I moved to Wilmington, NC in the autumn of ‘04. I had been there once before to visit the town that I would soon be moving to. I did the usual things a tourist would do in a beach town. I went to the local surf spots, checked out the bars even though I was only 19 and looked to see what people did in a beach town for fun. Well soon enough I was back in rural NY waiting to find out if I got accepted as a transfer student to UNCW. And sometime during that long summer of working in a beer warehouse from sun up to sun down a letter arrived. I had been accepted and would be trading the North for the South at least for the next 3 years. I settled in quickly and got my bearings about me. For the whole first year I didn’t own a car and had to ride my bike 2 miles along I-40 to get to class, every class. The day finally came though when I purchased my own vehicle, a 1987 4runner. I started venturing out into the surrounding areas around Wilmington. I soon saw what was to become the bane of my stay here. Progress some call it, development of economically valuable lands. In the time here I’ve seen more deforestation and complete obliteration of natural habitat it’s hard to recall. The idea of taking before and after shots of these development sites once occurred to me because there was so much of it going on. It wasn’t until a section of land next to my apartment had to be cleared for a Costco and the road widened with it that it really struck home. For the first year I took a bit of satisfaction in knowing that there was still some land nobody had flattened and covered up with blacktop near me. I know you might be thinking, hey idiot your apartment used to be forest and was timbered and cleared so you and a thousand other college students could dwell, get drunk and go swimming naked in the pool at 3a.m. because your drunk buddy dared you to. That’s when it struck me, that we are all a part of the problem even the people that want to stop this so called progress. After I got my car I used to drive when I got bored, it killed time and there was a lot of the old town left that hadn’t been torn down that I wanted to see. Wilmington has thrived as a port city for hundreds of years, and it wasn’t until the last 20 that this unbridled growth has taken place. We all see it, florida for example or even out west in states like Utah. I remember reading Edward Abbey go on for page after page against this “progress.” I can only laugh thinking what his reaction would be at the state of development in today’s world.
Soon enough though places I’d seen with still forested land started slowly disappearing. It was honestly hard to keep up. It was almost as if the goal was to knock down every tree within the city limits. The contrast is what sets it apart though. If you drive outside of Wilmington you can find many small towns that still have that old southern “charm” to them. It could be the copper roofed homes, or the old men selling produce on the corners from the back of there 72′ ford pickups. This is what compels me to distrust and dislike the development of this beautiful place. Wilmington and the Southeast in general have a lot more to offer than just the beach. I myself rarely go to the beach, its usually overcrowded with people in a hurry to get skin cancer. Instead there are many wonderful state parks and marshes. Kayaking through these old cypress filled marshes is a treat. Whether it’s trying to steer clear of huge spider webs or being on the lookout for alligators it’s a lot of fun which hasn’t been spoiled by overcrowding or development. I’m sure within the near future however these marshes will either be home to condos for summer residents or completely drained and cleared for a new housing development with a catchy name like “Cypress Meadows.” Beyond all the development and greed there are a few jewels that lie a bit covered. Not too far from my house(I now live in a home, not an apartment) is a place called Fort Fischer State Recreational Area. It’s miles of beach that is completely untouched, well except for the SUV’s that have permits to drive up and down the beach. But in comparison this is a haven of environmental pride. Fort Fischer looks nothing like its overdeveloped counterparts, Wrightsville and Carolina beach. Instead you can find marshes full of fiddler crabs and grasses that are home to the crane as the tide rises and covers the mud. There are no four story condos or hotels named “Golden Sands,” instead there is only the sound of sea grasses brushing against each other in the wind and the occasional grasshopper whizzing by your knees. This is the beach I can enjoy. And were it not for the hotels and condos and sprawling overpriced housing developments I might be able to enjoy this town. I’m just a kid from New York farm country. I don’t know the biological effects of putting in gas stations and tract homes or the pollution increase per sq. mile. I only know that I enjoy the natural world and what it has to give. Unfortunately it is quickly being smothered in the pavement of progress. How long can this go on? How long will it continue? I don’t know, but I feel more Americans are being awakened to not just the over-development of the Southeast but the fragile and poor condition of the environment in general. Maybe this generation of mine will step forward to become the champions of the earth. But as look around at my fellow students, I don’t feel much hope. Instead of concern, I see a materialistic dependency on wearing the most expensive jeans and driving a new BMW their dad just bought for them. Maybe I’m being overly critical, I know not all of my generation is like this. Just as I know not all of the southeast will be developed. But with population on the rise and the general attitude and self absorption I see around me, I sometimes have doubt. However with no end in sight for development, I believe there needs to be ecologically sustaining developments. Instead of clearing the entire parcel of land, build within its contours. Keep natural elements so that the land can be both used by humans and nature alike. I hope that maybe some adventurous developer even takes steps in creating a completely energy self sufficient development where solar and wind could be used to almost wipe out any need for other energy. Though I know that isn’t yet cost efficient and I also know developers are there to make a profit, not to protect the environment. With one more semester to go before I graduate I hope to take my film degree and make a documentary about the rapid loss of land to overpopulation and tract homes. In an effort to bring awareness to this problem, maybe it will do some good. Though I alone with borrowed school equipment can’t make much of a film, but I hope there are people out there who will take those steps and try to bring awareness to this issue because it isn’t just in the Southeast. It is everywhere and shows no signs of slowing down. I hope one day I can make films to bring awareness to the environment. But I also know that if it weren’t for this problem I might have never made that decision. I feel it is important for everyone to contribute. Because even if you enjoy the outdoors, without protection one day it won’t be there. Instead you’ll have to strap on your 200 dollar timberland boots and hike down through “Long leaf Pine Acres” even though there won’t be any long leaf pines left.