Invasive Species: Humans

A few weeks ago, while leading a class discussion about invasive species, I asked if we as humans were invasive to the Adirondacks region. Obviously humans have had devastating effects on the livelihood of the Adirondack park, but does our environmental moral conscious not put us slightly above the title of an "invasive species"? In the end, humans have destroyed the environment beyond comfortable fix, yet our ethics can both prove our blatantly immoral corruption and can provide a glimmer of hope for the future. We are clearly devastatingly invasive, but in an entirely separate way.

Invasive species are foreign organisms that have a damaging effect on local ecosystems. Humans aren't even considered invasive species because of our separation from what we would consider the ecosystem. But this is part of the issue–because we are so distinct from the environment around us, we have no attachment to the environment.

Humans are able to live sustainably in the Adirondacks. Native Americans would hunt and gather throughout the Adirondack region. They would coexist with the environment like they were a part of it–without any desire to benefit economically in a non-sustainable way. Inherently, we are not necessarily incapable living sustainably.

So the blame really should be given the European mindset that was introduced to the region with the emergence of the first settlers. As time progressed, the settlers in the region had no regard for ecological stability. Logging, trapping, mining, etc. destroyed the parks resources and crippled the romantic vision many had of the park. It was merely human nature to put economic progress over the welfare of the park. This exploitation of resources perfectly fits the invasive species model.

Tourism was another wave of influence that had negative effects on the park. It cemented the human condition entirely separate from the wilderness. This disconnect grows as we become more and more self sustaining throughout the years. It is damaging because we have no attachment to the world around us–a world that is proven to be more mentally and physically beneficial than the artificial world around us.

Regardless, it's important to look at how far we've come. Just the formation of the Adirondack park is a huge milestone. Finding reason to protect the land is now a larger priority than capitalist ventures in the park. We connect more today with the land than ever before. Our society is at a turning point where selfish capitalist patterns are starting to be minimized for the sake of bettering society as a whole.

In the end, humans have invaded the park to a terrible extent. Our inability to see the damage we've done to our own habitat is even more disgusting given the mental capacity we have to comprehend the nature of that damage. But our developing environmental morality enlightens my hope for the future. We naturally want to live sustainably, but not more than we want to survive. Given that we have the intelligence and resources at this point to satisfy both needs as a species, the environment's condition can only improve.