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Spring 2005
The plant in the photograph here is a majestic, powerful
plant. Strong, yet delicate. Full-grown, it stands four feet high. It is also
quite rare. Platanthera leucophaea, the eastern prairie white fringed orchid.
Endangered in Illinois and Wisconsin, gone entirely from Indiana, it is on the
federal list of threatened species.
This plant still grows in its natural prairie habitat,
but it survives only through the intercession of caring humans. Had someone not
placed a wire cage over this orchid, deer would have eaten it to the nub long
before it could grow tall and set seeds. Many others have fallen prey to
avaricious collectors or been crowded out of their habitat by invasive species.
In this issue we feature some of the fabulous
plants of
Chicago Wilderness and describe some of the programs and people hustling to
protect and save them. The white fringed orchid, in fact, is making a modest
comeback due to an ambitious recovery plan and the concerted efforts of many
volunteers who hand-pollinate them, broadcast seeds, monitor, and cage them.
There are more populations in Chicago Wilderness than anywhere else in the
world. It’s too soon to declare victory, but perhaps we’re on the way.
Many warblers, too, are in deep trouble. Those dazzling
songbirds that pass through our region each spring are in dramatic decline.
Their winter and summer habitats are disappearing. And then there’s Puss. Craig
Vetter reports in “Of Cats and Birds” that perhaps as many as 39
million birds are killed in just one state by cats every year.
What’s the difference, one might ask, between my favorite
feline nabbing a passing warbler and the carnivorous peregrine falcons whose
comeback we celebrate in
“How the Peregrines Learned to Hack the Big City?”
Aren’t they both predators — doing what comes naturally?
Predation in nature is an essential part of life, true,
but we humans have thrown things so ferociously out of balance that a few
species are taking over. Chief among those species, of course, is people, but
others are those charming and smart predators we keep as pets. Allowing
housecats outside to hunt freely is like allowing some athletes to use steroids — they
have an unfair advantage. We’ve removed the large predators that might keep the
cat population in check.
Our pets are not subject to all the risks of life in the
wild, so there are many more of them than there are of natural predator
populations. Peregrines preying upon birds, on the other hand, live and die by
the laws of nature. They do eat birds, but they never overpopulate.
Biodiversity conservation is about evening the odds for
the underdog. The warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, and thrushes are going away.
Why should we abet their decline by allowing our cats outdoors? People who let
their cats out to hunt arguably have a right to do so. But they also might want
to consider how they feel about the wider community of nature. Most people
wouldn’t feel right about causing the destruction Vetter describes.
A world without life in all its rich diversity is an
impoverished world. Don’t we wish to ensure that cerulean warblers and delicate
orchids live on for future generations to enjoy? Isn’t exercising a little
restraint — in our own consumptive habits and those of our pets — well
worth the knowledge that we can leave the world in at least as good a shape as
we
inherited it?
I submit that it is. Chicago Wilderness is dedicated to
that proposition. Ethics for a small planet.
With this issue Jennifer Dees, our founding Webmaster and
brilliant Web designer, bids us goodbye. Jennifer is one of those caring humans
who showed up to help this fledgling publication, making her love of nature
part of her vocation as well. She has done so much more than help. We wish her
the very best.
Debra Shore may be reached at
editor@chicagowildernessmag.org.
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