Streams of Consequence: Dispatches from the Conservation World

(Paperback)

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A collection of essays highlighting the splendour and diversity of the landscape of southern Alberta.

Streams of Consequence weaves together a bit of ecology for dummies, a cross-section of stories and essays on Albertas biodiversity riches and treasured landscapes, and a backdrop of selections on conservation issues. These are stories of the land and of Albertas plants, fish, and wildlife told through the voice of a biologist with decades of experience on the front lines of conservation efforts. Through stories, metaphor, and allegory, basic ecological principles are made clear, ecosystems are described, and our human role in stewarding these natural treasures is revealed.

Infused in these dispatches from the conservation world is the special magic of biology, taking mute organisms at a variety of scales and understanding their lives and habitats so that they have meaning and a connection to us. The role, the unstated objective of biologists, is to remind us, unceasingly, that it is only in our minds that we live apart from the natural world.

These stories have power to engage and educate, to help create and sustain an ecologically literate constituency that knows and cares about Albertas wilder side. Readers can look back on the changes, weigh their significance, and think about where we came from, where we are today, and where the trend might take us if we choose one road or another.

There are some rocks heaved at our economy-centred, consumer-driven world. Scattered between them are the acts of altruism, of caring, of forethought, and of stewardship. These are rays of hope amid dark clouds threatening our very existence.

Reviews

Lorne Fitch, prophet, biologist, defender of the Rocky Mountain Front, is at his best here, speaking for the cutthroat trout, the woodland caribou and especially his beloved trout streams. The impassioned, often wry and sometimes poetic essays in this collection are an inspiration for anyone who cares about where they live. Trevor Herriot, author of Grass, Sky, Song and River in a Dry Land

Whether writing about cutthroat trout, kissing frogs or the hare-footed locoweed, Lorne Fitch knows how to tell a tale, both long and short. He writes with the wit of Mark Twain, the wisdom of Wendell Berry and the fury of Edward Abbey. So God bless him and this terrific book of essays on things that really matter to Albertans. Andrew Nikiforuk, award-winning Canadian journalist, investigative writer and author of numerous bestselling books

Lorne Fitch is not only a superbly competent biologist; he is also a visionary. Lornes understanding and perspective on nature transcends any mechanistic worldview. For him the living world is not only a stream of consequence but also a stream of positive consciousness and sentience. A masterful storyteller, Fitch brings the natural world alive with a joy so irrepressible and contagious that you cannot but have hope for the future. Read this wonderful book and be inspired by how you too can act to create a better world! Robert William Sandford, author of Vanishing Glaciers: The Snows of Yesteryear and the Future Climate of the Mountain West, Storm Warning: Water and Climate Security in a Changing World and numerous other books

Every Albertan who cares one whit about the future of our natural landscapes and the critters who live there should put Streams of Consequence on their must-read list. Lorne Fitch writes from the heart. And as a biologist for half a century, he also writes from a solid basis in scientific principles, shored up by the compelling ethics behind those principles. This is a highly literary call to action to Albertans to conserve Albertas wild places and wild creatures, expressed through a combination of easily understood science with a leavening of understated wit. Bruce Masterman, journalism instructor, editor, journalist and author of the bestselling One Last Cast

Author Bio

Lorne Fitch has been a biologist for over 50 years. He has criss-crossed the province, learned the landscape, investigated fish and wildlife populations, and engaged with ranchers, farmers, industry, and bureaucrats over conservation. His insights are the result of much scar tissue. Lorne is a professional biologist, a retired provincial fish and wildlife scientist, and a former adjunct professor at the University of Calgary. He is also the co-founder of the riparian stewardship initiative called Cows and Fish. For his work on conservation he has been part of three Alberta Emerald awards, an Alberta Order of the Bighorn Award, and a Canadian Environmental Gold Award, with additional recognition from The Wildlife Society, the Society for Range Management, the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Alberta Wilderness Association. Lorne lives in Lethbridge, Alberta.