Winter 1998

[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED AUGUST 2001.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: WINTER 1998.]

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice... — Robert Frost

The end of the world? Far from it. For us, fire and ice are the progenitors. The wonderfully rich nature and our own rich lives in this region today began when the glaciers gouged the land and left fertile young soils. Then fires sweeping across the evolving prairies and woods helped to shape the characteristic ecosystems of the North American middle west: our wilderness.

Yet, as the colossal waves of ice scraped our landscape and then retreated, so has the ambitious hand of man sought to make its mark. How much do we create — and how much destroy? The jury is still out. Today the skyscrapers of Chicago tower as tall as the crest of the former glacier. Imagine — as artist Bobby Sutton does — standing in downtown Chicago and gazing up and up and up at the Wisconsonian ice sheet, one-quarter mile thick. The Sears Tower might thrust above the surface, but only by a few feet.

What a marvel that our monuments challenge the power of ice! Still, our achievements — even expressed in a structure one-quarter mile high — are impermanent too.

Consider the biblically-named Zion nuclear power plant in Lake County that sits on 250 acres of former sand savanna between the north and south sections of Illinois Beach State Park. Recently, the Commonwealth Edison Company announced its plans to close the plant permanently. It had seemed like it would be there forever. Now the prairie and woods of the park look timeless and real, and the power plant looks like trivia.

Permanence? For nature, now and in the future, permanence implies active and informed stewardship. Perhaps when today's youth have grandchildren, nature will be treasured more than gems and gold. Perhaps our times will be most respected as the period of history when an irreplaceable inheritance was saved by a culture that learned to live in harmony with it. Will this optimistic vision succeed? What are the major challenges, the solutions, the institutions, and the people who are making the difference? Chicago Wilderness Magazine intends to explore these questions and find answers that will last.

Thanks to your generous support, we are off to a great start. As of Groundhog Day, an impressive 1,746 people throughout the region had already subscribed. Help us make this magazine a sustaining enterprise. Share this issue with friends and colleagues. Give subscriptions to neighbors, schools, and libraries. Spread the word. Scatter the seeds. From fire and ice, to the richness of life. Chicago Wilderness.

Debra Shore may be reached at editor@chicagowildernessmag.org.