U.S. Fish & Wildlife Liaison Discusses Public Land, Conservation & Experience At SEOPA 2016
The aspect of wildlife structure swirls in the idea that life needs to be protected. The key to this is saving land and in many ways safeguarding it for future generations. In making this message known, the idea of the fragile systems that govern the US come more fully into play. For Tom MacKenzie, Media & Native American Liaison for the Southeast Region of the US Fish & Wildlife Service (as well as a member of SEOPA [Southeast Outdoor Press Association]), the texture is held with tradition. McKenzie sat down with The Buzz to discuss inspiration, public lands and the importance of the military in terms of training and approach.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the importance of Florida’s diversity.
Tom MacKenzie: Florida, due to its extensive water resources…it is just festoon with life. I mean the Southeast is the Amazon of America and possibly the world. We outdo the Amazon with the number of species. There are small little fish that you really don’t notice until you start looking at them. We can look at what seems like rocks in the water but they are actually mussels, living things that are filtering the water and taking contaminants out but they have to have a good clean water source or they will die off. One of the missions of the US Fish & Wildlife Service is to keep everything alive…to keep a piece of something because we really don’t know “what’s it for?” I mean everybody always asks “What good is it?” Really it is kind of pretentious to say. I am not a highly religious guy but I know I don’t know a lot of stuff. I don’t know why these things are here…but I know they serve a purpose and they do something. Without them, something else happens. Maybe good. Maybe bad. There are probably pros and cons. But the South…thanks to its water…it is just a beautifully rich resource. It can have fish that you can eat. Fish you can just enjoy. Interesting things like black madelias…these unique species you’ve never even heard of. They are out there…but they are endangered whether it be because of silk, too much development, agriculture run off, mining, all these different things. Unless we protect those rivers, which also sustain people, we are all in trouble.
The Buzz: But there needs to be a balance of recreation…
TM: You bet. And there’s benefits when we say “Hey…we’re going to make a refuge”. Some people look at the signs…and it’s got a blue goose on it…that say “for fishing use only”. And that to me…when I was in California…before I got in the service…I never knew [what] that [meant]. I thought it was illegal. The refuges are made for wildlife...but they are also for the Big 6 purposes that we have to deal with when we are deal with refuges . You have to always include whenever possible hunting, fishing, wildlife education, environmental education and photography. Those things right off the bat are crucial points. Now you’re not going to see the same kind of paved paths that you would see say at a national park. However, you will have pristine beauty in its natural setting. I go hunting all the time on national wildlife refuges because one (chuckling) I’m too cheap to buy a lease but I like the concept of public land for the people. I came from the West where there is a lot more public land. Here in the Southeast and The East, it’s a struggle to find places to hunt. But I can still go and for either a minimal fee…a fee hunt…or for free….you can go and fish. You can go and hike. You can enjoy the wild in its natural being.
The Buzz: Can you talk about your personal connection to the outdoors?
TM: I am former military. I started as an Army Lieutenant back in the 70s. I wasn’t in fish and wildlife. I was a combat trooper. I didn’t have the same knowledge but I had a respect. I was an Eagle Scout…a Boy Scout…and I always tried to make things better than when I got there. I have learned so much in my last 18 years here with the Fish & Wildlife Service. It has really been a great opportunity for me. I work with such great people…with state partners…and people like the Nature Conservancy…these folks are really dedicated. And it is a lot like the military to be quite honest. We’re talking 26 pound brains in these guys and women. I’m working with doctors and they have put in their dues. They have learned a lot and they have a great expertise. They are devoted to try and help.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the different coming from the West Coast in looking at the environment of the East Coast, specifically the Southeast…
TM: It is interesting because out West there is a far greater pressure for environmental movement in a lot of ways. [However] there is a different kind of respect for the wild here because a lot of folks grew up [in the South] close to the land but usually on private land. Out [West], they are interested more in protecting the land for everybody…big swaths of land…like forest service land… Bureau Of Land Management Land…Corp Of Engineers land… working with those agencies to protect it. But here in the South, 96 or 97% of the land is privately owned so we have to work far more closely with Mom N’ Pop places…Joe Down The Street because unless we work with the timber companies…the people that own the land…we can’t save something like a gopher tortoise. [For example] sometimes you got to burn the land. People will be like…”it’s a forest fire…we got to put it out!?” Not [just] in the South but also in the West. The West is also dependent [on fire]. Unless you burn out the sage that releases the seeds from the fire, the deer get no nutrition. And in The South, unless you burn out that scrub…nasty stuff…and that tangle-foot that every hunter or hiker or burn watcher gets tangled up or falls over in…I do it all the time. I [always] think “Damn I wish we could burn this place and burn this stuff out”. [You] could get something back like the Long Leaf Pine ecosystem which used to be 19 million acres. We are less than 4 or 5% of that now. It used to be…you could see 300 yards through these trees…these big trees… the redwoods of the south. We also got the cedars and the cypress. I mean 20 people can hold their hands around a cypress tree and not reach each other. Those things are incredible…much like the redwoods. The South has some cool stuff going for it. The interesting thing too about here in the South is the correlation of the ocean where you get that water coming into the swamps. You have the coastal marshes. You have the freshwater marshes. Then you get this kind of salinity mixed marsh and then the saltwater marsh…those are very very rare. Savannah is one of the last ones…and now with the deepening of the Savannah Harbor and the Savannah River for the big Panama X ships…that becomes endangered. And you can’t make those. You can’t just build another one. It depends on the whole topography to create something like that over eons.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the evolution of refuges as well as their place in the business of memory making. Loxahatchee in Southwest Palm Beach County…
TM: But even with Loxahatchee…we have a huge problem with invasive species. They were these plants that were brought in to drain the swamps. They brought in these Melaleuca trees and these Brazilian peppers as landscaping plants. Of course in Georgia, you had also the kudzo where people thought it would be a great way to maintain ivy…another evil thing…I hate that stuff. But it is really hard to get rid of this stuff once it gets in…once its entrenched like the pythons. The American crocodile is already at the nuclear plant (as a habitat)[at Turkey Point] and that is an endangered species. We got a 12-foot [python] out at Loxahatchee on the road. One of our own enforcement guys grabbed him. If you think of what is in South America, Florida is pretty darn close. You can’t even hunt the pythons because you could be standing on top of it literally. We have had folks who have had a microchip in one of those big snakes…kind of like a Judas snake to able to find where its nest was and if it was going to reproduce …they knew they were right on top of it and they couldn’t even see it, it is so camouflaged.
The Buzz: You seem very engaged in all the details…
TM: I have always loved the outdoors. I grew up on farms and ranches out in California but I didn’t have the biological knowledge. I have learned so much from my Fish & Wildlife buddies. I was an Army guy before and I love the outside. I do some hunting and shooting. I’m a lousy fisherman but I still try. I try to get my kids into it and they kind of got it for a while but not so much. But you got to get people out. That is one of our biggest challenges because now with the age of internet and GameCube and all this entertainment indoors, everybody wants to be air conditioned and stuff. We lose touch with the natural world and that is a very dangerous thing. I think you can get a philosophical connection to the world only if you’re a part of it.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
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