Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present

December 30, 2023 By: Jacob

Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present

Parks: 

The article on Porteau Cove Provincial Parks’s recent fishing closures to protect glass sponges, and the article by Binnema and Niemi (2006) made me realize the parks related changes that are occurring, including Indigenous voices in parks-related discussions and actions. For example, in the article on Porteau Cove, it is stated that ongoing consultation is occurring between policy makers and Indigenous peoples, not just on the decisions being made, but also on their ability to engage in cultural practices during closures. This is a significant change that contrasts the historical accounts of parks-related decisions, including the negative impacts on Stoney First Nations during the establishment of Banff National Park (Binnema and Niemi 2006).

Additionally, the article regarding the protection of glass sponges in Porteau Cove Provincial Park has me wondering what occurred during the establishment of the park. In relation to the video by Cronon 1995, I was encouraged to consider the possibility of displacement of Indigenous peoples or limitations of their cultural practices at this location (Cronon 1995).

Although this may relate more so to conservation, the article shows that the recent closures to bottom contact fishing are part of a trend that has also been seen in closures during recent years (Bartlett 2022). It demonstrates the growing concern for protection rather than limitless consumption like in some periods of history. Furthermore, Canada’s goal to protect 25 percent of its oceans by 2025 is another example of this change overtime (Bartlett 2022).

Conservation:

The article chosen highlights recent conservation funds donated by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation to support 168 fish and wildlife conservation projects in BC (Canadian Forest Industries 2023). It demonstrates the change overtime from viewing natural resources as indispensable, to now taking action to protect and benefit them; however, I now acknowledge how conservation efforts, including the establishment of parks, can contribute negatively to environmental preservation. Interestingly, this made me think of the reading by Pinchot 1910 where it stated humans first goal is to control the earth it lives upon (Pinchot 1910). Rather than attempting to control the environment, although I acknowledge an element of that may be true, I see these conservation efforts not synonymous with sustainability, but perhaps a step towards it.

References

Binnema, Theodore (Ted), and Melanie Niemi. “‘Let the Line Be Drawn Now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada.” Environmental History 11, no. 4 (2006): 724–750. Accessed January 1, 2023. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3985800 

Bartlett, Keili. 2022. “Five More Glass Sponge Reefs in Howe Sound Protected by New Closures.” Coast Reporter. https://www.coastreporter.net/local-news/five-more-glass-sponge-reefs-in-howe-sound-protected-by-new-closures-4978227. 

Canadian Forest Industries (CFI). 2023. “HCTF Funds $8M for 168 B.C. Conservation Projects.” Wood Business. September 28, 2023. https://www.woodbusiness.ca/hctf-funds-8m-for-168-b-c-conservation-projects/. 

Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, edited by William Cronon, 69–90. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995.

Pinchot, Gifford. “Chapter Four: Principles of Conservation.” In The Fight for Conservation, 40–52. New York: Doubleday, 1910. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amrvg&fileName=vg11//amrvgvg11.db&recNum=43&itemLink=D%3Fconsrvbib%3A2%3A.%2Ftemp%2F~ammem_j7wC%3A%3A&linkText=0 

The Library of Congress. Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920. No Date. https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amrvg&fileName=vg11//amrvgvg11.db&recNum=52&itemLink=D%3Fconsrvbib%3A2%3A.%2Ftemp%2F~ammem_j7wC%3A%3A&linkText=0