"What a country chooses to save is what a country chooses to say about itself.” — Mollie Beattie, former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (1947-1996)
The late Mollie Beattie (USFWS)
The federal Endangered Species Act was promulgated in 1973 in response to growing alarm over the impending loss of a number of iconic species including the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and gray wolf. The original legislation received an amazing 98 votes in the Senate and was signed into law by Richard Nixon.
Human-caused Acceleration of Biodiversity Loss
Subsequent research by E.O. Wilson and others indicated that not only were we losing these species, but world-wide we were experiencing an accelerated and unprecedented loss of biodiversity. Dr. Wilson eventually came up with the acronym HIPPO to explain the main causes of biodiversity loss in order of importance and impact: habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population (human overpopulation), and over-harvesting.
The Importance of Biodiversity
“To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” — Aldo Leopold
At roughly the same time we recognized that we were losing biodiversity at an alarming rate, we were starting to understand how fundamentally important it is to our own survival to maintain all aspects of the scope and variability of the natural world around us. This thinking was greatly influenced by the thoughts of biodiversity preservation pioneers such as Aldo Leopold and Olaus Murie who changed the way we looked at the natural world and made us understand the need to preserve and restore at all levels from individual species to ecosystem functions such predation, water and fire disturbance regimes, and on landscape scales like wildernesses and marine reserves.
Our Approach to Species Protection and Recovery
In addition to the landscape-level work embodied in our name—Cascadia Wildlands—we also work to protect and restore a number of important species. Here our approach is to find species such as the wolf, marbled murrelet, or Chinook salmon whose restored well-being acts as a surrogate for wildness, mature forests, or clean and functional waterways and oceanic habitats.
Recent posts on this topic:
- Decision on wolf protections in Lower 48 delayed May 20, 2013
- An Un-Natural State of Fear: Oregon Outdoor Council versus Lions, Tigers (Wolves) and Bears May 16, 2013
- Reasonable People Can Disagree, but… April 29, 2013
- U.S. plans to drop gray wolves from endangered list April 25, 2013
- Of Hobbits, Elves, Elk, Ecology and Wolves April 17, 2013
- The Wedge Group Recipe April 1, 2013
- Anti-wolf Forces: It Takes a Thief (Richard M. Mitchell) April 1, 2013
- 72 Lawmakers Urge Delisting of Wolves Nationwide March 25, 2013
- Don Peay: the Man Who Would Be King… Baron March 7, 2013
- Wolves Need Protection: DeFazio Asks the Feds to Extend Their Protected Status March 7, 2013
- Congress Members Seek Continued Wolf Protections March 6, 2013
- Press Release: 52 Members of Congress Urge Continued Federal Protections for Wolves in Lower 48 States March 5, 2013
- The Sacred Cows Return to the Public Trough...Again and Again March 1, 2013
- Quick Action Needed on the Alexander Archipelago Wolves—February 28th by 5:00 PM February 27, 2013
- Trapper: Zombie Timber Sale February 25, 2013
- What We Might All Learn from James Fenimore Cooper February 22, 2013
- More than a Mile of Dead Wolves Need Your Attention Now February 15, 2013
- Quotes that Hurt the Mind February 6, 2013
- The Little Worm and the Big Lies January 29, 2013
- Identifying and Dealing with the Anti-wolf Forces (PG-13) January 14, 2013
- More Dishonesty from the Elk Dudes January 10, 2013
- We Otter Sequester December 28, 2012
- Press Release: Anniversary of OR-7's Arrival in California Inspires New Wolf Alliance December 21, 2012
- We Need to Address Wolf Myths and Hatred Head On--Stand with US December 18, 2012
- OR-7's biological clock ticking as he moves to lower ground for winter December 6, 2012
- David Allen's Continued Attacks on Science and Wolves December 4, 2012
- Can We Really Afford Cattle as King Any Longer? November 17, 2012
- Pacific Northwest Wolf Map November 16, 2012
- The Rickety Molehill Elk Federation November 9, 2012
- Are Cows and Sheep the Sea Urchins of the Cascadian Forests? October 31, 2012
- Are sea otters secretly climate crusaders? October 23, 2012
- The High Cost of Delaying Needed Reforms: The Wedge Pack and Coal October 22, 2012
- WDFW and the Wedge Pack—Not a Class Act October 1, 2012
- Press Release: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Threatened North Oregon Coast Red Tree Vole September 26, 2012
- Of Wolf Experts and "Wolf Experts" September 18, 2012
- Wolves' Return Displeases Some Hunters, Farmers September 11, 2012
- Press Release: Washington State Resumes Hunt for Wolves With Aim to Destroy Wedge Pack September 5, 2012
- Press Release: Washington Wolves Get Temporary Reprieve From Kill Order August 30, 2012
- Upper Minam Wolf Pack Documented in Eagle Cap Wilderness August 30, 2012
- State of Washington Urged to Halt Wolf Killing: Evidence Lacking That Wedge Wolf Pack Is Responsible for Livestock Loss August 24, 2012
- The Wedge Pack--Prudent Protocols and Thick Skin Needed August 22, 2012
- Conservation groups ask Obama to keep western population of Northwest's gray wolves on endangered species list August 15, 2012
- Twenty-four Conservation Groups Call on Obama to Maintain Federal Protections for Wolves in the Northwest August 14, 2012
- Elk Foundation Shucks Sound Science August 8, 2012
- Wolf Pups Add to Oregon Packs July 30, 2012
- Let's Talk of Wolves and Cattle but Please Include Elk, Deer, Fish, and Birds Too. July 30, 2012
- Livestock Protection Dogs and Other Non-Lethal Tools to Deter Wolves July 25, 2012
- Elk Group Takes Hit from Muries, Others July 25, 2012
- Press Release: Murie Family Cautions Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Over Anti-Wolf Rhetoric July 18, 2012
- Muries Rebuke Elk Foundation over Anti-Wolf Remarks July 17, 2012
- Umatilla Biologist Views Wolves as Valuable July 11, 2012
- Pups, Pups and More Pups June 27, 2012
- At Least Eight New Wolf Pups Born in Oregon This Spring June 21, 2012
- Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation--Needed: Less 10 Gallon Hats and More 10 Pound Brains June 6, 2012
- Wolf: Recent Updates June 6, 2012
- Wolf: More Information June 4, 2012
