Removing rocks from the stream bed or stream edge to stack or throw can be aesthetically pleasing, but very damaging to the habitat you remove them from in both the short and long term. In the short term you are altering water currents, potentially speeding up certain areas and slowing down others which not only displaces wildlife in both of those areas, but may result in neither being suitable for habitation. It also creates a cascading effect in water flow, causing sediment to settle in areas of what is now slow flow and increasing erosion in areas of high speed flow. This disturbs the physical environment of the waterway, as well as its chemical (nutrient), chronological (change over time) development, and oxygenation.

In the long term, moving rocks brings about another issue, which is erosion. All waterways are shaped by erosion, and a rule in geology is the bigger the rock, the more force it takes to move. This rule is universal from boulders all the way down to individual clay particles. Your ability as a person to lift an even moderately sized rock has a monumental impact on the dynamics of the waterway. In some areas, a rock that may fit in just the palm of your hand might only be able to be moved by a once in a generation flood event. A stack of 3 or 4 of these rocks removes the equivalent of HUNDREDS of years of potential habitats, oxygen infusion into the water, or accelerates/decelerates the rate of erosion in the area you removed/added the rocks by hundreds of years. Simultaneously, you are impacting the riparian zone (edge of the waterway), an incredibly important habitat for terrestrial, aquatic, and amphibious plant and animal life. Changes erosion at the edge of a stream, river, or lake impact the whole body of water in all of the same ways as listed above.

Knowing when not to intervene is an equally important aspect of being a good steward to your natural environment as knowing when to intervene. Let nature do it’s thing and you’ll have even more beauty to enjoy when you are surrounded by it

    • ElmLion [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I would chop down a bush. I would pick like, some square metres of flowers if I particularly wanted that many wildflowers.

      Again, these are low-impact, low-scale events. If it was a super popular thing to do either in my locality then obviously it starts being a problem. But until then, one-offs like that are not meaningfully impactful. Invasive species are a whole other ballgame that very obviously can impact entire continents.

        • ElmLion [any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          That is absolutely not a bad reason, so long as you're correct in saying it. Context is absolutely critical in whether something is good or bad.

          Would you step on a blade of grass? Of course you would.

          Would you step on a blade of grass if all other grass in the world had been stepped on and died and it was the last plant that was vital to revitalising all of Earth? Different question.

          In my whole life of wilderness trekking, I have never once seen somebody stack rocks like that. If I did it, the impact on local life would likely be compeltely unmeasurable. If everyone did it, it would be a bigger deal with bigger impact that may need responses, obviously - but this is true of literally any action ever.

        • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Sometimes you can be pretty confident that you're gonna be the only person that will ever move a rock in your general vicinity, but then you'll see a herd of bighorn sheep run by and kick a bunch of rocks loose. Fuck! This rock moving is out of control!

          Seriously, depending on where you are you are probably not contributing to a real problem when you move a rock.

            • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Sure, don't stack rocks in the crowded city park in downtown Boulder, CO. Of course, the damage there is already done, so moving some rocks literally doesn't matter. I'm actually responding to the idea that you can't possibly know if a bunch of people are gonna come to a particular place and tear it up. The truth is you can usually know.

              Treating the wild world in general like you're walking on eggshells is not helpful. Don't step on the crypto soil, but pick up and touch and explore everything else. Have a campfire. Make your relationship with the earth tangible. If the wild places are just an abstraction you're never going to fight for them.

                • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  There's a creek througha park in downtown Boulder full of stacked rocks. Also, considet having a campfire any time of year, but always be cautious.