Preserving our nature
The Herald-Sun
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Final Edition
Editorial Section
Page A6

On Independence Day, we honor the principles the United States was founded upon -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights -- and those who sacrificed to protect the rights and freedoms eloquently set forth in those documents.

We should also remember that, in addition to freedom, the founding fathers and mothers also loved the land they had settled in, the mountains, forests and prairies of the vast and wild "New World." Thomas Jefferson loved to return again and again to the peace of Monticello, his mountaintop home in Virginia. Jefferson, who set Lewis and Clark off on their epic journey of western discovery, believed that the nation was so vast it couldn't be filled up in 80 generations.

Jefferson may have been right about man's innate yearning for freedom, but he completely missed how long it would take industrious and adventurous Americans to inhabit the nation "from sea to shining sea." In just a few generations, we put down roots in every corner of our country, in some cases harming the natural world in the process.

So we're grateful to those who protect the wild places that remind us of our roots. This year, that includes the organizers of the Festival for the Eno, which has been raising money to protect the Eno River for 25 years now, and those who worked to rescue a symbol of America, the bald eagle, from the brink of extinction.

In 1782, the bald eagle was chosen by the Second Continental Congress to adorn the Nation's Great Seal. That was over the strenuous objections of Benjamin Franklin, a proponent of the wild turkey. In retrospect, we're glad Franklin lost this argument.

Back in Franklin's day, there were as many as 100,000 nesting bald eagles. But by 1963, due to DDT poisoning and other pressures, the mighty eagle was on the brink of extinction, with only 417 pairs remaining in the lower 48 states.

Today, through the efforts of many people, that trend has been reversed. There are now 6,608 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the United States. Of those, 39 are in North Carolina, and six are at nearby Jordan Lake. The success shows that humans can have an impact on the environment, for good or ill.

The Festival for the Eno was born of the same impulse -- to conserve the natural world. It had humble beginnings, but it has grown into one of the year's most anticipated events, a three-day Triangle tradition of music, crafts and food. Along with the fun, the festival's purpose is to raise money to protect the wildlife and water quality of the Eno River watershed, one of Durham's natural treasures. Through the efforts of the Eno River Association, more than 400,000 acres have been preserved to date.

Today, because of their work, we can walk along a quiet trail by the Eno and see the River and forest much as it was hundreds of years ago. And visitors to Jordan Lake who are patient and a little lucky can watch the majestic, soaring flight of a bald eagle, one of America's most revered residents.