Created in 1972, the DC Comic Anti-Hero Swamp Thing tells a story about the conflict between humans and the environment. When making decisions about the natural world, Swamp Thing challenges our human-centered belief that we alone possess intrinsic value. Godzilla may be our dystopian climate change epiphany, as the monster we awakened in the sea stomps ashore; but as for embracing our wetlands to make our shore sustainable, the ecological Swamp Thing is the monster we need to heed.
I gotta come clean. For months I’ve resisted hiking the Watsonville wetland trails because I had a preconceived notion that they were nasty places, not meant for humans. There could be hidden creatures that slither and wiggle around your legs. Bugs, crawling and flying things that sting and bite. A step into a marshy place can have mud skoosh up around your foot and creates a sucking sound when you struggle to pull it out.
But I kept reading that wetlands, these swamps, play an enormous role is helping us with climate change. It didn’t take long for my stroll on the paths of the Watsonville wetlands to convince me how fundamental these damp, spongy places are to the struggling organism we call Earth. I’ve turned into a swamper.
What is Watsonville Slough like to hike?
It’s cool. You often walk under a heavy tree canopy, on wide, smooth dirt paths, along running creeks and winding rivers, by buzzing ponds, lakes ringed with dark pools of ferns and tulles. The feeling of peace I get when I stare at that slowly moving river turns off my brain. I imagine Huckleberry Finn and Jim drifting by on a raft. Here’s a river I could float away on. I’m pretty sure this is where Swamp Thing would live. The place feels vibrantly alive, every life form tuned in to every other. Walk beside these rivers, streams and swampy pools and you can feel how these wetlands are a source of ecological vitality. It is no surprise to learn that wetlands play a huge role in our ability to manage risks from climate change. They clean polluted water, they can store floodwaters, they can recharge groundwater, and they are essential habitat for keeping endangered species alive (ecology.wa.gov).
Regarding the “Drain the Swamp” crowd…
Since Ronald Reagan, conservative politicians have campaigned to “drain the swamp.” They don’t get it that to call the federal bureaucracy a swamp is an insult to swamps. Donald Trump wanted to “drain the swamp” so he could hire whatever he found at the bottom; that turned out to be climate change denier Scott Pruitt, whom Trump put in charge of the EPA. That’s like hiring The American Tower Corporation to run the California Coastal Commission. That’s why Swamp Thing is my preferred monster: he does not put up with anyone screwing with his wetland home.
Wetland turns out to be essential for our eco-system and is one mid-range solution to “coastal squeeze.” Santa Cruz County Planner David Carlson tells me that coastal squeeze is when structures, like sea walls, prevent natural coastal habitats from migrating inland as sea levels rise. Passive erosion is how beaches stay alive; you gotta have erosion if you want your beach. Restoring our wetland is a natural way to absorb flooding from sea level rise and makes our coast more resilient.
Here is what is happening in Watsonville: the $599 million Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project is designed to give 100-year flood protection to Pajaro and Watsonville. Barry Baker of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County says, “Wetlands work for controlling flooding by absorbing floodwater and by allowing more space for the water to flood takes pressure off upstream resources” (South Bay News, CBS).
Gary Griggs, a distinguished professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, wrote in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “The ocean is a thread in the background, trying to push onto the land, and we try to push it back. Native people didn’t have hotels or malls, they just migrated.”
Beach Flats in Santa Cruz used to be a wetland at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. The Awaswas Nation (Ohlone) lived here for 12,000 years and understood that wetlands are a critical working part of the whole. Geomorphologist Dr. David Revell said, “The ocean is the most powerful force on the planet; why would we pick a fight with it? It’s going to be rising for the next several thousand years, and to hold a line in the sand is crazy. We need to ask, ‘How do we get out of the way?’”
Walking in Swamp Thing’s Footsteps
I park in the Harkins-Slough Road parking lot at the south end of Ramsay Park, 1301 Main St., Watsonville. Harkins Slough is the largest and most north-reaching slough in the Watsonville system (watsonvillewetlandswatch.org). I walk into the park to find massive earth moving projects, construction is everywhere. This 26-acre Community Park is going to become the center of south county; what they are building is amazing. It’ll have a baseball/softball field, basketball courts, a bicycle pump track, children’s and tots’ playgrounds, a family center, tennis courts, volleyball courts, a skate park, soccer field, and access to the trails and the levee. The Watsonville Slough Connector Trail Project at Ramsay Park will establish urban trails within the park and add a trail between Main Street and Harkins Slough.
Just 50 steps away from the Ramsay parking lot I encounter a houseless guy camped out in a big blue tent. He has a solar panel above the tent. He is camping in an unauthorized place, and will not let me photograph him, but he says that he is a wetlands scientist immersing himself in the environment he’s studying. I ask him if there is a spirit in the swamp.
“There is a spirit here and it moves at night on two legs.”
OK, so he is crazy and houseless … but still, the guy has a solar panel hanging over his tent.
The Watsonville Wetlands and Godzilla Rising
Godzilla is our dystopian epiphany, an embodiment of the revelation that by destroying natural balance with CO2 emissions we have awakened a monster that has arrived upon our shores. In our time of climate change, Godzilla is the perfect monster to represent the consequences of our actions.
Godzilla treats us and our communities with the same distain we do. Now when we see the giant beast rise out of the ocean and trudge toward the shore, we bear the weight of a lifetime of missed chances to do something. As the hot air burns our lungs, we wonder why we didn’t do more, or why we didn’t do fucking anything.
That’s why I see Swamp Thing as our redemptive monster. A living embodiment of power and truth in our environment, Swamp Thing protects both us and the environment, from each other. He shows us how to get out of the way. The Awaswas Nation who lived here migrated, and eventually so will we.
According to Watsonville’s city website, these are the top 5 reasons to visit the wetlands of Watsonville:
• Great spot for birding with over 220 species of birds.
• One of the largest remaining freshwater wetlands in the Central Coast of California.
• Over seven miles of walking, biking, and jogging trails for the whole family with 29 easily accessible trail entrances.
• Diverse wildlife to discover, including muskrats, bobcats and tree frogs.
• Free guided nature Walks offered every Sunday through the City Nature Center located in the back of Ramsay Park at 30 Harkins Slough Road
Watsonville Wetlands hiking info: With a total 8.3-mile point-to-point trail near Watsonville, it’s lowland flat, a popular trail for mountain biking, running and walking. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome and may be off leash in some areas.
