Endangered Species Protection

Recovering wildlife helps people as well as plants and animals

You don't have to be a birdwatcher to be familiar with the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Thought to have become extinct decades ago, the bird caused a stir in February 2005 with the electrifying news that it had been rediscovered in the forests of Arkansas. Although not all ornithologists agree that the bird sighted was indeed an ivory-bill, there is widespread acceptance of the value of conserving its habitat. This rich wildlife area has long boosted tourism by attracting birdwatchers and other recreationists, including waterfowl hunters.

To different degrees, about 1,285 plants and animals — listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act — in the U.S. face extinction though the vast majority are in far better shape than the ivory-bill.

But sadly those numbers refer to just America's imperiled wildlife. More than 1,500 species, for example, are listed and protected under Australian law. You don't have to be a plant or animal lover to want to save species because if you know your science, you'll know that recovering species benefits humans, too.

What has the ivory-billed woodpecker ever done for me?

In addition to compelling ethical or spiritual arguments for bringing species back from brink of extinction, there are simple utilitarian reasons: functional and integrated ecosystems provide invaluable services on which people depend.  Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife conservation in America, said it best: "To keep every cog and wheel is the first rule of intelligent tinkering."

Good conservation protects not only the habitats of plants and animals; it also protects the forests, grasslands, croplands, wetlands, streams, rivers, estuaries, and oceans upon which we all depend for clean air, clean water, crops, livestock and fish. So when we protect species, we’re actually protecting ourselves.

Furthermore, native species are the building blocks of ecological communities, and the diversity of species is the basis of the future evolution of communities and ecosystems as well as of new species. Preserving the greatest array of native plant and animal species will improve the ability of natural systems to respond to man-made and natural change over the next century.  That, too, will benefit people.

Only by conserving wild lands and open spaces, the bulk of which is owned by farmers, ranchers, and family forest owners will it be possible to maintain the proper function of these vital, natural ecosystems.

How do we help recover wildlife at risk of extinction?

Most imperiled wildlife is threatened with habitat loss. By protecting and restoring native forests, grasslands, wetlands and other ecosystems, we can ensure that the species that depend upon those natural areas are protected.

During much of the twentieth century, conservation efforts in the United States focused on the government acquiring land in order to preserve threatened pieces of natural systems — plants and animals, species, and communities. Rocky mountain elk, brown pelicans, bald eagles, red-cockaded woodpeckers, bison, and myriad others are among the many rare and sensitive species that have benefited from such representative preservation.

While land acquisition will remain a vital tool for conservation, there is growing recognition that we can’t acquire enough land to be successful as the government doesn’t have the resources to do so.  Moreover, many lands simply aren’t for sale.

Therefore, we need to work with private landowners — farmers, ranchers, forest landowners — to help them conserve and manage their lands in ways that benefit animals, plants, and natural ecosystems.  Doing so, will help us “protect every cog and wheel” and maintain ecosystems for the benefit of wildlife and people.

Posted: 04-May-2006; Updated: 04-May-2006