by Mike Johnson, Chief of Conservation and Lindsay Smith, Chief of Marketing & Communications
More than 100 years ago, the citizens of Summit County created Summit Metro Parks and established a county-wide organization dedicated to conservation. We began as green islands in an urban and agricultural sea. Over time, we grew into an archipelago and became a chain of ecological diversity and protected cultural resources. With hard work and dedication, many of the islands are connected by an isthmus through which fish, wildlife and people can move, live and thrive.
Summit Metro Parks is still dedicated to our mission of conservation and a green future. But what does conservation mean and what does a green future look like? To address these questions, we first have to ask: Why should we care? What do these green islands do for you?
Ecosystem Services: Nature works for us
One of the most important reasons for conservation is that human society depends on the natural world. We rely on clean air and clean water, and the food we eat is ultimately a product of nature. Park biologists have determined that the forested areas of our district store over 690,000 metric tons of carbon and annually sequester an additional 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Most of the medicines we rely on were not invented in laboratories; they were copied from chemical compounds found in nature. That little snail on the verge of extinction might just produce a chemical compound that is a cure for cancer. The term ecosystem services has been applied to this line of thought. We protect the services nature provides by conserving land and water.
Access to Nature: Nature is for everyone
Nature is our ancestral home. We are all hardwired to seek out nature. Medical science has proven time spent in nature improves our mental and physical health. This benefit can be enhanced further when people begin to understand the natural world that is around them. In the park business, we call this interpretation: being able to understand the complexities of ecosystems and our role in protecting the natural world. Access to nature is important regardless of where you live but many areas of Summit County have historically not had equitable access to nature. This year, count on Summit Metro Parks to continue providing programs, parks and trails that allow ALL people to experience nature and the individual benefits it provides.
Biodiversity: Nature benefits the human condition
But there is a larger reason to protect nature – one that is deeply connected to the human condition. Humans collect and conserve the things we value. Protecting nature is really no different than protecting art in museums or literature in libraries. Every species on planet earth is the culmination of millennia of biological perfection. Today, we use the term biodiversity to refer to all life on earth and the complex interactions and ecosystems that support them. Every species of life has value and extinction of even a single species is not acceptable.
Summit Metro Parks is in a unique position to address these issues. When we talk about conservation, it’s in a broader sense and encompasses managing natural areas to protect ecosystem services, provide access to nature and benefit human well-being. From the sandstone cliffs at Liberty Park to the huckleberry bogs at Springfield Bog Metro Park, our parks and conservation areas protect thousands of species. The wetlands in our parks help clean our drinking water. Our forests filter pollutants from the air and sequester carbon. Our parks are a refuge not just for wildlife, but for people seeking to connect with the natural world.
Through our focus on these principals of conservation, this year we will share more about what we are doing to protect our local resources and ensure a sustainable future. We will be sharing our conservation and restoration work as well as actions you can take to reduce impacts to the natural world.
We have done a lot over the past 100 years.
But it’s not enough.
We’re just getting started.
For more stories like this, check out Green Islands magazine, a bi-monthly publication from Summit Metro Parks. Summit County residents can sign up to receive the publication at home free of charge.