Heart Of The Forest

“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: “What good is it?” If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” —Aldo Leopold

In 1926, the last wolf was killed in Yellowstone National Park. Over the next few years, the consequences of this extermination began to show as Yellowstone’s ecological health drastically declined. With natural predators gone, the elk population boomed which caused the deciduous trees of the park to suffer from overgrazing.

Since their reintroduction, in 1995, the park has come back to life and ecological balance has been restored. This demonstrates how valuable of a cog predators are within the land mechanism itself.

They are the heart of the forest.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” —John Muir

Details:

• Acryla gouache on basswood
• Approximately 10.25 x 8 inches
• Comes ready to hang!