Also see: Op-Ed: Preserve Local Parks Grants , adapted from this essay

Like many in my parents' generation, my Gen-X childhood was spent outside whenever possible, with the freedom to roam the neighborhood and explore the vestiges of "the wild" wherever they could be found. In southern Missouri, that meant playing in small valleys, not fit for home construction, that still teemed with minnows, crawdads, and the occasional alligator snapping turtle. Even the backyard offered something wild: instead of a fence separating us from our neighbors, we had an old farm tree line; some of the larger horse apple trees still had bits of barb wire encased in their bark. The trees sheltered squirrels and chipmunks, birds and bats.

Small ledge and spring, along a minor brook emptying into Lake Springfield, Missouri

And then we moved to Plano, in the middle of 7th grade. Again our home was on old farmland, but there were no vestiges other than the flatness of tilled cropland. White Rock Creek was perhaps a mile away, but there was no access without obviously trespassing – and it wasn't compelling enough to risk getting in trouble. I turned inward and focused on my studies; perhaps that was for the best. But I felt lost. A part of me was missing.

The Sky Is Pink, from the director of Gasland, makes a potent argument that we need to resist ANY gas drilling, but particularly fracking with its permanently toxic benzene, toluene, etc. In middle school I recall writing a paper for science class, about sources of groundwater pollution in Texas. Improperly-capped oil and gas wells were a major source. I was able to find the scientific research there in my middle school and public libraries. This short film reminds us that a significant increase in the number of wells translates to a significant increase in the number of leaking wells that pollute our water supplies.

This past week's terrible storm out East provides a reminder of the importance of our ecological infrastructure; in particular, wetlands. The lessons that we did not heed from Hurricane Katrina will perhaps take hold with Hurricane Sandy impacting the nation's commercial heart: in addition to supporting relief efforts now, it is important for us to consider long-term mitigation against the impact of future large storms, which are likely to be more powerful and more frequent than in centuries past. Instead of, or in addition to, relying on massive levies, seawalls, and the like, we need to support public and private endeavors to restore vital natural systems.

White-morph Reddish Egret, doing the Reddish Egret dance, in a wetland on Texas's Mustang Island

This year's drought has brought the stark reality of water availability front-and-center in Texas. The state has faced droughts before – but by all accounts, this is one of the most severe, and the population continues to expand rapidly. Water is not entirely taken for granted in this state, especially in central and west Texas, but this year's experience seems to have struck home for people in a profound way. Even as we have begun to get some sporadic rain, the talk of stage 4 water rationing continues. And yet there are also stories of people flouting the rules, watering away in their yards. I wish I could accompany those folks on a visit out to John Bunker Sands Wetlands Center.

Recently I came across an editorial analysis of the farm bills currently being legislated that began with a splenetic attack on its conservation reserve program and, in a non sequitur, ended with a relatively well-reasoned critique of the direct subsidies provided to growers of corn, wheat, soy, rice, and cotton. The arguments against these direct subsidies are plentiful, but this is the first time I've come across an argument against the conservation program.

Speaking of organic and sustainable farming... BBC has a great little article on how shade-grown coffee is helping preserve biodiversity in El Salvador. "The original forests of the tiny Central American republic have virtually disappeared, but its high-altitude coffee plantations provide refuge for a surprising variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians," they report. Its a great contextual introduction to some of the issues and benefits of shade grown and organic coffee.

Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (Qu'rán, Al-Anbia' 21:30).

Thus begins "Water Conservation as a Religious Duty".

I've been reading a great deal about ecology and conservation biology lately, and thus found the article Ecolonomics: Valuing Forests quite timely. Of course it is an intriguing article whether or not one has been reading up on the subject, and I recommend it even more to those who haven't been doing so.