Smith College has recently announced the construction of a new building for the Lazarus Center for Career Development and the Wurtele Center for Leadership, which is set to be built on a hillside overlooking Paradise Pond. In response to this announcement, many students have taken to social media to discuss the validity of the project. Arguments have been raised, suggesting that the funds for this new building could be more effectively utilized to address internal issues within the college, such as broken elevators and insufficient professor salaries. While there are a multitude of reasons to question the necessity and efficiency of the new Lazarus Center, I would like to introduce an additional critique from a conservation standpoint.
Simply put, construction is noisy. We humans might be used to the sounds of power drills, hammering, and heavy machinery, but the woodland creatures who call Northampton home experience much harsher consequences. Many people don’t consider or recognize noise pollution as a powerful force that wreaks havoc on wildlife, their mental well-being and ecosystem functions. As reported by Anglia Ruskin University, research shows that when subjected to excessive noise pollution, wild animals suffer from a multitude of issues like “chronic stress, fertility problems” and change to their “migration routes in response to noise.”. It is also important to mention that noise pollution not only negatively affects wildlife but also confined animals, including the many service pets that are housed with Smith students. Even vibrations from construction, inaudible to humans, can harm wildlife by affecting their internal organs. The conservation of wildlife near and around Smith College doesn’t feel like it is s a top priority, and while there may be understandable reasons for this, we should also examine why we don’t consider wildlife important.
Smith students might see squirrels racing across Chapin lawn or scrounging the ground for food. While squirrels are a cute sight for a passing student, they play an important ecological role in forests. When squirrels pick up nuts, they bury them in the soil so they can return to them later. However, many of these seeds stay buried as squirrels cannot remember where they placed them. This process works effectively as seed dispersal for trees with squirrels being integral to new tree growth. This process introduces new trees to forest communities and helps increase the species abundance of a forest. While this might not be important for the integrated lawns of Smith College, it’s certainly important for the forest community next to Paradise Pond, which is directly across the site for the new building. In addition to helping forest ecosystems thrive, squirrels are also an important source of food for the birds of prey found in Northampton.
We also should consider the role birds play not only in forest ecosystems but on our campus. Birds themselves are important pollinators, which Smith College should value as the lush flowers and plants found across Smith’s campus certainly need pollinators like birds to help them thrive. Bird excrement is an important fertilizer for ecosystems and birds themselves act as pest exterminators for humans. By keeping insect populations in check, birds are ensuring that spring at Smith College is beautiful rather than unbearable. While birds are extremely beneficial to the environment and humans, noise pollution can drive bird populations away and alter their natural migration routes. For the bird populations that do not leave their habitat, the constant stress and disturbance of construction sounds negatively affect their ability to survive and reproduce. With all the benefits bird populations offer to both humans and the ecosystem, we shouldn’t be eager to drive them away.
Prioritizing the well-being of the species with whom we coexist is a value that we need to encourage. I don’t expect Smith College to scrap its construction plans on behalf of birds and squirrels, but I do think they should take more steps in the future to evaluate the impact their choices have on the ecological communities around them.
