Cape Ann is blessed with an abundance of conservation land thanks to the decades-long efforts of several non-profit organizations, including the Trustees of Reservations, the Essex County Greenbelt Association, and the Manchester Essex Conservation Trust. The many hiking trails created and maintained by these organizations provide area residents with an opportunity to experience nature on their own terms.
If you’re an amateur naturalist like me, you might enjoy identifying birds and plants, and — in the spring — the egg clusters of native amphibians in our many vernal pools. But if you’re Tom Wessels, this year’s keynote speaker at the MECT annual meeting (see box for details), you see so much more. Take a walk in the woods with Tom and he will share his perspective on the past, present and future of our conservation lands. Where I might see a dense forest laced with old stone walls, Tom sees a complex system of physical and biological relationships forged over time by evolution and something he refers to as “self-organization.” And the result of self-organization is an ecosystem that is complex yet also resilient and stable, despite the unmistakable impact of humankind — from pre-colonial Native Americans to the Europeans who colonized, clear cut, and farmed the area of Cape Ann beginning in the 17th century.
Tom has spent most of his adult life studying the New England landscape and has developed a unique ability to “read” the signs of past natural and human impacts — from the sculpting hand of glaciers to evidence of the agricultural pursuits of our colonial forebears. Tom's approach has been described as “equal parts Sherlock Holmes and Aldo Leopold,” and he has written two books on the topic: “Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England” and “Forest Forensics: A Field Guide to Reading the Forested Landscape.” For anyone interested in developing a better understanding of our local conservation lands, these books come highly recommended.
The conceptual model embraced by Tom has its origins in a field known as complex systems science, which has been applied to many disciplines. When applied to biological systems (e.g., an ecosystem like our local forest areas), this model provides a means of understanding the interdependencies of different parts of the system and how they work together to achieve energy efficiency, which, according to Tom, is “the currency of evolution.” As complexity increases, the system grows more resilient and stable, allowing it to successfully adapt to the threats of invasive species, pathogens, and, yes, even climate change.
So, what about climate change? If you’re a nature lover like me, it’s hard to be optimistic about our planet’s future given the lack of urgency on the part of our political leaders. But, according to Tom, there are reasons for hope. It’s possible for complex systems, such as the relationship between the economy and the fossil fuel industry, to be disrupted by major change events, their stability and resilience notwithstanding. This principle applies to economic, biological and social movements alike.
“The women’s suffrage movement took about 70 years to achieve the right to vote, but [legalization of] same sex marriage happened much faster. It’s very inspiring to see what’s happening with the youth of this country today and the climate strike that happened last month. I think it’s hard for politicians to disregard young, earnest people who are saying, ‘Hey, this is about my future. You guys need to wake up.’ So, who knows? This could be a real turning point, and people could finally accept that this is about the future of our children and grandchildren and we better do something.”
I’m looking forward to hearing more from Tom Wessels on November 10, and I hope you will decide to attend.
James Behnke is a Manchester resident and a member of the Manchester Essex Conservation Trust.
