Sidebar: Natural Landscaping: Native Plants and Planting Strategies for Green Development

Many of us in the environmental community consider a natural ecosystem to be one that humans haven’t messed up. But some ecologists argue that, quite to the contrary, humans are a vital part of the natural ecosystems in North America. “Virtually all North American ecosystems have coevolved with humans,” according to Jim Patchett, president of Conservation Design Forum. During the past 10,000 years, he says, humans played a tremendously important role in the development of ecosystems, particularly through their use of fire, but also through harvesting of food sources and fuelwood.

A growing group of experts suggests that taking humans out of the ecosystem is a mistake. Katherine Anderson argues in her book Before the Wilderness that California landscapes are collapsing because human involvement has diminished. This has led to conflict with environmentalists, according to Patchett: “It is the epitome of disconnect,” he says, arguing that the role of people in landscape management is fundamental. “To sever that is a very unnatural process.”

< Return to article