Anthropocentric interconnections are observed on-the-ground; their resulting changes may be positive, indicating a connective relationship between humans and wild living things, or negative, pointing to a disconnective relationship. Recognizing the importance of environmental interconnections and taking proactive approaches can yield positive, long-term gains -- for people and wildlife! Human intervention that attempts to achieve and maintain a healthy, natural ecosystem can develop into a long-term interconnection. Examples of such interconnections can result from sound land-use planning efforts such as watershed management, landscape ecology, and/or ecosystem management. The State of New Jersey's Development and Redevelopment Plan is one proactive approach for guiding responsible land-use planning. Also noteworthy is the State's Open Space funding initiative to protect an additional one million acres of natural areas from development. On the federal level, proceeds from Duck Stamp Sales purchased millions of acres for wildlife. The establishment and enforcement of environmental laws provide other gauges of society's responsiveness to interconections. The failure to impose and enforce meaningful consequences for bad land-use decisions promotes more bad land-use decisions -- a poor legacy for future generations.
Disregard for the consequences of environmental interconnections is evident as short-term gains that The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service drive the exploitation of natural resources. The consequences of these disconnections yielded threatened and endangered species, ecosystem fragmentation, loss of wetlands, degradation of water quality, declining native wildlife populations, loss of wildlife habitat and corridors from suburban sprawl, invasive exotic species, human-generated contaminants on naturally functioning ecosystems, and disconnection between humans and the natural world. It is especially sad to see the disconnection between youth and nature, particularly among many urban and suburban youth who are more apt at identifying corporate logos than native wild species.
Society's decisions will continue to affect fish and wildlife resources and their supporting ecosystems. We must advance an integrated management approach to fish and wildlife and other natural resources conservation in recognition of the interconnections occurring in the natural world. We can accomplish this through education, science, interdependent land-use planning, land acquisition and conservation easement programs, enforcement of environmental laws, conscientious environmental decisions in consideration of future generations, and by exercising sound judgement. In addition to sustaining and safeguarding fish and wildlife resources, our understanding of and actions in behalf of environmental interconnections will greatly influence the quality of life. The following articles address the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's awareness of environmental interconnections from the New Jersey Field Office’s (NJFO) perspective.
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