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March 2000
Relationships are important. We perceive meaning in our lives in the context of personal connections. A relationship may be with a person, plant or animal. We may have a relationship with another time period, a stream, a woods or a yard. Nothing except our imagination limits what relationships we have. For me, all learning occurs within relationships.
My own observations, wonderings, empathy and compassion are experiences of direct relationship with nature. Reading and study expand my understanding of my experiences, and lead me to ask questions. The more questions I ask, the more I understand what I observe and experience.
Connections with people enhance my relationships with nature. When I have questions that come from my observations and study, I try to find an expert who might further my learning. I approach with reverence and respect, hoping that through my efforts and attitude I will warrant investment of their energies in me.
I think of these people as the quiet heroes. Unpretentious in demeanor, they have generosity of wisdom and love with which they meet the earnest seeker. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is an organization that has many such souls. Their wildlife research group in Bangor specializes in birds, mammals, habitats and endangered species. When I needed to talk about owls, Tom Hodgman met my questions with an admiration for those raptors that I felt to the soles of my feet. Phil deMaynadier helped me understand my own experience with and relationship to a particular turtle, and therefore to all turtles. Mark McCollough has an enthusiasm for wildlife, especially amphibians, revealed even in his meticulous drawings that are a combination of observational science and art. Charlie Todd knows eagles so well that I suspect he has actually lived with them. Craig McLaughlin's regard for bears has an especial appeal I plan to pursue. The Department's website, with great information, is http://janus.state.me.us/ifw/index.htm.
The regional biologists are another group in IF&W. Questions on geese, deer, and even the sojourning fisher are met with practical compassion for wildlife and humans alike. Keel Kemper and Allen Starr in the Sydney regional office and Phil Bozenhard and Sandy Eldridge in the Gray regional office are knowledgeable and patient. Gene Dumont, formerly a regional biologist who now supervises all regional IF&W offices, knows the Merrymeeting Bay area the way I know my backyard. His kindness to people, wildlife and the land has, more than once over the last twenty years, seemed to me a life's contribution worthy of emulation. Conversations with these folks lead to a gratifying sense of understanding, enlightened attitudes and informed actions. All IF&W staff can be accessed through the general phone in Augusta, 287-8000.
There are other experts, and perhaps you could make your own list. Jack Witham, a researcher at the University of Maine Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic is on my list. Jack knows woodland wildlife and forest ecosystems from years of observation and study. The way his quiet voice speaks the details of truth shifts my worldview and deepens my understanding. On my list, too, are Lois Berg Stack, Extension Horticulture Specialist, and Jim Dill, Extension Pest Management Specialist. These Extension colleagues each combine scholarly insight, practical application and a sense of humor. Conversations with them open my eyes and mind to the miracles of the natural world.
My relationships with nature and people intertwine to create an interesting and rich life. It is because of these myriad connections that I have learning and insights to share with others. In evaluating my Extension programs recently, I asked people I worked with over the last year to tell me what difference Extension education on wildlife and habitat has made in their lives. Most of those responding to the survey said it made life more interesting, more exciting; that they feel a stronger connection to the natural world and are contributing more to its welfare. Ah, I see I am not alone in my sense that relationships create meaning.
By Nancy Coverstone (ncstone@umext.maine.edu), University of Maine Extension Educator in Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties
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