Nature without Man

Yeah, a Minuteman quote that I think I've used before. Deal.

Humans are and have been part of nature for many hundred thousands of years (if you don't believe the bible), but when you think about the short time its been since Lewis and Clark journeyed across to the Pacific Coast from St. Louis just 200 years ago it is difficult to digest how much has changed in that short time period. Two hundred years ago, my great grandfathers weren't even on this continent, but in northern Europe somewhere. Not until 1847 did one come across and move to Colorado to look for gold. Even at that time, there was little to no loss of what was here before they arrived (nature), for our cities, food, and other consumables.

Nature without Man. Those three words make me think of the earth before buildings, before mass resurfacing of the world with development, sprawl, strip mines, clear cuts. I can appreciate many of the buildings individually for their inherent beauty, uniqueness, and stated purpose, but en mass it makes me ill to think about what was paved over, and what will never be again.
(Similar to people for me.) It's possible that another asteroid could clear the palette again, like with the dinosaurs, but such a world view definitely doesn't make the way of today, OK. It doesn't account for the fact that when something gets paved over, the land itself and any inhabitants there and nearby will never be the same, if not dead.

Think about the entrance to the San Francisco Bay Area before San Francisco or the Golden Gate bridge; Manhattan Island and the Hudson River before NYC; the Mississippi before New Orleans. What did they look like before "us?" What did they look like before Europeans settled on this continent? What do they look like now? Are you seeing it? The difference is amazing...and the sad thing is that we can't get it back.

Man without Nature.

I don't know about you, but even though I like some of the amenities we have these days, I'd much rather be living here in 1800.