Editor's Focus: Sept. 2001

"Land is the most beautiful art." - Andy Warhol

We publish Irrigation Business & Technology magazine, and an article in the most recent issue talks about the number of farmers going out of business in southern Oregon and northern California because they can’t irrigate their fields. These farmers aren’t just suffering due to a drought. They’re actually losing out to, of all things, the sucker fish.

In years past, anyone needing water during a dry spell could pull from the nearby Upper Klamath Lake or the Klamath River. However, the government decided that the sucker fish in these waters need to be protected. That means no more irrigation water, which translates into 240,000 acres of crops dying in the field and farmers relying on federal subsidies to feed their families.

I’m a capitalist at heart, so I struggle to understand how the interests of a couple-inch-long fish outweighs those of hundreds of people. At the same time, I understand the significance and intent of the Endangered Species Act, which is central to this debate, and I’m not fond of the idea of any species of plant or animal disappearing.

So where do we draw the line? I don’t know how to balance the needs of man vs. environment in situations like this or any similar debate. President Bush wants to drill for oil in regions of Alaska where even the bears complain about the temperature, but the plan met with tremendous environmental resistance. The lumber industry produces products that we all use, but that didn’t matter once the spotted owl population dwindled to a dangerous few.

I never understood the environmentalists’ argument, but after spending a week in July in the Pacific Northwest, hiking through Olympic National Park and Glacier National Park I began to appreciate it more. The beauty of the landscape in these areas overwhelms even the nature novices such as myself. As a result, I found myself struggling to balance the reality of a society’s needs and the fragility of the environment that truly is amazing.

I’m not going to offer a suggestion as to how we can appease all of the interested parties – I doubt a solution exists that will please everyone anyway. However, we all need to be cognizant of the environment, and that includes the lawns, trees and animals we see on a regular basis, as much as it does the national parks and endangered species.

Many of you have told me how your love for nature brought you into this industry. Wouldn’t be ironic if we were the ones ultimately doing the most harm to it?