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January, 2002: Resolutions for Nature

© Terrie Murray

The holidays are over and we're a few days into the new year. The presents have been unwrapped and the decorations stored away for next year. Champagne bottles have been carted off with the weekly recycling and life is beginning to return to the normal routine.

Like many of you, I've made resolutions for myself for the new year. I've promised myself I'll pay closer attention to diet and exercise. I've promised myself that I would continue to seek new ways to expand my mind. I've promised myself that I will continue to build a close relationship with my family and my friends, especially those who are far away from me. But this year I'm adding a new category of resolutions. I'm calling them resolutions for nature.

I resolve to eliminate the use of pesticides in my yard, so as to not endanger the wild residents I share it with. I resolve to learn about how to disconnect my down spouts to protect the local rivers from potentially toxic run-off.

I resolve to plant at least three perennial shrubs which will provide additional winter food and cover for birds and wildlife. I resolve also to plant annual flowers which will provide food for hummingbirds and butterflies.

I resolve to increase my participation in Audubon's Conservation Team and other environmental organizations in order to speak out in support of laws which protect nature and against those which endanger the natural world without justification.

I resolve to limit my personal consumption of energy in order to limit, even in a small way, my household's impact on the habitat of endangered salmon populations here in the Pacific Northwest.

I resolve to learn more about my environment. I want to learn the names of the local trees. I want to learn where my drinking water comes from and what paths it follows. I want to learn about wild flowers and butterflies and slugs and bugs. I want to know why the squirrels in my yard are different than the squirrels across town. I want to learn more about the local birds and their behavior. I want to learn what risks all of them face, and how I can help.

I resolve to walk more often. Walking is not only good exercise, which I need anyway, it puts me in closer touch with my neighborhood and those inhabitants I share it with - - both wild and human.