MPG Ranch Project Analysis

Today 's current society is filled with individuals that exploit the environment. This focus on industrial actions creates a society that is separates nature from humans. With this separation, it is always incredibly satisfying to be involved with groups that are so dedicated to conserving lands for species to use. The project that I was so fortunate to work with was the MPG Ranch. This project allowed me to experience the actions of conservationists from a firsthand perspective in order to see for myself the value of humans with the environment. In this perspective, I was able to see ideas learned inside of the classroom mirrored with the environment. This experience allowed me to have my own imprint on the landscape and to see the steps that …show more content…
The MPG Ranch was working with another local ranch in order to make each other 's shared fences safe for their live stalk as well as for local wildlife. In this project, my classmates and I worked rebuild fences to make them more accessible by animals. This involved removing strands of barb wire from the top and bottom rungs of the fence in order to install barbless wire so that animals are able to climb over and go under fences without being harmed by the barbs. This job required numerous positions for people to perform including rolling up the wire, marking the poles, hammering in clamps to hold the wire, and people removing the previous clamps that held the wire. The work was long and arduous due to the pace and distance covered by my fellow classmates. The entire class was able to work as a group to make sure that the job was done well and quickly to insure the maximum amount of work completed. It comes to show just how much can be accomplished when a few people take the time out of their day to help aid this fight. I know that I can speak for my classmates when I say that the work that we put in was easy to do because of the goals and dedication shown by the MPG Ranch along with the other individuals that worked with …show more content…
Although the group as a whole preaches to be a conservation group, I tend to see them somewhere in between conservation and preservation. The group 's overall goal of preserving land for future generations is an idea that directly mirrors the goals of conservationists. Also, the ranch is economically focused on using the land directly for human use. However, this is where I think the comparisons start because I feel that many of their environmental philosophies mirror very closely with Arne Naess 's two ultimate norms of deep ecology. The first of these norms is human 's self-realization. This self-realization is of human beings realizing that they are a part of an organic wholeness that connects all living beings. This self connection is apparent with the MPG Ranch because of their attempt to live together cohesively. The actions of the group to study organism patterns as well as building these fences shows how the group is concerned with how their actions and the actions of other humans is affecting local species. The second norm presented by Naess is about biocentric equality. This idea centers around the idea that by harming nature, everything is harmed as well. This idea of biocentric equality was apparent to me on two separate occasions. The was when one of the ranch owns discussed how he did not allow his cattle