Kelly Hoth

Professor Kesler

Ecology

September 11, 2006

Wolf River Experience

            Originally, I thought of canoeing as a requirement; it was just another item I needed to check off on the road to completing my ecology course, but this is not how it turned out to be.  Canoeing the Wolf River was an eye-opening experience for me.  The trip proved relaxing, if you could overcome the physical and mental obstacles.  At times, the pain was great and I just wanted to give up, but in not doing so, I learned an important lesson – you can only truly appreciate something when you have to work for it.

Generally, when I think of a river, I envision a large waterway, such as the Mississippi River, used for the transportation of goods and people.  At one point in the past, this was the role of the Wolf River, but both sections of the river that we canoed were nothing like this.  Trees impeded the path requiring individuals to get out of their canoes to pass, cypress knees rose out of the water allowing little room for the boats to squeeze through, and sand bars made going tough at some points.  All of these characteristics reminded me that we live in a dynamic environment; everything around us is constantly changing, mostly as a result of our anthropocentric tendencies.  We, as humans, decide something is best for us and choose to ignore the consequences to other organisms, as well as the aquatic and terrestrial environments.  This is best displayed on the channelized portion of the river which has steep, unstable banks as a result of headcutting, in addition to decreased water levels in the soil limiting plant growth.  In contrast, the ghost section of the Wolf River, which is relatively untouched, is rich in plant growth with numerous species visible.  After canoeing the channelized portion, I realized that consequences occur as a result of making uninformed decisions; in short, solving the problem now often results in more long-term problems.  In conclusion, these two ecology field trips taught me that once a decision is made for a change and action occurs, there is no going back to the past; therefore, humans need to educate themselves about the costs and benefits, both short and long-term, to all species and environments involved to avoid making permanent mistakes.