Riding my bike at Berry brings back memories of my family

From the Chicago Tribune

For millions of years, Australia had no human inhabitants. When people finally arrived there some 45,000 years ago, the continent had 24 different creatures weighing 100 pounds or more. Within a few millennia, 23 were wiped out.

In his book “Sapiens,” Yuval Noah Harari notes: “Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo Sapiens held the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinction. We have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of biology.”

From all indications, we are not about to be dethroned. A new study published in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences says nearly 200 species have vanished in the past century, and 9,000 have seen substantial reductions in their numbers. Only 7,000 cheetahs are left, and the population of West African lions is down to 400. Scientists suggest that Earth is well into the sixth mass extinction of the last half-billion years.

We are seeing “a massive erosion of the greatest biological diversity in the history of Earth,” which negatively affects the resources that sustain human life, says the article. The authors call for a reversal of “human overpopulation” and “overconsumption, especially by the rich.” One of the scholars, Paul Ehrlich of Stanford, told The Washington Post, “I am an alarmist.”

But the alarmism may be overdone. Ehrlich is infamous for erroneously predicting imminent mass global famine in his 1968 book “The Population Bomb.” Humans turned out to be more adaptive and resourceful than he expected then, and there is no reason to believe they won’t act to prevent the catastrophe being predicted now.

Climate change is one significant factor in the loss of creatures, and the nations of the world have entered into an accord to combat it by curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Even without the participation of the United States, that effort is bound to do some good — and it can be done without hobbling economic growth.

A materially richer world is likely to be a more ecologically conscientious one. “The countries that are wealthiest do the most to protect habitat and species health,” says Reed Watson, executive director the Property and Environment Research Center, a think tank in Bozeman, Mont.

That’s because conservation is one of the things people come to value more and more as their disposable income grows. Poor nations can’t afford to worry so much about the plight of animals because they are preoccupied with feeding and housing people.

Humans are good at finding ways to protect the environment and our fellow creatures when the need is there. When the federal Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, it designated 9 million acres of land as wilderness. Today, we have nearly 110 million acres that provide unspoiled habitat for innumerable species.

Other federal lands such as national parks and forests are also protected from most forms of development — amounting to more than one-seventh of all the land in the country. Neighboring residents have learned that they can profit from tourists who come to hike remote woodland trails and see grizzly bears, eagles and wolves. All this is the fruit of prosperity, not poverty.

One challenge in saving species is devising methods that encourage humans to see animals as an asset, not a burden or danger. American bison, once hunted almost to extinction, have rebounded partly because ranchers raise them for food. Ocean fisheries have been rebuilt by limiting the annual harvest while granting fisherman transferable rights to a share of it — thus giving them a stake in conservation.

Namibia has boosted the number of black rhinoceroses, once down to six, to more than 1,400, reports NPR, while doubling the numbers of both cheetahs and elephants. It has also virtually eliminated poaching. How? By enabling communities to establish conservation areas and administer them in ways that benefit the people living there. One element that PERC’s Watson acknowledges is “counterintuitive” is regulated trophy hunting, which generates income that rewards locals for protecting iconic species.

The report provides a sobering picture of how much irreversible damage could be done to worldwide biological diversity. Unlike other creatures, humans can consciously shape the future for generations to come. We should use ingenuity for the benefit of the countless creatures with which we share the Earth.

That would also be good for our species.

Ithoroughly enjoy riding my bike on the campus of Berry College after work every afternoon. Weather permitting, I complete a 15-mile workout ride. I park my car at Hermann Hall and ride across campus to the Hoge Building, to the gym and the chapel and then to the Viking Trail which takes me to the mountain campus and back. My ride culminates with a cross campus ride by Barnwell Chapel to the Ford Buildings. My daily bike ride is very effective interval training and an exceedingly effective stress reducer! My family, the Terrells, who lived at Mountain Springs, primarily occupy my thoughts on my rides. I also think about Mama and Daddy, both of whom went to Berry.

World War II interrupted Daddy’s education at Berry, but he finished college in 1953 at UGA. When he went to Berry, he milked cows at what was then the Normandy Barns but is now the Winshape Retreat Center. He said when he came home from World War II he went to Possum Trot. One of the pastures had two plow mules named Jack and Jenny. He said he went to the pasture where they were and called out to Jenny and she immediately came to the fence. He said, “She remembered me.”

I think about Mama, a home economics major who, one day, was upstairs in one of the guest cottages making up beds. She was by herself in the cottage and was singing a popular song from that era of the mid-1940s. She stopped singing and somebody from downstairs called out, “Hey! Who turned off the radio?” The Weaving Room I think about Aunt Melba who, when she came to campus, was told she was to work in the weaving room. She said, “I guess when you come to Berry, and they learn you are from the carpet capital of the world, they put you to work in the weaving room! I told ’em I don’t know how to weave. And they said, well you’re gonna learn.” Before she graduated, Aunt Melba’s picture was put on the label of the tea towels sold by the school. The Pilgrims The Vanderbilts and a lot of rich Yankees came to campus for an annual pilgrimage from New York. They really believed in the Berry Schools and what Miss Berry was doing. Miss Berry worked very hard raising donations from them for the schools. The students started calling these folks “pilgrims.” I always laughed when Aunt Melba said, “When we all got ready for the pilgrims’ visit every year, Miss Berry made us go outside and polish the magnolia leaves.”

My Grandparents Go to Berry for High School

I think about Bert and Marie Griffin, my maternal grandparents, who came to Berry from Whitfield County to go to high school. It was the turn of the century, and the school was brand new.

Grandmother Terrell’s Rocking Chair

Daddy told me, ever since I can remember, that Grandmother had a rocking chair that Miss Berry wanted. The family lived at Mountain Springs. One day Grandmother was outside hanging clothes on the clothesline. She saw Miss Berry coming down the road toward their house. When she got to Grandmother, Miss Berry said, “Hello Mrs. Terrell.” Grandmother said, “Hey Miss Berry.” Miss Berry then said, “How are the children?” And Grandmother said, “They are all fine. I know you didn’t come all the way out here to ask about my children.” Miss Berry then said, “No. I want that rocking chair.” And so it went for about three months when finally one day, Grandmother said, “You win. There is the rocking chair. I reckon you can take it.” Indeed. Miss Berry was legendary for getting whatever she wanted for the Berry Schools, even a rocking chair from a farm wife in Mountain Springs. The Day Miss Berry Died I have a lot of treasures from Mama, like her letter to my grandparents when Miss Berry died. She said the mood on campus was very somber because Miss Berry was in Atlanta, at Emory University Hospital, and not doing well. They got word one Friday around noon that she died and classes were immediately cancelled. That Sunday, many dignitaries came to campus for her funeral. I have the worship bulletin from that day. It has a black border and the funeral announcement. Mama was one of a couple of dozen students who stood in a candlelight vigil when they brought Miss Berry’s body to campus for the funeral. That vigil was where all those oak trees are over by the old Gate of Opportunity.

So these days I ride my bike at Berry and I think about all these great folks, my family, and the history and even the folklore of this great school. What a blessing! PAM TERRELL WALKER Jim Powell of Young Harris Mike Lester, Washington Post Writers Group