen with our partners at Los Rios Rancho using our own fire hoses, water trucks, heavy equipment, holding the line at fire breaks made by our dedicated team. It often came down to shovel work to put out flames to save a single oak—the home of grey tree squirrels, Steller’s jays, acorn woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and much of the wildlife you’ve witnessed flourishing at Oak Glen Preserve. We fought these fires relentlessly, not even having a sense of time until the sun came up.
Why do we go to such great lengths to save the “beauty” of nature? On days we work at the Oak Glen Preserve kiosk, most visitors use the word “beautiful” to describe their experience knowing that “beauty” binds our common human experience as we smile at each other. When we say “Behold the Beauty” are we really saying “Bear witness to the ties that bind us?” Are we somehow remembering what our fast-paced and fractured society somehow compels us to forget?—That we are all members of one human family bound by our love of life?
Behold the Beauty!