It was here. In all its thundering rage it screamed through these woods. It tore the oaks from their ancient strongholds and threw them about as if they were straw. The banks are littered with piles of rotted leaves and those things untethered. It was full of the storm and rushing to the ocean it forgot to take care. It scoured thalwegs and lifted minnows from their beds. It’s path is sore and broken. This wound won’t heal. The scar will be raked into the very ground. Sand piled on live things. Delicate creatures in the grasses look worn and scared. How will this wood mend? How dare the River rage over this shadowed haven.
My first thought was snow melt and then I remembered you were in Florida and then I remembered it was January. Mother nature writes her own stories.
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Even in Florida – in December – there rages rivers! Snow melt is, of course, the reason in some places – storms here cause the problems….or the changes!
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My rage at seeing ecological destruction is usually aimed at the decisionmakers who have left the natural resources in such a vulnerable condition that scars are left on the landscape. Nature has no conscience; she’ll do what she pleases when she pleases. We humans can only hope to understand the consequences of our management decisions in light of Nature’s past actions.
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I have seen rivers rage naturally, this just happened to be on a very affected system near Avon Park. So sad to see it degrade during our study! Sometimes I wish I didn’t know better!!
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One of the elements of resource management that is often ignored or at least not considered is rest. Rest in terms of both time and lack of disturbance. We humans have such relatively short life spans – in relation to oaks and redwoods and soil formation – that we don’t realize that time and a lack of disturbance can heal a multitude of ill-conceived plans and management decisions (I’m a former grazing land specialist whose mantra is, “Cows don’t overgraze, people allow cows to overgraze.”). I’ve also seen where knowledge-based grazing (or Holistic Resource Management) can be beneficial for ecosystem recovery. We sometimes are all too eager to jump into a damaged ecosystem and try to “fix” it with artificial streambank stabilization and reseeding overgrazed rangelands when rest alone would do quite nicely. The other aspect of watershed management that is not studied intensively enough are the subtle changes in hydrologic characteristics that portend an increase in runoff that leads to an increase in either downcutting or widening of the stream channel. Continuously grazing a watershed before the soil dries out causes compaction which can increase runoff over time; sneaky the way that happens. Rest and the right plant species can even cure that magnitude of a problem.
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Amen – you are preaching to the choir – we have several study sites that are ranched and managed very well. They deforest and rotate and it works!! everyone benefits without the horrible consequences. It is something to see a huge 100000 acre ranch managed better than some state parks!! Gotta hand it to some Florida Crackers Cowboys – they know the land – they bleed it and they know more than ever will!
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Very good written information. It will be supportive to anyone who usess it, including myself. Keep up the good work – can’r wait to read more posts.
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In some areas raging rivers are a good thing. They are natural and return the rivers beds to a wilder state. I did a study on cobblestone tiger beetles (Cicindella marginepennis) and they need the raging rivers to keep the cobble bars from becoming to covered with vegetation. The new deadfall creates wonderful areas for fish to hide and the nutrients help all the aquatic invertebrates thrive. I love discovering how the cobble bars and sand bars have changed and moved after high turbulent water. As noted above – keep up the good work!
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Most people don’t know that 1.5 (avg) times a year, all rivers rage (or small streams!) and that it is an important, if not critical, function in maintaining the health and morphology of any system. It’s amazing to stand beside a large system after such an event and see the evidence and wonder at the sheer strength and power! I have sat in awe beside a trickling stream that had just raged in such fashion….this poem was born of that experience….I still feel affected when I give it thought.
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Reflective reading ….
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Exactly!
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