Environmental problems Wisconsin faces today
Today s adults are the first generation to have seen the entire Earth from space in televised images and photographs. This profound event in human history caused many to think seriously about the planet s health and how humanity was potentially affecting it.
Until very recently, the way many of us thought about
nature was organized
just like this report: in terms of separated parts of air,
water, land, plants
and animals. Government environmental agencies also are
often separated along
these lines because addressing complex resource problems in
each area requires
a great deal of detailed study and scientific training.
Yet as concerned people and scientists delved deeper into separate problems, they found that each piece affected the other on a fundamental and inseparable level. Mercury in the air ended up in water, then in fish, animals and people. Farm and forest practices affected not only animals and plants but water quality and soil as well. Putting solid waste in landfills or incinerators sometimes solved a solid waste problem but created an air pollution problem.
Wisconsin s current environmental problems reflect this pattern:
Problems like these require us to make resource decisions with the integrity of the entire natural system in mind. It is impossible to just tackle one piece of the problem, because, like a spinning pinwheel, all merge together to form one color.
That s why new approaches are being used to address the environmental problems of today. Major new tools we ll use more in the future are:
Ecosystem Management
This concept brings together air, water, land, plants, animals and people into a large interconnected unit: an ecosystem. Once viewed in this way, decisions we make can be based on long-term, collective effects on the ecosystem of which we re a part. The challenge for the next century will be to incorporate this approach into laws, organizations and everyday actions.
Geographic Information System
Imagine a powerful computer system which stores all sorts of information on stream locations, toxic waste sites, and other data in its memory. The computer can bring together these various data sources graphically on very accurate digital maps, showing how each set of information relates to another.
Such a tool exists, and it is called Geographic Information System, GIS for short. For the first time we can compare and analyze subjects as diverse as highway networks and air quality, fish concentrations and groundwater depths.
We will be able to predict how decisions and choices will affect our environment using GIS to graphically portray potential impacts. The power of GIS will bring the DNR a step closer to the agency s goal of integrated natural resources management by providing a detailed geographic picture for use in environmental decisionmaking.
Global/Regional Partnerships
Issues such as global warming, the deterioration of the upper ozone layer, human population growth, acid rain and smog cannot be dealt with by individuals or local, state or federal governments working alone. Solving our current and future problems will mean working cooperatively regionally and worldwide.
Cooperative partnerships with industries will help us move beyond compliance with state and federal legislation. With less need for expensive enforcement and confrontation, we can work collectively to reduce waste emissions, clean up hazardous sites and protect unique plant and animal species.
Citizens in the future, as today, will be partners in natural resource decisions. They will also be taking field samples, reporting abuses and participating directly with the DNR and others to improve Wisconsin s environment. The DNR intends to expand its ability to work cooperatively with businesses, environmental organizations, other government agencies and the public over the next 25 years.
Both across the country and around the world, the DNR will continue to take the lead to address issues such as global warming, ozone depletion and smog control. Although Wisconsin may seem small in comparison to the world, our programs are recognized as some of the most successful and creative anywhere, not only in countries like Russia, Latvia and Lithuania, but in the U.S. In fact, Wisconsin was ranked as the sixth greenest state in 1994 by the Institute of Southern Studies.
Because of our record and our commitment, we can have a major impact on solving global environmental problems and, with hard work and creativity, see our vision of a healthy global ecosystem become a reality in the years to come.