As Alexander County and Duke Energy make plans to expand a local lake access, a couple begins to raise concerns for the rookery of blue herons. The plans include working to add more trails, parking, a swim beach, picnic shelters and bathrooms to the Lake Hickory Wittenburg Access. This couple is concerned that these additions would harm the blue heron rookery, one of the largest in the area. A Duke Energy spokesperson said that the rookery “would be taken into consideration when we start preparing the detailed engineering plants for the walking trail.” But the Duke Energy spokesperson did not rule out building the trail near the rookery.
While development plans seem to continue ahead, community members are worried about the effects of the development on the rookery. Since the blue herons nest together, they are more susceptible to human actions. Blue herons are a protected species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Experts worry that the addition of the trail would harm the rookery by increasing human interaction with the blue herons. Also, they point out that the addition of a trail might not be a good idea so close to their nesting grounds due to all the bird droppings.
As technology and development continues to expand, engineers will play a role in managing how their designs affect the natural and man-made systems around them. The article states that “the herons clean up the lake by catching ‘trash fish’ — fish in the lake that humans often have no interest in.” Are the herons valuable to us only because they eat the fish that we don’t want? Engineers must consider dilemmas such as “Should the value of other species by determined by their value to humans?” and “It is worth destabilizing entire communities for the addition of a few small amenities?”
Wendell Berry refused to use technology because of the impacts he saw on the environment and within society. While these proposed new amenities to the park are not new technology, they threaten the existing ecosystem of the park. As we support increased park development, we should not be so excited that we forget the impact of new amenities on the natural landscape. Environmental engineers in particular need to monitor that development provides benefits to humans but also lessen its impacts on existing ecosystems.
Article: “Will blue herons be harmed by lake access expansion?” from Hickory Daily Record on October 6 https://www.hickoryrecord.com/hdr/will-expansion-of-lake-access-impact-nesting-of-great-blue/article_6bc28bf3-5f82-5bab-9694-892cfc2b784c.html