On the Beauty of Water
David Myers
President
The Wildlands Conservancy
When The Wildlands Conservancy purchases a new preserve we look for “destination properties”—properties that you, our visitors, are naturally drawn to. One of the reasons 1.6 million visitors a year are drawn to our 21 preserves is because each of them has the soothing and inspirational draw of beautiful waters.
The waterfall at Bearpaw Reserve. Photo by Charlie Marquardt.
The Wildlands Conservancy has five preserves on the coast, where our visitors are invigorated by the thunderclap of waves, being splashed by the rolling tides, sharing the palm-tickle of a sand crab with their children, watching barking sea lions, or swimming, fishing, and surfing in the world’s largest ocean—the Pacific. Seven preserves are on major rivers; five where you can enjoy summer days swimming, fishing, kayaking, or wading in the Earth's refreshing waters. Seven other preserves have musical streams that guide your thoughts to a blissful place—if you stop to listen. Two reserves—Bearpaw and Mariposa—have over 100-foot-tall seasonal spring waterfalls.
My favorite preserve to “take my thoughts for a walk” during troubled times is Bluff Lake Reserve. The poet, Wallace Stevens said, “Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” When I contemplate sitting on the large quartz monzonite boulder on the east side of the dam, Hermann Melville’s words ring true, that “Meditation and water are wedded forever.” Henry David Thoreau said, “Water is the earth’s eye in which the beholder looks into the depths of his own soul.” Over my many yearly summer visits to Bluff Lake, I have always left invigorated in mind and spirit. Too bad California’s drought has severely impacted this 7,800-feet-in-elevation high country gem.
Playing in the cool waters of Whitewater River. Photo by Elba Mora.
As a Conservancy, we try to elevate the importance of all living things to our society. Did you know that up to 90 percent of large mammals on our preserves—deer, bear, bighorn, bobcats, Roosevelt and tule elk—depend on the riparian zones and springs where water is found. Water sources are life-sustaining—that we all know.
On local weather reports you hear “Another nice day for the beach: sunny and dry.” “Sunny and dry” becomes our anthropocentric collective prayer to the universe. I believe in our collective prayers to God and the universe, that’s why we have “Pray for rain” signs at our kiosks during periods of drought, like we have now. When a lake, stream, or spring goes dry, we quickly learn the value of water. Water, in whatever form it is found—ocean, lake, stream, or waterfall—creates an environment to truly “Behold the Beauty of Water.” Please pray for rain.