Seeing a case in its own right

–I attended a presentation on an ecosystem restoration project in Montana. One of the project leaders described what was for him the key contribution of ecosystem management there: The approach gave him a way to integrate the small and large scale.

Not only could the project leader stand in his woodlot and see how it fit in with the larger scale of the ecosystem and landscape, he was able to plan at the smaller scale for the longer term. He was able to expect a future for his forested lot.

–So too for the ecosystem manager standing at the ridge overlooking the valley. She looked down and was able to plan at the larger scale for the shorter term. She could now see what the next steps ahead were when it came to managing the larger ecosystem.

“Think globally, act locally” had become for this group “Think long term from the small scale and in real time for the large scale.”