The seemingly endless stretch of the San Joaquin Valley in South central California is bordered on all sides by federal penitentiaries and quadrants of produce. I cannot think of a better place to capture uniform lines of roads and crops that intertwine with Americana. At first the long rows of grapes, almonds and railroad ties give the feeling of desolation, but this gives way to an understanding of the areas energetic importance.
Flowing fields – All pictures captured on my iPhone
Almost everyday I am blessed with the picturesque task of driving the fertile farming grounds in search of threatened and endangered species that could use a helping hand. With 13% of the overall agricultural production of the U.S. coming from the San Joaquin Valley, it is easy to see the potential impact that farming can have on native species and their habitats. A lop sided tug-o-war began as settlers turned grasslands into grazing lands. You can get a small glimpse of the original look of the valley by driving to the base of the surrounding hills and mountain ranges.
Being in the middle of the valley all day long kind of makes you feel a little out of sorts. The magnificently straight lines of crops and stretches of highway converge in cities like Fresno, Stockton & Bakersfield. These urban cities which are surrounded by the crops to sustain their own consumption and that of a few other states are at a terrible disadvantage when it comes to biodiversity. If the money being gained was being put back into the environment and community this would not be the case.
Agriculture is very much a business in which the pursuit is monetary. The consequences of pillaging the earth for food production came to fruition in the 60′s & 70′s, but wasn’t given a significant amount of policing until recently. Draining lakes, diverting rivers, building canals, using pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified strains has created growing conditions that require every drop of available soil nutrients. The water to grow such a vast amount of crops is sometimes brought in from hundreds of miles away creating a whole other looming catastrophe in itself.
Given the multiple lessons that nature has given us in the form of extinctions and draughts it remains an anomaly why there hasn’t been a larger push to eliminate future occurrences from happening. The level of involvement from local and federal agencies is slowly coming around to operating with a iron fist, but there is still a long ways to go. This is where I come in. To briefly describe my job, I am hired to monitor sensitive species and educate developers on how to continue without doing any harm. I figure out the best way to keep construction moving along while dodging the detrimental effects to biodiversity.
Some species are more sensitive than others, and this is where a larger footprint becomes acceptable. The endangered and threatened species are essentially off limits, but they need to be identified first. Progress and construction are becoming more expensive, but this is currently the best way to conserve the diversity that remains in the valley. As long as the laws that govern how we treat these species are continually updated, the desired effect of biodiversity conservation should be achieved.
Nature, which operates fairly smoothly in coordination with plants, animals and habitats, is extremely outgunned when challenged by human beings. The fact that all new developments now require sensitive species monitoring to take place before construction begins is a step in the right direction. But, without a drastic change to our methods of food production and natural resource consumption we will continue to win the tug-o-war and pull ourselves down.
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