No Time to Write

As it turns out, being enrolled in grad school full time, assuming leadership roles in semester-long group projects, working on a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, responding to an RFP that addresses Baltimore's food desert problem, and planning a wedding all at the same time isn't so easy! It leaves little time for blogging! I'm also in the transition of moving my blog (shhh, don't tell blogger!), so I've been hesitant to write more until I'm settled in my new home. But I don't think that will happen until after the wedding, or after school at the earliest, so I might as well write! 

Well, the only relevant professional-ish information I have to share is in regards to another letter-to-the-editor I had published in my local newspaper (my last letter was about new construction being environmentally sustainable).

Two weeks ago, on April 18, a letter from Dr. Camay Woodall posed a question: "When are we going to get serious about the deer problem in Towson?" Last week, resident Patrick Sheridan responded with a solution: reintroducing wolves. The night before reading Sheridan's response I had seen Green Fire, a documentary telling the story of famous environmentalist Aldo Leopold. Leopold was a strong proponent of wildlife management and after he and his peers destroyed the wolf populations out west, he realized how necessary the wolves were in maintaining balance. With Leopold's concepts still fresh in my mind, I responded in support of Sheridan- knowing that likely no one else would. It might not be too plausible at this time, but it's the best solution I've heard yet.

My letter is not yet posted online, but I got the newspaper yesterday. Here's what I wrote:

Let nature do the job of tackling local deer population problem

Although I hadn't read the letter in question, I loved reading all the responses to Dr. Woodall's letter about deer hunting practices in the area. Of the three, I most enjoyed what Patrick Sheridan had to say. 

We humans love to think we are in control of things when, in fact, we’re mere cogs in Earth’s complex system of balance. Maybe if we could hunt the deer naturally, with our own agility and intelligence, it wouldn’t be such a problem. 

But we can’t. That’s when Mother Nature steps in - enter the wolf.

Sheridan’s suggestion, reminiscent of Aldo Leopold’s wildlife management concepts, is a terrific idea and I fully support it. Outside of likelihood that such a reintroduction would take time, the main problem will be teaching our neighbors that wolves are a safer alternative to projectile weapons. 

This isn’t little Red’s big bad wolf, but not everyone already understands that.