Partner with Nature

Nature-as-model, biomimicry, is the gentle arm-twister that pulls us towards sustainability

These willows are an example of hyperaccumulator plants, that accelerate removal of pollutants from water. They thrive on BioHaven Floating Islands.

Here at the Shepherd, Montana research center, where BioHaven Floating Islands were born, we marvel at the result when we partner with Nature. We partner with autotrophic life forms, like hyper-accumulator plants that cycle exponentially more nutrients (and other contaminants) out of water than regular plants do. We design BioHavens to give these superstars of the plant kingdom the best possible growth conditions, to help us fix water!

Today we face a pandemic virus. And we don’t know where the end zone is. As a race, we will do our best to survive and thrive, but the reality is that we don’t know how to contend with every natural threat. We do know, however, that another massive threat is looming. Our fresh water has been hit with a triple punch…massive nutrient surges, inaction by uninformed water stewards, and climate change. The result is a form of desertification.

We must enlist Nature to work through this imminent pandemic. We must partner with Nature. She is willing. She is on our side.

Last night Anne and I fished one side of Fish Fry Lake, covering maybe a half-mile of its southern shoreline. We landed eight largemouth bass, and released one fish that was over 17 inches, large enough to forage on bluegill. The other seven smaller bass, the ones that focus on crawfish as forage, we kept. They will become larder for us, the trim for our canine support troops, and anything they won’t consume is biomass that goes back into crawfish and black crappie and Northern yellow perch that fill in critical niches of the Fish Fry Lake food web.

Fish Fry Lake is healthy and becoming more so as we cycle nutrients out of the lake. This is what it looks like to partner with nature. On an annual basis, we will harvest nutrients out of the lake at approximately the same level that they enter it. Last night we harvested nutrients in the form of fish. Tomorrow we will do so in the form of specific plants. This is stewardship.

Stewardship is not simple. It requires specialized expertise. If you don’t invest in actual science, you are not functioning to your greatest potential as a water steward. Likewise, if you don’t partner with nature as model.

Please contact FII. We will help you figure out what next steps you need to take. We will connect you and your water with an Island Master. We will support you as you move closer towards sustainable scientific solutions, towards Nature’s Model!