The environmental perspective in North America has very distinct time periods: native/indigenous peoples, colonial period, the agriculture boom, and environmentalism. Wetlands and people both worldwide, and the interactions probably follow similar lines throughout history. However I'm going to focus on North America first, then specifically around the Mississippi River ultimately.
Native/Indigenous Peoples and Wetland Use
Wetlands and indigenous people are not a solely North American existence. This interaction can be found worldwide.
In Australia, wetlands are central to indigenous lives. "Wetlands have significance as ceremonial and initiation sites, traditional hunting and gathering grounds and as boundary markers." [source] Wetlands are revered and respected, but also utilized. They know that wetlands are not without use and incorporated aspects of wetland plants and animals into everyday life. "Almost all wetland plants and animals have some form of traditional use as food, fibre, containers, tools, weapons, transport, shelter and medicine. Many wetland species have significance as totems, symbols that acknowledge specific birds, animals, rocks or flora species, and are considered sacred by their owners." [source]
Little has been written about Native Americans and wetlands, historically. But in general, the native people have a great respect for the natural world and view life as being a part of the natural world - to live among nature, not command nature. This mentality later appears as a major part of Aldo Leopold's Land Ethics.
In coastal Louisiana specifically, where this tale will ultimately wind up, Native Americans have a long standing history with wetlands. By a default in geography if nothing else. The bounty of wetlands enabled a subsistence lifestyle for natives. Resources are plentiful - fish, crabs, shrimp, oysters, nutria (now), alligators, turtles, muskrat, otter, and waterfowl.
Today, there are 4 federally recognized tribes remaining: Chitimacha Tribe, Jena Band of Choctaw, Coushatta Tribe, Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe [source]. But not all tribes are federally recognized and many of them live in the coastal wetlands they've always called home. They include the United Houma Nation, the Pointe-au-Chien tribe, and and the Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe. Of these only the United Houma Nation is even recognized by the state of Louisiana. They've formed the First People's Conservation Council. We will come back to these dilemma in future parts of this series.
Wetlands during the Colonial Period
Starting in the early 1600s, settlers from Europe starting arriving on the shores of the future United States and Canada. Powerful European countries tried to acquire land and get colonies settled to secure their place on the new continent, and thus the colonies and future countries were started.
People viewed wetlands as altogether undesirable. "During the 1700's, wetlands were regarded as swampy lands that bred diseases, restricted overland travel, impeded the production of food and fiber, and generally were not useful for frontier survival." [source]
The primary environmental perspective in that time frame was that land was meant to be used by people, and that humans should exert control over their environment. This is in direct opposition to Native Americans' respectful treatment and coexistence. So because wetlands had no economic value they could see, hindered travel and food production, and harbored disease - they had to go.
So many wetlands in this time period were drained, filled, and converted into farmland across the fledgling country. Settlers moved down the east coast into river valleys doing this all over the land. By the 1780s colonizers were as far south as Georgia and heading west. The Louisiana purchase in 1803 greatly expanded the size of the new United States. Land was acquired further and further westward and people migrated west as well. The pattern continued - land was acquired, people migrated, wetlands were destroyed.
This destruction of wetlands by filling and draining was often described as "reclamation" to make it sound good, honorable, and legitimate. Reclamation: "the reclaiming of desert, marshy, or submerged areas or other wasteland for cultivation or other use." [source]. And probably at the time, it did seem good, honorable, and legitimate. But through the lens of 2018 environmental issues it seems horribly irresponsible.
Wetlands versus Agriculture
As lands were settled, wetlands were converted from what they perceived to be useless land into usable farm land. Starting in the mid 1800s technical advances allowed for more widespread wetland conversions. Large navigation canals were dug, smaller natural waterways were dredged, and larger farm equipment was developed to be pulled behind horses.
In the midst of all this, the US had the Civil War (1861-1865). The ability to move large equipment across/through wetlands was a problem so the focus became on engineering solutions for transportation. This resulted in railroads expanding across the country, giving access to even more land previously difficult to reach. Wetlands now were even more accessible for conversion or "reclamation". The prairie potholes in the Midwest, bottomland forests in the Mississippi River Valley, delta marshlands of Louisiana, gulf plains of Texas, and swamps of Ohio and Virginia were just a few of the places now at risk.
Agriculture continued to expand its impact, and feeding the growing population was necessary. Mechanized equipment was developed, thanks to the combustion engine, and started to become widespread. This trend continues steadily until the mid 20th century.
