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Corridors of the wild

© Mel. White

As the new milennium approaches, we are seeing people across the globe take more of an interest in the Earth than ever before. The notion that old ways can't be improved on are fast fading and we're starting to take a look at the Earth as a whole unit; not as just our own little acres of land. What's most encouraging is that we're seeing governments (okay... I know... dirty word to some of you) taking the lead in coming up with creative programs on local, regional, and country-wide scales One of the areas that land management agencies across the world are strongly promoting is the idea of establishing wildlife corridors.

Since the time of Rachael Carson, scientists have been aware of the dangers of cooping wildlife up in small areas with no way to access other places. Nature reserves shouldn't be small islands of land surrounded by habitats where only humans can exist; animals and plants should be able to migrate between and out of them. In most cases, this is done by taking land and making "buffer zones" -- parks, greenbelts, and trails -- out of them.

From a city government standpoint, this is a real win-win approach to land management. Greenbelts tend to increase property values in their area. The large ones attract tourists, who spend dollars on recreation. This brings in more business and capital and increases the job opportunities in the areas and reduces pollution in the corridor area.

I've seen this used to good effect in the Southeastern United States. Earlier this year, we traveled to South Carolina from Texas and it was interesting to see the land use philosphy of each state. In Texas, wide strips of land were often -- but not always -- left between farms and the roadside (in all fairness, it's not always possible to put trees along a road in a desert area.) But buffer zones haven't been established around cities and places that have lots of parks and greenbelts (such as my hometown of Garland) are not as common as you'd hope for.

But the land use policies and philosophies in the Eastern United States are more wildlife friendly, and it shows in the way that the lands are used. There, the highways are usually bordered by land well planted with trees. Cityscapes are usually hidden by a thick wall of greenery that helps clean the air along the highways and screens the nearby houses from the traffic noise.

But there are more imaginative programs around the globe that are promoting wildlife corridors. Nebraska's "Rails to Trails" is also a startling concept that's turned into a solution for animals and humans alike. This

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