Environment in Truro is the driving force in our lives here – it is the one thing we all have in common. Protecting it protects us all.
Truro is, and has long been, a location of environmental splendor. Its open space, wild dunes, kettle ponds, rivers, beaches, farms and forests constitute its most valuable assets, promoting an economy largely based on active tourism, peaceful holiday stays, and artistic appreciation. Its environment, like the environment at large, can too easily be taken for granted as a natural reality that will persist, provided it receives rudimentary stewardship.
OneTruro includes more than people.
This notion is based on the reasonable perception that the environment is a collection of separate elements to appreciate and protect – the air, the water, the shoreline, the plants and the animals. However, when we compartmentalize these components and consider their protection in isolation it is easy to miss that the environment is an interconnected and interdependent system of living and non-living elements. We cannot protect the water unless we protect the land. We cannot protect the air without protecting the water. We cannot protect our health without protecting it all.
Our Choices. Our Impact.
Everything we do on the land affects our varied water bodies, the species that live in them, which in turn affect the air quality. Everything we do in our gardens affects the ground water, which runs into the rivers and the estuaries that filter air and water, and serve as nurseries for fish and essential microorganisms. Each tree we remove affects the quality of the air and reduces, ever so slightly, the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, and any way in which we damage the ocean greatly reduces its major role in absorbing that same atmospheric carbon. In short, we cannot affect anything without affecting everything else in some way and shifting the ecological balance, on which all living things depend. Thankfully, nature is very good at rebalancing after disturbances, but only as long as the disturbances are not overwhelming or persistent. Climate change, species losses, and the pollution of many Truro ponds are examples of the consequences we see as a result of persistent and overwhelming disturbances to ecosystem balance.
Better Informed.
This is not to say that we should never take down a tree, build a home, or fertilize a garden – but it does say that we need to be informed and deeply thoughtful about the systemic consequences of our land-use decisions. We require leaders who understand their fundamental responsibility to protect the fragile ecosystem, on which Truro’s economic and physical health depend. We rely on town officials to think systemically and have the courage to amend projects – if necessary – based on an understanding and respect for environmental impact studies.
We Lead, Ourselves.
Moreover, just as the environment is a system, so too is the process of policymaking and town leadership. We, as citizens and stewards of our land – and our investment in it – must be informed and involved, as systemic thinkers who share our thoughts and concerns with our town officials, help them make the right decisions, and hold them accountable for their essential role in the stewardship of our environment – a responsibility that we share as an active, informed and caring citizenry.
Truro is embarking on a project which provides the perfect opportunity to illustrate this kind of leadership. The Walsh Property represents the largest land-use decision-making process for Truro in a very long time. Every decision regarding this 70-acre parcel in the heart of Truro will affect our water quality, the carbon in our air and soil, the plant and animal species currently residing in those forested acres, and ultimately, the health and well-being of the Town’s residents.
As a community, we are participating in developing the ideas, influencing the policy, and ultimately informing the implementation of this significant land use project for the best possible uses in Truro, for all of Truro.
