Graphics Coming Soon!

I tend to view ecology - especially what we know of pre-development ecology - 
as a marker of the combined influences of underlying geology and climate.  
Current ecology also includes the influence of Historic happenstance.  

Pre-development ecology is probably the best gauge of 'steady state' conditions 
- an average of the effects over hundreds of years.  
We know that Native Americans did impact the local ecology 
- and even managed it to some degree.  
But the effects of their practices did not have the magnitude 
or scope of what later settlers have done.