To the Editor:
Hats off to Staff Writer Alex Perri for her excellent piece,”Trout in Crisis: Climate Change Adds to the Strain on a Mountain Economy,” in the October 28 edition of the The Smoky Mountain News. I especially appreciate her willingness to use those two words: climate change.
Yes, climate change does indeed play a role in disrupting one of our most valuable local industries: trout. Alex’s insights are spot on. While we continue to recognize the destructive effects of traditional weather patterns, we must also acknowledge the well-established scientific fact — not a hoax — that climate change compounds their impact. Our own complicity is an uncomfortable place to roost, but it can also be a launching pad from which we seek solutions. We are smart enough to do just that. And let’s face it: Playing ostrich isn’t cool.
Fisherpersons, hunters, farmers, gleaners, hikers, and others who regularly interact with our natural world get it. Some may hesitate to verbalize their concerns because of political affiliations, but they understand better than most how our waterways are being compromised. Tropical storms are increasingly damaging riverbanks. Prolonged droughts cause lower river and stream levels to warm beyond the temperatures trout can tolerate. Sedimentation and the loss of riverbank vegetation further threaten the ability of fish and other species to survive and thrive.
They also understand the economic consequences. The decline of our trout resources threatens local tourism and puts at risk what has long been one of our region’s golden eggs, potentially sending visitors — and their dollars — to neighboring states.
I’ve recently brushed the dust off my copy of Al Gore’s book, “Earth in the Balance,” and found his account of our climate dilemma even more frightening today than when I first read it years ago. I encourage you to pick up a copy and give it a read.
For years, we’ve used the familiar cliché, “Think Global, Act Local,” a philosophy with which I could never disagree. But I also believe the reverse deserves consideration. While taking steps to care for our own backyard, we must recognize that there are meaningful ways to help address global challenges, too.
The efforts of Haywood Waterways and our local government to develop areas capable of absorbing excessive flood runoff are commendable examples of local action. These are precisely the kinds of initiatives that can make a difference in protecting our communities.
Here’s another way to think about how we can act locally while helping address global climate threats.
What is happening to the Amazonian tropical rainforests is beyond alarming. Continued deforestation to make way for cattle ranching and the soybean plantations that support the industry is rapidly transforming portions of the rainforest into dry Savannah. This has serious consequences not only for the Amazon region but also for global weather patterns. Yes, we are all part of that global weather system.
We have an opportunity to play a personal role in building awareness, education, and action by becoming involved with Friends of the Cofán.
The Cofán, a small Indigenous people numbering fewer than 1,600, protect, conserve, and manage more than a million acres of some of the world’s most pristine tropical, subtropical, and montane rainforests. They do so at considerable personal risk, facing continued illegal intrusions by oil and mining interests into their ancestral lands and territories recognized by the Ecuadorian government.
Their ongoing efforts provide a proven example of what responsible Indigenous stewardship and conservation can accomplish—and what might be replicated beyond the borders of their Ecuadorian homeland.
If you would like to learn more about supporting the Cofán people’s efforts through research, writing, presentations, or other skills you might bring to the cause, please give me a call at 828.508.4289.
How about coffee? Let’s talk about what we can do. Yes, we can make a difference.
Jim Geenen