Article Summary
- The article of John Schwartz on The New York Times, entitled A Hobbyist Whose Workshop Sits among the Cypress Trees, talks about the wetland restoration efforts of Matt Conn in Iberia Parish, Louisiana (Schwartz).
- Matt, who works as an environmental consultant by day, purchased a wetland property from a farmer who planned to use it for planting sugarcane. Yet, the move of the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal and state-level bodies to classify the land as protected wetlands prompted the farmer to sell the property to Matt, since he wanted to avoid doing restoration work by himself (Schwartz).
- After closing the purchase – which cost within the region of $1,800, Matt began doing restoration work by himself, which he described as “therapeutical” (Schwartz).
- Restoring the wetlands is a crucial environmental effort in Louisiana, particularly because of the fact that it seeks to regenerate the once-proliferating growth of cypress trees, which is considered as the state tree (Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force & the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority 5-6).
- Despite the general idea on restoration work being costly both in terms of time and money (Kim & Petrolia 1045-1054), Matt does not see his efforts as a burden. In fact, Matt describes restoration work on his property as his hobby, seeing as he has constantly taken joy in activities such as replanting and leveling land, among many others. However, there is an understanding that not all people might see the efforts of Matt as enjoyable, given the needed massive physical input and dedication (Schwartz).
- Schwartz himself has described how harsh the conditions could be in the property of Matt. The trails traversing the property are muddy and flooded with water from the reservoir, temperature range within 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and thorny plants tend to get in the way. Yet, the beauty of the property of Matt lies in the natural endowments he has helped revived. Vines, flowers and cypress saplings all provide hope that the restoration work of Matt could spur a large-scale movement that could benefit not only the statewide program of Louisiana on wetland restoration, but also the general concern of cultivating the environment in various ways as well (Schwartz).
- While it may be difficult to replicate the efforts of Matt to the extent of doing it as a hobby, proving help to supportive causes would prove helpful enough, Randy Epperson, who heads the wetlands easements of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, emphasized that the efforts of people like Matt are instrumental to rehabilitating an “environmentally degraded world.” Such perhaps alludes to the formation of attitudes suitable for engaging in different activities on environmental conservation (Schwartz).
- One aspect Matt has emphasized in making restoration work enjoyable is the need to cultivate enjoyment in exposure to the outside world. For instance, Lauren, the wife of Matt, does not share the same passion as him, as he described her multiple duties inside the household that prevent her from having adequate exposure to the outside world. Nevertheless, Lauren has been very supportive with the efforts of Matt, especially after she read his blog documenting much of his restoration work. In the case of the oldest child of Matt, he agreed that he has yet to give him adequate exposure to the outside world, since he is more into computer games such as Minecraft (Schwartz).
Works Cited
Kim, T., and Petrolia, D. (2013). Public perceptions of wetland restoration benefits in Louisiana. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70(5), 1045-1054.
Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority (1998). Coast 2050: Towards a sustainable coastal Louisiana. Retrieved from http://www.coast2050.gov/products/docs/orig/2050report.pdf
Schwartz, J. (2014, September 16). A hobbyist whose workshop sits among the cypress trees. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/us/a-hobbyist-whose-workshop-sits-among-the-cypress-trees.html?_r=0
