world, was originally taken from
the bark of the willow tree. Birch
bark holds promise as a source
for a drug that reduces tumors.
Many American species with
medicinal potential are in danger
of extinction. Pupfishes, imper-
iled desert vertebrates found only
in isolated hot springs in our
Southwest and adjoining areas in
Mexico, can survive in very hot
water with very high salt concen-
trations. Researchers are studying
these abilities in hopes of devel-
oping new treatments for human
kidney disease. 12 The Houston
toad, found only in rapidly
urbanizing southeast Texas, con-
vins alkaloids in its skin that are
more powerful than morphine,13
and the American bison, hunted
nearly to extinction a century
ago, may provide important
treatments for some forms of
cancer. The black bear, threat-

ened in parts of the United
States,
may reveal clues to the
prevention of osteoporosis, since
the bear loses no bone mass dur-
ing its yearly five-month hiberna-
tion, 15

Put simply, extinction
deprives the world of both the

potential medical advances and the related economic benefits that may be derived from wild species. According to some estimates,

plant extinctions alone will cause a potential loss to the United States of more than $3 billion in lost medicines by the year 2000.16

Recreation

In addition to agricultural and pharmaceutical benefits, biodiversity also holds important recreational value. Americans are fascinated by wildlife and derive great pleasure from seeing animals and plants in their natural state. Between 1980 and 1985, the number of people who participated in wildlife-oriented recreation skyrocketed from 93 million to 135 million- a 43 percent increase. In the process, wildlife enthusiasts spent an estimated $14.3 billion yearly on travel and accommodations as well as on cameras, binoculars, hiking boots and other outdoor gear. Florida receives more than $1.3 billion in annual income from wildlife tourism. Visitors to Wyoming's natural areas spend

more than $650 million each year."

Small communities and local economies benefit most from America's passion for wildlife. The annual migration of the sandhill crane and whooping crane brings 80,000 tourists and $15 million to Nebraska's Platte River region each year. At Tennessee's Reelfoot Lake, bald eagle tours alone earn more than $2 million annually. Roosting bald eagles draw 50,000 visitors to tiny Sauk City, Wisconsin, pumping more than $1 million into the county. For the residents of these areas, wildlife provides more than just attractive scenery. It is a vital economic resource that must be protected.

Ecosystem Services

A fundamental tenet of the science of ecology is that all elements in an ecosystem are interconnected and interdependent. Aldo Leopold, an intellectual patriarch of the modern conservation movement, called this single revelation "the outstanding scientific discovery of the 20th Century."1" As more and more

species are pushed to the brink of aminction and beyond, the point at which ecosystems become permanently impaired draws nearer and nearer. Although all ecosystems have some degree of resiliency, the danger of reaching andysmic threshold of species extinction is real. Although biologists do not yet know enough about the ecological roles of individual species to predict all the ecological consequences of specific extinc

tions, they do know that the effect of losing even seemingly inconsequential species adds up over time. For example, tiny organisms in forest soils, many of them still unnamed and

aged, species suffer, including humans, who also depend on properly functioning ecosystems. In Florida, for example, thousands of workers and their families depend on the annual harvest of pink shrimp, which use Everglades wetlands as a nursery. As agriculture drains the Everglades and pollutes it with phosphates and toxic chemicals, the ability of the great marsh to support shrimp runs out, ruining the livelihoods of the shrimpers. Similarly, salmon fishermen in the Pacific Northwest are watching catches plummet as the clear, free-flowing streams essential to salmon spawning are dammed and are clouded by siltation

caused by clearcutting and livestock grazing.

In each case, the decline of species acts as an early warning sign, a distress signal from a floundering ecosystem. The decline of

the bald eagle awakened us to the potential health hazards of DDT. By banning DDT to protect eagles, we have protected the health of our children as well. A similar situation may now be warning of the dangers posed by a number of industrial byproducts which, in minuscule doses, may mimic the hormone estrogen. Alligators in Florida, sea gulls in California and shorebirds in Wisconsin that have been exposed to these pollutants have all shown sexual deformities consistent with accelerated estrogen levels. Scientists are trying to determine

whether a link exists between reproductive declines in these animals and evidence that sperm counts for human males in industrial countries have decreased by half since 1940.22

Emotional Rewards

To the tangible material benefits that humans receive from living nature must be added the important emotional benefits. Most people feel a strong emotional attachment to wildlife and nature and enjoy experiencing them, even in an urban setting. Each year more Americans visit zoos and aquariums than attend all major sporting events combined, 23

Some evolutionary biologists suggest that humans may have an innate psychological need for the

beauty and inspiration of unspoiled nature. This hypothesis is based on the idea that humanity has been an integral part of the natural world since time immemorial and retains a powerful genetic affinity for that world.

