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Transcript

Keepers of the Land · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
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  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
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  human and natural world
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  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  Today's episode is an ode and thanks to the great work done by
• 0:23
  federal employees.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:29
  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:32
  previous four years of newsletters,
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 13 of The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Keepers of the Land,
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  SPEAKER_00: February 27,
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  SPEAKER_00: 2025.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many,
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  SPEAKER_00: many years ago,
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  I was a National Park Ranger at Arches National Park and the
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  Frederick Laura
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  SPEAKER_00: Olmsted National Historic Site.
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  SPEAKER_00: As a ranger,
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  SPEAKER_00: I led tours,
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  SPEAKER_00: helped people understand what they were seeing,
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  SPEAKER_00: cleaned up trash,
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  SPEAKER_00: removed graffiti,
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  SPEAKER_00: and answered numerous questions.
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  SPEAKER_00: The most popular was, where's the bathroom?
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  SPEAKER_00: Out the door and to the left was the answer.
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  I assisted on search and rescue,
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  carried out visitors who needed first aid,
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  and fought fires.
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  The primary thing I liked about my career was that nearly
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  everyone was passionate
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  SPEAKER_00: about the mission,
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  SPEAKER_00: he said.
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  SPEAKER_00: People weren't just there to make money.
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  They believed in the agency mission and were putting their
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  heart and soul into the job.
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  It seems like that dedication and commitment is being
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  undervalued right now as
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  SPEAKER_00: agencies just haphazardly terminate employees."
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  SPEAKER_00: Over the past three decades,
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  I've continued to be impressed with the federal employees I've
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  met in my adventures
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  SPEAKER_00: writing about human and natural history.
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  I have skimmed across Admiralty Inlet in a zodiac with the
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  United States Geological
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  SPEAKER_00: Survey biologist focused on diseases and forage fish,
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  SPEAKER_00: such as herring and sandlands.
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  SPEAKER_00: His work has helped protecting these important fish species.
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  SPEAKER_00: As another federal biologist told me, herring, quote,
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  link predator and prey and are very much the hub in the wheel
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  of the sound,
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  unquote.
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  Without the increased knowledge of forage fish that is coming
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  from federal studies,
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  we significantly reduce the ability to improve herring runs to
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  the detriment of
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  SPEAKER_00: salmon that feed on herring and the orca that feed on salmon.
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  SPEAKER_00: No herring, no orca.
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  I have walked through Ponderosa Pine Forest on the east side of
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  the Cascades with
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  SPEAKER_00: the United States Forest Service Ecologist.
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  SPEAKER_00: He showed me how a century of fire suppression had created forests highly
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  susceptible to fire and how future conditions could lead to
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  even more devastating
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  SPEAKER_00: fires with climate change.
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  He told me of research that illustrated the deep relationship
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  between indigenous
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  people and fire and how their stewardship had created resilient
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  and adaptable forests.
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  He gave me insights and observations clearly based on his
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  passion for and knowledge
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  SPEAKER_00: of these forests.
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  I've hiked out onto the Nisqually Glacier at Mount Rainier
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  National Park with a
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  SPEAKER_00: National Park Service glaciologist.
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  Our goal was to change the batteries on two seismic probes he
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  had set up to monitor
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  SPEAKER_00: water discharge and sediment movement.
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  His long-term project was a novel test for developing
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  non-contact methods to obtain
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  SPEAKER_00: basic on-the-ground data.
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  This information would help the Net Park Service with
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  management of the Nisqually
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  SPEAKER_00: and other glaciers in the park
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  SPEAKER_00: along with habitat downstream of the ice.
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  SPEAKER_00: I could never have accessed this stunning area without him.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have boated across Puget Sound with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
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  Administration ecologist working on a study of bycatch of
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  lingcod and rockfish.
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  When fishers accidentally catch a species other than the one
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  they plan to catch,
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  SPEAKER_00: the quote-unquote wrong fish is known as bycatch.
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  The goal of the NOAA project is to determine whether there are
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  better ways to catch
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  SPEAKER_00: lingcod without bycatching rockfish.
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  This is important because overfishing of rockfish in Puget
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  Sound led to the listing
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  of two rockfish feces on the Federal List of Endangered and
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  Threatened Species.
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  SPEAKER_00: As part of their long-term research,
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  federal biologists have also helped develop a better
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  understanding of rockfish life histories.
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  This in turn has resulted in improved management and a
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  consequent increase in
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  SPEAKER_00: rockfish populations,
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  SPEAKER_00: though we still have a long way to go until they are recovered.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I have also encountered people
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  and reports who felt that government scientists were biased and
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  questioned the
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  SPEAKER_00: accuracy of their research.
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  SPEAKER_00: I find this assertion hard to believe.
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  SPEAKER_00: Of the dozens of state,
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  SPEAKER_00: federal,
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  SPEAKER_00: tribal,
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  SPEAKER_00: and academic biologists I've interviewed,
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  all of them clearly expressed their concern about the
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  environment and how people,
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  SPEAKER_00: government,
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  SPEAKER_00: and industry affected it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that each has some bias.
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  SPEAKER_00: We all do.
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  SPEAKER_00: But they are scientists who take great pride in eliminating those biases
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  SPEAKER_00: to try to get to the underlying truths.
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  They were upfront about where they lacked knowledge and
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  recognized that they didn't
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  SPEAKER_00: always have enough experimental data to fully explain what was going on.
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  SPEAKER_00: which is why they were out in the field trying to get the data.
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  SPEAKER_00: I write this now,
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  SPEAKER_00: of course,
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  SPEAKER_00: because of the unprecedented dismantling,
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  SPEAKER_00: abuse,
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  SPEAKER_00: and firing of thousands of federal employees in the past few weeks.
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  These ill-conceived actions are short-sighted and narrow-minded
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  and predicated on a
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  SPEAKER_00: fantasy of agencies rife with abuse,
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  SPEAKER_00: fraud,
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  SPEAKER_00: and mismanagement.
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  SPEAKER_00: In fact,
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  most of the mismanagement and fraud comes straight out of the
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  mouth of a guy who is
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  SPEAKER_00: foisting these bad ideas.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why should we think that Elon Musk has a clue as to what he's doing?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The estimated value of Twitter since Musk bought it has dropped 80%.
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  All of the federal employees I've spent time with have been
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  forthright and helpful,
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  SPEAKER_00: insightful and inspiring,
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  SPEAKER_00: and always dedicated to the land,
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  SPEAKER_00: people,
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  SPEAKER_00: plants,
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  SPEAKER_00: and animals where they worked.
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  Without their kindness and knowledge,
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  I couldn't have written my many books.
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  Thank you to all of them and to the many others dedicated to
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  doing their jobs well.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
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  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
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  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
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  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my books,
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: walks,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: and talks,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
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  And don't forget to slow down,
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  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.