Ecological Restoration

Whole Earth,  Spring, 2001  by Pw

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Ecological Restoration David Egan, ed. $37/year (four issues), University of Wisconsin Press 2537 Daniels Street, Madison, WI 53718. Included with membership ($67) in the Society for Ecological Restoration, 1955 West Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85745 520/622-5485, www.ser.org

Since it's as true now as it was then, here's what Richard Nilsen wrote a decade ago: "This `bulletin board' of environmental restoration does a nice job of serving both a profession and a movement. It's the best single source for restoration news. Because this is a new field of pioneering spirit, the writing is usually straightforward and the stultifying peer-reviewed prose found in so many scientific journals is missing. There are long articles, plus abstracts from diverse small publications and conferences ...." I might add that Ecological Restoration has grown. Its young spirit now includes essays on the complexities of a more mature movement and science. Unsurpassed access to Web sites, books, and abstracts. It's the town square of Restoria. Dave Egan, ER's editor, has been crucial to this issue of Whole Earth.

"It is one of the oldest arguments in restoration circles: Is our goal to create a more-or-less faithful copy of a lost ecosystem or ecological process, or shall we strive for a site that responds to the current socioeconomic milieu in which we work, live and experience nature?

"Because we participate in the dynamics of ecosystems as we restore them, restoration practice is in essence antithetical to the idea of pristine wilderness.... We become performers in an on-going process of creation, and in doing so we defy a basic assumption of environmentalism. No wonder we invite resistance. We are charged with "faking nature."

Examples of abstract titles:

Tidal Marsh Restored in Record Time

Changes in Carbon Cycling As Forests Expand to Tallgrass Prairie

Teachers Can Increase Students' Ecological Knowledge but Not Easily Alter Their Attitudes Toward Nature

Thermal Imagery in Aerial Survey of Animals

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