"By the 1960's, most political, financial, and institutional incentives to drain or destroy wetlands were in place. The Federal Government encouraged land drainage and wetland destruction through a variety of legislative and policy instruments." [source]
This wholesale destruction of wetlands at the time probably seemed productive and progressive to some, but an environmental movement had begun by the early 1900s.
The Rebirth of Environmentalism
I say rebirth, because this concept is originally native. Immigrants did not develop this mindset, but came around to it later after realizing the error of their controlling ways. The rebirth of widespread environmentalism and conservation started in the 1850s, at the same time as agricultural expansion was hitting its peak. As land was converted, more people because concerned about the environmental detriments and advocated for conservation of these lands. And thus the environmental movement was reborn.
The environmentalism movement really got under way through the prowess and foresight of conservation powerhouses: John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, John Wesley Powell, Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and George Bird Grinnell. Each of them in their own way, as well as many others, contributed early on to the conservation movement. John Muir created the Sierra Club, Thoreau wrote Walden, Roosevelt founded the Boone and Crockett Club, Grinnell founded the Audubon Society, Powell served as the 2nd director of the US Geological Survey and spearheaded many expeditions, and Pinchot is widely considered the father of American forestry.
It all culminated with Theodore Roosevelt becoming president in 1901.
TR was remarkable in a lot of ways, but with him the conservation movement because highly visible. It was no longer John Muir wandering the woods with a donkey writing articles for others to read, but now the most powerful person in the country was actively making progressive environmental decisions.
"The conservationists, led by future President Theodore Roosevelt and his close ally George Bird Grinnell, were motivated by the wanton waste that was taking place at the hand of market forces, including logging and hunting." Habitats were destroyed, species were tottering on the brink of extinction, resources were being wasted, and they decided that the country needed "a long-term plan devised by national experts to maximize the long-term economic benefits of natural resources" [source].
Roosevelt established the US Forest Service, created 5 National Parks, signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, created 51 bird reserves, 4 game preserves, and 150 national forests. Ultimately Roosevelt protected 230,000,000 acres [source] for the future and for preservation and conservation both.
There's still a conflict between preservation and conservation, which is why we have both the US Forest Service and the US National Park Service. "Whereas conservationists wanted regulated use of forest lands for both public activities and commercial endeavors, preservationists wanted forest to be preserved for natural beauty, scientific study and recreation. The differences continue to the modern era, with sustainable harvest and multiple-use the major focus of the U.S. Forest Service and recreation emphasized by the National Park Service." [source]
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. [Coincidentally, this is the December Book of the Month if you want to join our book club!] "Carson inspired an environmental revolution, helping to root the modern conservation movement in a scientific foundation." [source] After this historic moment, a slew of important things were created:
-1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
-the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
-the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
-Earth Day
-1972 Clean Water Act
-Marine Mammal Protection Act
-Coastal Zone Management Act
-Endangered Species Act
-DDT banned in 1972
-Wilderness Act of 1964
These days, the problems facing conservation and preservation of resources are still many and varied. "For the modern era, the U.S. Forest Service has noted three important aspects of the conservation movement: the climate change, water issues, and the education of the public on conservation of the natural environment, especially among children." [source]
Coastal Louisiana benefits from many of the laws and agencies that were created in the modern area. National Wildlife Refuges (like Bayou Sauvage and Big Branch NWRs) encompass and protect wetlands, the Endangered Species Act helps Louisiana save species (such as the Brown Pelican, the state bird), and the EPA has cleaned waterways (like Bayou Bonfouca Superfund Site in Slidell LA).
The battle between resources (aka wetlands) and industry (aka oil and gas) still rages to this day. Conflicts abound between scientists, politicians, fishermen, natives, conservationists, and everyone in between. The Coastal Master Plan is a science based plan for coastal wetlands restoration and conservation. In the absence of still functioning natural processes, it relies heavily on construction and management of projects to replicate natural conditions. So wetlands while once viewed as evil and usless, are now seen for the valuable ecosystem they are.
Coming next: Part 2: The value of wetlands!
