From Dean Ohlman on May 25, 2011

The LORD. . . sends forth springs in the valleys ; they flow between the mountains ; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell ; they lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers ; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man’s heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds build their nests, and the stork, whose home is the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats ; the cliffs are a refuge for the [rock badgers]. He made the moon for the seasons ; the sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, in which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw and lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening. O LORD, how many are Your works ! In wisdom You have made them all ; the earth is full of Your possessions (Psalm 104:10-24).

If I had my druthers, I’d live in a house with a large back deck that overlooks a wooded marsh with some open water. I could spend my waning years taking in the cycle of seasons and observing the wildlife that often makes marshes such a dynamic—and dramatic—ecosystem.

I get a bit of that experience when I bring a sling chair, my binoculars, and my camera to take in the wonderful wildness of a large marsh hardly a half mile from the RBC building, a preserved wetland surrounded by hotels, factories, office buildings, Costco, Staples, Target, and Dick’s Sporting Goods [The link above is to Google Maps. RBC is the white-roofed building north and east of I96 and Kraft]. Most of these buildings went up after the Clean Water Act, hence saving the marsh. Now many of the establishments around it actually celebrate it—some with groomed overlooks that had to cost thousands of dollars.

Typical players there are tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, mallards, geese (by far the noisiest members of the cast), blue herons, swans, and all the typical backyard birds of this area. It is a virtual bird metropolis. Saving that urban natural area has turned it into a treasure, and an easy-to-reach spot where this grandpa can take his grandchildren to see wildlife close-up. [Photo source]

Dr. Cal DeWitt, former professor of ecological studies at the University of Wisconsin and former director of the Au Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, is a good friend—and he [the lucky duck!] lives on a huge marsh: the Waubesa Wetlands. Once when he was campaigning for wetlands conservation and restoration in his township, he came across a couple farmers who told him they didn’t see much value in preserving their wetlands. Dr. DeWitt knew they were both avid pike fisherman. As an ecologist, when he explained to them that pike fingerlings depended upon wetlands for their survival, he won their support.

The truth, however, is that all natural systems are important in God’s scheme of things—the value of most of them not so quickly grasped. That God would care for a sparrow, the humblest and least attractive of birds, ought to be a sign to us that we should not see anything in nature’s community as being valueless or unnecessary. All things in nature are interrelated—a fact well put by John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken to everything in the universe. ” Unspoiled wilderness provides us with the best of laboratories in which to learn about these connections. That fact may well have been what Henry David Thoreau had in mind when he said “in wildness is the salvation of the earth.”

Modern science often gives us the impression that we really understand the complexity of wild nature. The truth, however, was stated well by another ecologist: Frank Egler: “[Wilderness ecosystems] are not only more complex than we think, they are more complex than we can think.” It’s in part because of such complex interconnectedness that our planet’s wild areas make us humble—which is the right attitude to have in the presence of our Creator and His priceless handiwork. Maybe we are finally learning how foolish it is to destroy or drastically alter the systems God has put in place for His creatures—creatures that may not mean much to us, yet ones He cherishes and delights in. “The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9).

Do we have compassion on all He has made—and are we seeking to do good toward all He has made?