A prairie behind Sam's Club

conservation on the edge of consumerism

I love hiking. Living in the natural state, there is no shortage of options. A ninety-minute drive to the Buffalo River will quench the thirst for Ozark wonder, but that’s not always feasible. Thankfully, I live in a city that vehemently supports environmental stewardship and outdoor recreation and there are many trails to explore closer to home.

A couple months ago, a friend posted a picture of a newly open-to-the-public nature preserve. The next morning, I loaded the boys in the car and plugged the address into Google maps. “Ten minutes away…” I was puzzled. “Where is there a 120-acre prairie preserve just 10 minutes away?”

You’d think a large prairie in the middle of a suburban landscape would be quite obvious; that you had driven by it at least a few times before; that over the course of the ten-year restoration period undertaken by the local land trust, you would have noticed an expanse of wetlands lush with native grass and spring-fed streams and oak savannah flanked by a Target and car dealership parking lots bare from supply chain disruption.

“I hope this is taking me to the right place…” I muttered under my breath, in between fielding requests from my toddler for water (thrown on the floorboard of the car), goldfish crackers (also on the floorboard), and to play “Beatles music mommy!!!!!!!” (I somehow got the little guy to watch part of the Get Back documentary— one of my greatest parenting achievements— and his favorite song is currently “Don’t Let Me Down”.)

As the map navigation brought us closer and closer to the trailhead, my confusion grew. It was taking us to the Sam’s Club parking lot. “Surely that’s not it.” I passed the parking lot entrance and continued down the road. The map redirected me to turn around. I kept driving, looking for a pull-off or a parking lot for a trailhead to no prevail. I began to consider other options for the morning… there was a great park nearby. But as I turned the car around and re-approached Sam’s Club, Google once again reminded me to turn in. I decided to check it out. 

Sure enough, lining the leftmost aisle of the parking lot, was a field of native plants with foliage displaying all the colors of early fall: blushing yellow, amber red, some still peaking green. There were parking lot spaces dedicated for nature preserve visitors — all empty — while the remainder of the parking lot bustled with activity.

I pulled into a spot, still somewhat confused.

What a juxtaposition.

Usually when I am in this parking lot, I am bracing myself, running through a pre-shop pep talk: “We’re here for toilet paper, protein powder, and disposable razors (I know, I know). Maybe some samples and a bag of mangoes. Nothing else.” Every time I’ve been lured into an impulse purchase at Sam’s Club, it has resulted in regret. Like the time two summers ago when they launched a collaboration with Gap and I picked up a pair of shorts — dyed pink — that ruined several items in the wash (even on cold!) or that time I bought a pound of provel cheese in hopes of replicating my native St. Louis-style pizza. Just nope.

But on this day, at nearly the same location, my children and I wandered unhurriedly in meadowy grasses and wildflowers. Deep in the thick of habitat, I could still see the brown bricks of the adjacent warehouse retailer, and every once in a while, a startling sound would emerge from one of the several eighteen-wheelers unloading a replenishment of merchandise.

“What’s that?” My son would inquire. “A truck,” I’d respond. “But I don’t see it…” he persisted.

The line between conservation and consumerism was very thin.

Decades of fire suppression and lack of large grazing herbivores (such as bison and elk who once roamed the land), along with land conversion for agriculture and urban growth, led to the excessive overgrowth of woody vegetation and invasive, non-native plants. Many thanks to the Northwest Arkansas land trust who, over a decade, restored this wet prairie land and opened it up to the broader community.

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Every Thursday I post a short, low-edited thought about consumer culture and/or conscious consumerism. Thank you for allowing me to share my observations!