For the week of April 17 - 23, 2002

‘Treasuring Our Natural Heritage’

IPTV series includes Idaho and local personalities

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

A Public Television series focusing on the biological diversity and natural heritage of the West airs next week and features more than two dozen Idahoans, including several local residents.

The three-part program will air Monday through Wednesday, April 22 through April 24, at 8 p.m. nightly on Idaho Public Television in conjunction with Earth Day.

The series provides insights into the diversity of living things and the relationships among species through stories about the natural world shot at locations across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The three episodes take viewers on a learning experience that moves from understanding to appreciating to conserving.

"Today, people have a great many questions about biological diversity," Paul Bochhorst, the series producer, said. "They look at the richness of the natural world and wonder why there are so many different organisms. They assume that with literally millions of species populating the Earth we can afford to lose some of them.

"At the same time, they wonder how much biological diversity is necessary to safeguard the health of our planet. ‘Treasuring Our Natural Heritage’ addresses those questions in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner. Through this series, viewers should be able to grasp the essentials of biodiversity in meaningful personal terms."

In the third episode, which will air April 24, former director of The Nature Conservancy of Idaho, Guy Bonnevier, and Silver-Creek-area ranchers Nick and Bud Purdy discuss how The Nature Conservancy worked together with local stakeholders to protect the ecosystem and water quality in the Silver Creek drainage.

"We looked for win-win situations, and they weren’t hard to find," Bonnevier says.

"Treasuring Our Natural Heritage" features a number of farmers and ranchers who are striving to conserve biological diversity through good stewardship. One is Neil Poulson, who is seen constructing a wetland on his farm in American Falls. In the specially built wetland, natural biological processes are used to removed agricultural chemicals from the farm’s runoff before it reaches a nearby reservoir.

Poulson is quick to link good stewardship with good business practices:

"Often times in the short run the way to make the most profit is not to worry about the environmental consequences of what one does. But, with any kind of long-range view, it’s not profitable to destroy things you need for inputs."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.