View from Ghost Nets

Back in Maine, I am meditating on how the waters I canoed in Memphis, on the Wolf River, are connected to the waters I study in the Gulf of Maine, where I live. I am thinking about how the Ghost Nets project, that restored a former town dump, is related to the goals of Fish Story, that is concerned with restoring the relationship between the uplands of the Mississippi River, the third largest watershed in the world, the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico, formerly,
one of the most productive estuarine systems in the world.
The story starts and ends with water. Fish are the narrators.

In Ghost Nets and Fish Story the bottom line and connecting element is always water, whether fresh or salt, particularly in the shoreline littoral zone.

I walk in the garden several times a day to take a break in my work and observe small changes. My favorite time is always twilight.

June 19, the first Agnes roses began to bloom in the East quadrant of the garden.

Throughout the process of monitoring the restoration of the Ghost Nets site, the most rewarding experiences have been about the volunteer surprises, like this Lady's Slipper in late May.

In the evening light details of the restored salt marsh seem more important than the functional results of restoration.

The uplands riparian zone is a complex pattern of paths created to study the microhabitats in various weather conditions. But they also need tending to view the relationships between plant communities.

By June 1, garden details could be followed for the interactions between varieties of life.

Old rules, new ideas to connect the dots from Maine to Sandy to Memphis

Old rules, new ideas

1.     Do no harm

2.     Fix what’s broken

3.     Make wise choices

I'm proud to be part of the solution on Friday, at this year's NES 12th Annual Colloquium "Superstorm Sandy: Before, During and After" http://opencuny.org/nature/ at CUNY.

I will present the culmination of 2 years of GIS research on how to support finfish in the Gulf of Maine. This is an exciting opportunity to discuss with others how to contribute to future policy solutions. The work offers a means to apply the principles of trigger point theory to target where we might focus restoration work to support dwindling biodiversity. This project demonstrates how to leverage small efforts to address systemic impacts before and after the effects of climate change.

Old rules, new ideas.

The research I will present is some of the raw material for Fish Story.