Otters, Ravens, and Geese

I moved from the city out into the country last fall. I have a spot on the Androscoggin River. At one time it was one of the most polluted waters in the US. Edmund Muskie, a great Senator, grew up on this river too, and it was due in no small part to his hard work that the Clean Water Act was passed in the early 1970's. Thirty years on, that piece of "government interference" with the "freedom" of paper companies to dump whatever they wanted into the river has made this river reasonably clean and full of life. I stood on the banks this evening and listened to my raven friends talk to each other while tending their communal nest, I watched my Canada Goose friend patrolling the shore to defend his nest from my otter friend who could probably use an egg or two for supper.

I first discovered the otter family this winter while snowshoeing down the river. I understand that they are very sensitive to water quality, so its a great sign that they now thrive. People need to live and thrive and have good union jobs at the papermills, but we need to do it in a way that allows our other compatriots to live and thrive too. The Clean Water Act has shown that this is possible. There are still at least three working mills up river from me, but they don't wreck like they used to. Regulation of industry by the people (our elected representatives) is not necessarily a bad thing. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.