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Wagamaga OP t1_j47xang wrote

National parks are the backbone of conservation. Yet mounting evidence shows that many parks are too small to sustain long-term viable populations and maintain essential, large-scale ecological processes, such as large mammal migrations and natural disturbance regimes.

A new study published on Jan. 11, 2023, in Scientific Reports found that enhancing ecological connectivity, known as “corridors” or “linkages,” among several of the oldest and largest national parks in the Western United States would greatly extend the time that many mammal species populations can persist. The authors analyzed the value of establishing ecological corridors for large mammals between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks and between Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks. Their findings show that these corridors would not only enlarge populations, but also allow species to shift their geographic ranges more readily in response to climate change.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-26428-z

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Archaris t1_j49hy0z wrote

High-tension power lines and natural gas pipelines already cut swathes across the landscape; it'd be great if those same corridors could be naturalized with native species that support year-round wildlife instead of thistles and thorns to deter interlopers.

Imagine if landowners along these corridors were given some financial incentive (infrastructure bill) to regrow some hardwoods like hickory and oaks like US used to have all over the place.

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mehraaza t1_j4alqnh wrote

I actually work with these exact issues but in Sweden!

Here the corridors that infrastructure creates are utilized to increase connectivity between fields and open grasslands, which is a type of nature that's increasingly scarce here. The power line infrastructures clear any trees over a certain height to ensure safety and maintenance, but the grass and shrubbery is managed to promote habitats for insects, small birds, and endangered flora that likes open grasslands. This is possible because the power grid is state owned for the most part, and the state is responsible for the maintenance and not the land owner.

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avitar35 t1_j4c2s62 wrote

I think the only thing we would need for a corridor in WA from NCNP to RNP is an animal crossing across Highway 2, 20, and 410. That is very doable.

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boonlinka t1_j4agge0 wrote

National Parks are rooted in displacing Indigenous people, the communities who have been sheppards and protectors of nature for centuries. Theyre definitely NOT founded for the purpose of perserving the environment because if it was, they would have lef the land much more untouched with its Native people still living off the land. I’d suggest doing more research on early conservationist’s stances on Native Americans and the exploitable potential for the land they were living on and conserving.

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bogvapor t1_j4caqk9 wrote

Native Americans fucked the land up in their own ways too. They burned down forests for corn production, dammed rivers, etc. etc.

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Freshiiiiii t1_j4co4u5 wrote

The small-scale controlled burns lit by indigenous people contributed to increases in the variation and ‘patchiness’ of the available environment, creating increased habitat diversity and increased abundance of berries and other plants that like to live in forest margins, which enriched the regions for bears, other large mammals, and humans too, while also decreasing severe high-intensity wildfire incidence. It’s really not at all comparable to what’s changed in the last 400 years.

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