^{I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm experimenting with writing reports using the Haibun form interlaced with haiku or senryu. Not all will be like this, but I would like to hear your feedback.}

When man continues to destroy nature, he saws the very branch on which he sits since the rational protection of nature is at the same time the protection of mankind

— Gerald Durrell

We watch life flow in abundance in the rivers of Montana. Trophy trout dart back and forth as the sun sets behind the mountain tops. Before the last flicker of golden red rays upon the waters, life leaps from below the surface. In unison, the fish catch their evening meal as they await a new day.

remote river beds
no humans disrupt her sleep
corporations kill

— wiv, senryu

But under the glass like river lies an aquatic fate. Oxygen leaches into the sky as algae brings death. Emerald green fibers fill the once clear river beds. Life no longer swims, it floats under the summer’s heat. The smell of rotted flesh saturates the air. Nutrients from farm fertilizer, industrial waste, improperly treated sewage, pet waste and other toxins pollute her shores.

Montana rivers
politics flow with the times
the habitat dies

— wiv, senryu

Lawsuits become the swords of justice. Toxins fill one third of the state’s river. Tourism declines, the scene from “A River Runs Through It” becomes a distant memory. Where families once gathered with children ready to swim in the waters of Yellowstone, and where fishermen prepared for the first catch of the season, erased.

history repeats
Indians wiped off the map
goodbye Montana

— wiv, senryu

In a blink of an eye, the EPA puts Montana on a crash course back into the dark ages.

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References

NA. 2022. “Conservation Groups Petition the State of Montana to Protect Gallatin River - Upper Missouri Waterkeeper®.” March 31, 2022. https://www.uppermissouriwaterkeeper.org/conservation-groups-petition-the-state-of-montana-to-protect-gallatin-river/.

AP. 2022. “EPA Fails to Protect Montana Rivers from Pollution.” Minotdailynews.Com (blog). March 26, 2022. https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/national-news-apwire/2022/03/epa-fails-to-protect-montana-rivers-from-pollution/.

I knew a guy that worked for the EPA and he would constantly tell me stories about how the EPA is not in the business of protecting the environment but rather, in the business of taking money out of the public coffers and putting it into private pockets. There is a story out there and I think it was in Colorado where they were charged with sealing old mines of some sort and ended up contaminating a major fresh water source for decades after the fact.

He suggested that this was by design so that the EPA could extend this project and spend more money to put into private companies pockets since the EPA doesn't actually do any of their own work.... they just dictate to contractors and throw money at them.

Montana Rivers in Ruin, And No One Seems To Care

References