This was something I've always pondered when it comes to waterfalls. I always ask myself this question as a test to see if this hobby is nothing more than a collection of sightings that no one cares about or if there's a deeper meaning to it all. Through our waterfalling experiences I certainly feel like I see the big picture on how the world works and how waterfalls enabled me to open my mind enough to gain this perspective. But am I blowing this out of proportion? Is there something else I ought to be focusing my leisure time on?While I've written blogs and articles addressing what waterfalls mean to myself and my wife and why we think the activity of waterfalling is great all around for our health as well as all the benefits that come with it, you'll always get skeptics and pundits who look at waterfalls in a way that can be harvested or harnessed for other uses. There are also those who are indifferent to waterfalls and prefer to immerse themselves in artificial pleasures to pass time. It kinda made me wonder whether our love for waterfalls puts us in the minority when compared to the rest of the population.
When Julie and I were touring the Federal Hall on Wall St. in Lower Manhattan, New York, we saw the different ways waterfalls were viewed in that monument alone! It was a very unlikely place to be finding waterfalls and yet there they were... in the annals of American History! In one of the interpretive displays devoted to Alexander Hamilton (perhaps one of the most influential people ever on America and even the world), we read that the Passaic River Falls were looked upon as a source of power. On the other hand, we saw a 1938 travel poster of a waterfall drawn by Harry Herzog promoting America's National Parks - possibly one of the earliest works of the promotion of nature for the purposes of tourism. I wondered why he chose a waterfall as his subject but there it was. Surely it was an important aspect of National Parks promotion as far as Mr. Herzog was concerned. All this proved to us that waterfalls were just as meaningful, albeit polarizing, during the early years of America as they do now. Surely this must indicate that waterfalling and the preservation of waterfalls must have some importance, right?
In any case, you will always have people looking to exploit nature for sustainability and profit as well as those who seek its preservation. Unfortunately, history tells us that exploitation wins out more often than not and this usually results in its destruction. We know how waterfalls are indicative of the health of the environment, but I shudder to think about what will happen to waterfalls in the long term (let alone the environment).
But while they're around, I figure we mind as well enjoy them as long as they're here and do what we can to keep them around - whether it's by active conservation, promoting them as natural attractions, protesting their destruction, whatever...
I do know waterfalls are important to my wife and I. We can't make everyone else like them even though their future looks bleak for as long as most of the population (at least the most influential people) remain indifferent to them. I can only hope our love for nature and especially waterfalls is infectious and spreads from a grass roots level.
So in the end, do waterfalls matter? I guess it depends on who you talk to. You know where we stand on this question. What about you?
