In chapter 10 of "Protecting New Jersey's Environment" by Thomas Belton, the author discusses where we place ourselves on the Earth and how this placement affects the diversity around us. In the section, "Snakes Under the House", the author says we "place roots down on virgin grounds" (171). This is a very wise statement, I do not think we think about our placement in the world very often. Before humans, the Earth contained land and the animals that roamed this land. Once humans came, we placed ourselves and built upon the land without thinking about the possible consequences that would come along with it in the future. The section also discusses an agency called the Endangered and Nongame Species Program which was made to protect the endangered, threatened, and nongame wildlife within the state. I find this pretty interesting that we have a program to protect the wildlife, yet at the same time, New Jersey is so densely populated and habitats have been destroyed due to the building of homes. Therefore, the animals are displaced. It just goes to show that despite many conservation acts and advocates, the world just doesn't see the importance of biodiversity.
In the next section, " The Bald Eagle: Lessons in Biotic Recovery", I learned a lot of how hard the bald eagle population was hit in New Jersey over the years. Most of which was due to a loss of habitat, which is still evident within the loss of species of New Jersey. In the book it mentions, that in the "late 1980s there was only one remaining nest" (175). I find this very sad. Of course due to conservation acts, since the 1990s nesting has increased for the bald eagles. The book mentions that nearly "63 bald eagle nests within 2008 were active" (176). This is a big deal considering that the bald eagles were severely threatened within our state. I appreciate the conservation acts and efforts that organizations such as the Endangered and Nongame Species Program do to save such animals.
In the section, "Natural Capital", the author compares the suburban sprawl to "the blob" in a Steven McQueen horror film (183). This blob is used metaphorically to represent the sprawl in such a way that all of our resources are being used and its unstoppable. It's almost like a horror film itself! Although advocates and conservationists see the value of protecting and preserving the land, policy-makers, government officials, and business owners do not and unfortunately, monetary and economic growth win in this world. Therefore, land cannot just be left to "heal" or provide a habitat to the animals which reside in New Jersey. The suburban sprawl is real and it's happening here in New Jersey, and all around us.
This reminds me a lot of the essay "Lifeboat Ethics" by Hardin. In the essay, Hardin compares the Earth to a lifeboat. You are only given so many resources and the boat only has a certain capacity of people in which you can take. So who do you take and why? If we look at the world from Hardin's perspective a lot of people would no longer be around therefore, leaving a lot of land for habitat and growth. Meanwhile, I believe that we do have enough resources for animals, humans, and plants alike to live off of the Earth, but we need to consider the use of our resources. Where we place ourselves, the region in which we live gives us what we need in order to survive. We are dependent upon the resources not only in our region. And not only are we dependent, but so are the other sentient, living creatures. We need to be mindful and continue to conserve the land. We have the land, we need to conserve a portion and use the rest of it. If we continue to use all of resources and land at the rate in which we do, no animals will be able to live and no humans for that matter. By conserving the land, we can conserve the species here and continue to rehabilitate from all the damage this state has been through, environmentally.