Sources & Additional Reading:
When Dismal Swamps Became Priceless Wetlands American Heritage, 1994
History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States US Geological Survey
Wetlands and Indigenous values Australian Government, Department of the Environment
Native American tribe to relocate from Louisiana coast as sea levels rise Reuters, 3/17/2016
The Cultural Impact of Eroding Wetlands Color Lines, 11/18/2009
Tribal Wetland Program Highlights US Environmental Protection Agency, March 2000
Native American Tribes of Louisiana native-languages.org, accessed 11/30/2018
On the Louisiana Coast, A Native Community Sinks Slowly into the Sea Yale Environment 360, 3/15/2018
The Historic Indian Tribes Of Louisiana Frenchcreoles.com, accessed 11/30/2018
Reclaiming native ground: Can Louisiana’s tribes restore their traditional diets as waters rise? FERN, 2/9/2017
These Native American Tribes Are Fighting To Stop Their Land From Literally Disappearing Think Progress, 1/22/2015
Louisiana tribes say federal recognition will help to face threat of climate change NOLA.com, 7/26/2018
Louisiana’s Pointe-au-Chien Tribe Struggles to Preserve Its Way of Life Huffington Post, 6/16/2013
Down the Bayou: Notes on Cultural Adaptation in the Native American Community of Pointe-au-Chien, Louisiana Louisiana Folklife, 2013
'High risk' Native American village on Grand Bayou wants government help to stay as land disappears The Advocate, 12/27/2016
Vulnerability of Coastal Louisiana Tribes in a Climate Change Context Northern Arizona University, 2012
Conservation in the United States Wikipedia
Soll on Badger, 'A Natural History of Quiet Waters: Swamps and Wetlands of the Mid-Atlantic Coast'
Conservation movement Wikipedia
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. [Coincidentally, this is the December Book of the Month if you want to join our book club!] "Carson inspired an environmental revolution, helping to root the modern conservation movement in a scientific foundation." [source] After this historic moment, a slew of important things were created:
-1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
-the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
-the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
-Earth Day
-1972 Clean Water Act
-Marine Mammal Protection Act
-Coastal Zone Management Act
-Endangered Species Act
-DDT banned in 1972
-Wilderness Act of 1964
These days, the problems facing conservation and preservation of resources are still many and varied. "For the modern era, the U.S. Forest Service has noted three important aspects of the conservation movement: the climate change, water issues, and the education of the public on conservation of the natural environment, especially among children." [source]
Coastal Louisiana benefits from many of the laws and agencies that were created in the modern area. National Wildlife Refuges (like Bayou Sauvage and Big Branch NWRs) encompass and protect wetlands, the Endangered Species Act helps Louisiana save species (such as the Brown Pelican, the state bird), and the EPA has cleaned waterways (like Bayou Bonfouca Superfund Site in Slidell LA).
The battle between resources (aka wetlands) and industry (aka oil and gas) still rages to this day. Conflicts abound between scientists, politicians, fishermen, natives, conservationists, and everyone in between. The Coastal Master Plan is a science based plan for coastal wetlands restoration and conservation. In the absence of still functioning natural processes, it relies heavily on construction and management of projects to replicate natural conditions. So wetlands while once viewed as evil and usless, are now seen for the valuable ecosystem they are.
Coming next: Part 2: The value of wetlands!
Sources & Additional Reading:
When Dismal Swamps Became Priceless Wetlands American Heritage, 1994
History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States US Geological Survey
Wetlands and Indigenous values Australian Government, Department of the Environment
Native American tribe to relocate from Louisiana coast as sea levels rise Reuters, 3/17/2016
The Cultural Impact of Eroding Wetlands Color Lines, 11/18/2009
Tribal Wetland Program Highlights US Environmental Protection Agency, March 2000
Native American Tribes of Louisiana native-languages.org, accessed 11/30/2018
On the Louisiana Coast, A Native Community Sinks Slowly into the Sea Yale Environment 360, 3/15/2018
The Historic Indian Tribes Of Louisiana Frenchcreoles.com, accessed 11/30/2018
Reclaiming native ground: Can Louisiana’s tribes restore their traditional diets as waters rise? FERN, 2/9/2017
These Native American Tribes Are Fighting To Stop Their Land From Literally Disappearing Think Progress, 1/22/2015
Louisiana tribes say federal recognition will help to face threat of climate change NOLA.com, 7/26/2018
Louisiana’s Pointe-au-Chien Tribe Struggles to Preserve Its Way of Life Huffington Post, 6/16/2013
Down the Bayou: Notes on Cultural Adaptation in the Native American Community of Pointe-au-Chien, Louisiana Louisiana Folklife, 2013
'High risk' Native American village on Grand Bayou wants government help to stay as land disappears The Advocate, 12/27/2016
Vulnerability of Coastal Louisiana Tribes in a Climate Change Context Northern Arizona University, 2012
Conservation in the United States Wikipedia
Soll on Badger, 'A Natural History of Quiet Waters: Swamps and Wetlands of the Mid-Atlantic Coast'
Conservation movement Wikipedia
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