Our world
holds an enormous beauty that takes most of us our whole lives
to notice. Unfortunately, we only realize its charm after we destroy
most of it. In the end, no matter how hard we try; Earth can never
be restored to its full, potential beauty. And yet, we are left
to hope that somewhere amongst all those who are enticed by money,
there are people who see the elegance of nature and choose to
put their time, love, and care into bringing some of its lost
treasure back to us again.
The Prairie Builders, by Sneed B. Collard III, is a book
about reconstructing the grasslands of America. The book shows
the significance of the problem the grasslands faced: a rapid
transition into farmland. When Europeans first came to America,
they thought the dry grasslands of no use. Eventually, they came
to realize how great the prairie soil was for farming. As a result,
they turned most of it into farmland. The vast grasslands that
once prevailed over the central part of our country have been
reduced to small remnants, each only about a few hundred acres
in size.
The book tells a story about a team of biologists who's goal is
to bring back some of the prairie and its inhabitants. This project
started when Congressman Neal Smith purchased a vast amount of
land in Iowa for the purpose of rebuilding the prairie. This,
however, had to be done from scratch. They were eventually able
to find seeds of plants that used to grow in the prairie. Over
a long period of time, they achieved their goal and established
a new prairie full of life.
My favorite part of this book is definitely what I learned from
it. We are losing our world so rapidly that we are now holding
on to it by only an inch. If we lose it forever, we will never
be able to see the world as it once used to be, untouched by humans.
One might think that there is nothing that can be done now to
change what has happened. But there is! If a group of people can
bring back the prairie, then we collectively can definitely do
something substantial as well.
I used to think no teenager would appreciate a book about lost
ecosystems, but this book changed my view completely. Reading
this book made me realize that there is so much more out in our
world than just me. It not only wiped away my ignorance, it inspired
me to do more for my environment. I have never been to the prairie.
But now I wish to go and see it. I want to see the grass waving
back and forth in the steady wind, the animals softly chattering,
and the beautiful and rare Regal butterfly happy to be back home:
in the prairie. I shall conclude with a quote for you ponder on.
"If
future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than
sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology.
We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created,
not just as it looked when we got through with it." - Lyndon
B. Johnson
Karishma
Age 13
Ladue Middle School
St. Louis, MO
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