Warren Farm

Our fourth day of classes began with a fantastic trip to Warren Farm, where we learned all about the history of the farm and the surrounding area - including the Barrington headwaters property.  It was really interesting to talk to Randy Warren and to learn about his involvement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under the US Department of Agriculture.  Throughout my undergrad career as a wildlife ecology/management student, it was made abundantly clear that the management of the land was the primary consideration when looking at the abundance, or lack thereof, a certain species of wildlife may show in an area.  And so the creation and maintenance of habitat became the main concern of management plans under projects like those under the ESA. 
So it was really interesting to gain the perspective of a farmer who now has the understanding that his land can support a vast diversity of wildlife if it is properly managed for those species. 

I really became interested in the idea of environmental education as it became clear to me that individuals, outside of the environmental/science-based ideals that I have become so accustomed to working with, have really no base of knowledge on which to lean when they are faced with a public vote or decision.  I realized that the only way that we as wildlife ecologists could hope to work with the public (asking for their help in voting, in habitat projects, in proper land-use, in the support of any of our projects, etc,) is if they really understood what we were working with and how important their help and understanding in the processes really was. For example, how can we expect the public to make an educated decision when deciding where to build a new building or to place a new set of power lines, if they have no idea what the consequences would be for wildlife, important habitats, drainage, etc.? 

As I came to this realization, the importance of education really hit me.  Today, people like Randy Warren who have learned to listen and trust the ideas of people like Matt Tarr and the Cooperative Extension Program, are such a huge asset to the environmental community, but we cannot expect everyone to want to search for help from an outside source.  We, as educators must be the ones to go to these people, give them the information they need to make decisions (not make the decisions for them), and then help them to carry out their plans - hoping that we do a proper job in handing our knowledge over so that a well-rounded decision and plan is made and implemented, and that this plan benefits the environment and the wildlife community at large.