In addition, many Americans benefit from the satisfaction that

comes from being good stewards of nature. In a recent nationwide survey conducted by researchers at Oregon State University, 90 percent of respondents agreed that humans have an ethical obligation to protect other species.24

By accepting this obligation, people express not only their need for nature but also their concern about something other than themselves. This concern enriches not only nature, but also the people who experience it.

SAVING AMERICA'S WILDLIFE

NOTES

1. Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac with Eways from Round River (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966), p. 190.

2. Peter Matthiessen, Wildlife in America (New York: Viking Penguin, Inc., 1987), p. 120.

3. E. O. Wilson in Stephen R. Kellert and E. O. Wilson (eds). The Biophilia Hypothesis (Washington D.C.: Island Press, 1993), p. 36.

4. See: E. O. Wilson, testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Water, Fisheries, and Wildlife. of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Forks, June 15, 1994, Dick Neves, Art Bogan, Jim Williams, Steve Ahlstedt and Paul Hartfield, “Status of Aquatic Mollusks in the Southeastern United States: A Downward Spiral of Diversity," 1995, in press. p. 8; D. A. Falk, "From Conservation Biology to Conservation Practice: Strategies for Protecting Plant Diversity," in P. L. Fiedler and S. K. Jain (eds.) Conservation Biology. The Theery and Practice of Nature Conservation, Pervation, and Management (New York: Chapman and Hall, 1992); Defenders of Wildlife, Saving Endangered Species: A Report and Plan for Action, 1992/1993 (Washington, D.C.: Defenders of Wildlife, 1992); Juanita Thigpen and Ben Thomas, "Nature Conservancy Releases Scientific Data on Imperilment," The Nature Conservancy release, January, 1995.

5. Wilson, The Biophilia Hypothesis, p. 36.

6. E. O. Wilson, Bisphilia (Cambridge. Harvard University Press, 1984), p. 121.

7. Norman Myers. The Sinking Ark: A New Look at the

Problem of Disappearing Species (New York: Pergamon
Prem, 1979), p. 61.

8. Myers. The Sinking Ark, p. 64.

9. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1994, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994), p. 672.

10. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1994, p. 755.

11. Wilson, The Diversity of Life, p. 285.

12. Norman Myers, A Wealth of Wild Species (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1983) p. 119.

13. Myers, A Wraith of Wild Species, pp. 116-117.

14. James H. Shaw, Introduction to Wildlife Management (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985), p. 16.

15. E. Chivian, Critical Condition: Human Health and the Environment (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1993), p. 199.

16. Norman R. Farnsworth, "The Role of

Ethnopharmacology in Drug Development," in

Bioactive Compounds from Plants (Ciba Foundation
Symposium, 1990).

17. See US. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service, National Survey on Fishing, Hunting and
Wildlife Associated Recreation (Washington, D.C.,
1988); R. Brantly. "The Fish and Wildlife Business in
Florida," (Speech to the Council of 100 Meeting, May
7, 1987); Tom Arrandale, "Can Game Departments
Cash in on that Warm and Fuzzy Feeling?" Governing
July, 1990, pp. 48-52.

18. See: John F. Kostyack and Suzanne R. Jones, Statement of the National Wildlife Federation on Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act for the Subcommittee on Clean Water, Fisheries and Wildlife of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, October 20, 1994, p. 9; Sara Vickerman, "High Profile Watchable Wildlife Programs and Facilities," (Unpublished Document, Portland: Defenders of Wildlife, 1990).

19. Leopold, p. 176.

20. Yvonne Baskin, "Ecosystem Functions of Biodiversity," BioScience, November, 1994, p. 657-660.

21. Wilson, The Diversity of Life, pp. 308-309.

22. See: Theo Colburn, Frederick S. vom Saal and Ana M. Soto, "Development Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Wildlife and Humans,” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 101(5), 1993, 373–384; E. Carlsen, A. Giwercman, N. Keiding and N. E. Skakkeback, "Evidence for Decreasing Quality of Semen During the Past 50 Years," British Medical Journal, vol. 305, 1992, pp. 609-613.

23. Wilson, The Biophilia Hypothesis, p. 32.

24. David Perry, "Biodiversity and Wildlife Are Not Synonymous," Conservation Biologs March, 1993, pp. 204-205.