Billowing smoke stacks, mass oil spills, uprooted trees and green space, gas over coal, carbon foot prints, the panic over Global Warming, cars built faster and stronger, technology smarter and more convenient.
Yes, it's the 21st century, an era defined by industry and technology.
And of course, we're in a period rich in convenience and no doubt, these sectors have progressed to give us, humans, what we desire: for everything in life to be better, faster, stronger.
A sad consequence, many would argue, is that intangible goals and desires have wreaked havoc on what is more real than anything, our planet.
Nature. Wetlands. Habitats.
But it's just the natural progression of industry over environment and no one understands that more than David Atamanchuk, a conservation specialist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC).
A 25-year veteran of DUC, Atamanchuk has witnessed much disintegration in Western Canada's landscape, a lot of which, he says, can be attributed to agricultural practices like mass production farming in the form of bigger equipment.
"But you can't blame the farmer," Atamanchuk says. "It's just how things are nowadays. It had to happen."
Still, Atamanchuk works tirelessly with DUC and its Humboldt committee to restore drained wetlands into habitat, erect interpretive signs and, with the help of Larry Durand, an agrologist, turn areas overrun with weeds into hay land.
It's all in an effort to preserve green space for waterfowl and other animals.
"What we put back is a small fraction of what we lose," Atamanchuk says.
But their efforts are not in vain.
DUC has completed 8,880 habitat projects and conserved 6.2-million acres of wetlands, according to their website.
Atamanchuk himself has worked on the pilgrim project, which restored 20 drained wetlands, and the Klashinsky project, which took place five miles outside Humboldt.
DUC transformed the wetlands into an interpretive station for people to come and observe various waterfowl, with school children from neighbouring communities visiting the site through DUC's Wetlands are Wonderlands program.
And the organization also worked on the Reineke project last year, turning space bought from Linda and Roger Reineke into wetland plugs and native land.
Atamanchuk says they're seeing an increasing number of families donating farming acreages to DUC for conservation. Sometimes it bugs the hell out of other farmers who'd like to expand on the land but Atamanchuk is the first to point out that DUC and farmers are not always contentious rivals.
"A lot of the time, we put our conservation areas out to tender for farmers. The farmer with the winning bid gets to utilize the land agriculturally and in turn, it benefits the wildlife in that pasture, with cattle grazing and hay lands being erected," he says.
Atamanchuk also says that DUC will hire farmers to seed and spray crops in their conservation plots.
"Both sides benefit," Atamanchuk says.
DUC is constantly forging ahead on their projects but Atamanchuk says they owe much of their success to the volunteers on the organization's Humboldt committee, pointing out a lack of funds after the economy began falling through in 2008.
"We rely heavily on our committees and they always rise to the challenge," he says.
The organization's fundraising arm in the Humboldt committee has been around for nearly 30 years. Every few years, DUC takes the volunteers to the various projects around the area that the committee helped fund.
A little token of thanks.
And like other members of DUC, Atamanchuk always has his sights set on the future, including the upcoming generation.
That's why he's happy to announce that after a much-too-long hiatus, DUC will be partnering with the Humboldt Wildlife Federation to host Green Wing Day on Aug.13.
For children ages 6-12, the day will include outdoorsy activities like horseback riding, archery, airboat rides and geo-caching and even building a birdhouse.
Open to children from all over surrounding communities, it's an effort to get kids experiencing the outdoors and appreciating what nature has to offer.
Atamanchuk hopes they'll learn that these activities are all done through the beauty of nature and that "everyone can do their part" to preserve the ecosystem.
It's a noble mindset to instil in our youth.
According to DUC's website, 70 per cent of North America's waterfowl migrate to Saskatchewan, with 14-million breeding ducks just in the Prairie Pothole Region alone.
But the organization says the province loses 28 acres of wetlands per day.
So DUC is always looking for help, whether in the form of volunteers or monetary donations and Atamanchuk encourages anyone interested in joining the Humboldt committee, or donating land for conservation, to contact ducks.ca for more information.
To register your child for Green Wing Day, contact Lynn Stammen at [email protected].
