Florissant Impressions
by: Daniel Kauffman
While walking and observing the Florissant fossil beds, the main theme that seemed to preoccupy my mind, was the simple thought of less is more. We watched a video and it outlined the great extent of which the topography had changed from 34 million years ago. It was all done by nature, and even though we (humans) have made many great technological enhancements to make our lives better it would seem our intent to “help” the environment has only hurt it.
I talked to the ranger and she explained in great detail that our policy of fire suppression has perpetuated the problem of fire growth, and thus crews had to come in and break down trees and shrubs because the fire danger had become too great. I thought to myself, Why can’t we just let nature be nature and let it take its natural course. 34 million years ago there was no fossil bed visitor center to keep people away from the land. There were no external forces preventing mudslides from doing what nature had intended for it.
I talked to the ranger and she explained in great detail that our policy of fire suppression has perpetuated the problem of fire growth, and thus crews had to come in and break down trees and shrubs because the fire danger had become too great. I thought to myself, Why can’t we just let nature be nature and let it take its natural course. 34 million years ago there was no fossil bed visitor center to keep people away from the land. There were no external forces preventing mudslides from doing what nature had intended for it.
While I do believe the preservation of the site is an awesome venture. I couldn’t help but note the intrusion of human kind into the equation. Buildings everywhere, 50 plus vehicles on the site, trashcans and litter maintained but still an eyesore in my view. This is why I say less is more. It seems whenever human “intellect” with delusions of grandeur enters the equation, no matter how noble the cause, we seem to mess it up in some form or fashion.
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