a permit, a shovel and a bit of elbow grease

Excerpt from the book Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen

"I save orchids for a living. That's what I do. I know there are people out there that would like to take me down and take me down hard, because they just can't tolerate the thought that there might be a simple solution to the problem. I own three shovels and The Beast, and as long as I can pull my permits and get landowners' permission I'm going to be walking ditches, digging plants, and wrestling root balls. The experts can debate their cutting-edge conservation theories all they like. I don't begrudge them, but I'll let you in on a little secret. You see over there where the peat field meets the forest? That's what I call the cutting edge. It's coming in this direction and the best way to save an orchid around here is with a permit, a shovel, and a bit of elbow grease."

As told by Tom Nelson (An Orchid Rescue person from MN) to Eric Hansen.

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I was absolutely thrilled to read Tom Nelson's story. All he does for living is to rescue Orchids and that too  with his own money. All through the story I was thinking how many people show this kind of commitment? His passion for Orchids and saving them has no boundaries. 

There are people who write theories, there are people who just read them, there may be a few people who understand and follow them, and there are only a handful of people who actually do practice them on the field when it comes to conservation.

Srik

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