Labor of Love

 I just started reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It's a book that uses scientific knowledge to bring up the philosophies of indigenous people in an attempt to help us become closer with nature. In it, I found a quote that I would like to center this weeks post around. Near the end of the third chapter, titled The Gift of Strawberries, Robin states,"For the plant to be sacred, it cannot be sold." This is in describing the difference between a commodity economy and a gift economy and it strikes me as a very powerful statement even as it relates to conservation.

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) singing from atop a Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) box.

For me, this means more than what is seen on the surface. More than just plants are being discussed. If the birds charged us for every time we heard their song, it might not be all that worth listening to. But when the Meadowlark returns from a winter away and gifts us with a beautiful song, it means so much more. This is the basis for why I entered a career in the field of conservation. If I were wanting to do conservation to benefit myself then my efforts would be wasted.

Meadowlark singing from a Kansas fence post.

The conservationist attempts to preserve the landscape for future generations to be able to enjoy. They do it to provide an area for the meadowlark to return to so that its song may be heard once again. They do their work knowing that not many will say thank you but finding the little signs that the natural world appreciates it. The conservationist has chosen a labor of love. What I take Robins quote to mean from a conservation standpoint, is that if we did it for any other reason than that we love the natural world that we are preserving, that's when conservation becomes a job.