You may have heard about the latest creature to come back from the dead: the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.
A victim of decades of poor forestry practices and unbridled growth throughout its habitat in the Southeastern United States, it had last been seen in the 1930’s and was long thought to be extinct.
But recently, wildlife biologists, acting on reports from birders who claimed to have heard the woodpecker’s distinctive “Pop-pop,” staked out its prime Arkansas habitat for months on end. Finally, after almost nine months standing in a swamp, they struck gold: an individual bird revealed himself.
It goes to show you: our natural areas are full of all kinds of pleasant surprises. Good things happen to us when we protect them.
And that’s why investing now in the new State Wildlife Action Plan is so important.
The product of years of work by scientists, sportsmen, conservationists, and other members of the community, the Wildlife Action Plan unveiled [date] is a comprehensive plan that will let us conserve our wildlife and natural areas for future generations.
This state may not have any presumed-to-be-extinct-but-secretly-alive species. But that makes the plan more important, not less. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The Wildlife Action Plan is a proactive way to conserve wildlife before they become more rare and more costly to protect.
The beneficiaries of the Wildlife Action Plan aren’t just rare birds. By protecting clean water and air, the Wildlife Action Plan will make both wildlife AND people healthier. And it will conserve the natural places that bring peace and relaxation to our busy lives, and that are important to many of our family traditions.
Plus, the health of wildlife is often an “early indicator” of disease and pollution that can affect us all. The Wildlife Action Plan allows us to identify and prevent problems before they threaten humans.
Conservation efforts like the Wildlife Action Plan make real sense for the bottom line. Scientists will like the research that went into the plan. Taxpayers will like that it’s a cost-effective way of getting the work done. And everyone will like the fact that we’re fulfilling our responsibility to conserve wildlife and the places they live for future generations
The return of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was fairly spectacular. But you don’t need to stand in a swamp for nine months to see how important conserving wildlife is. Or to see how protecting our natural areas has some pretty obvious benefits – not to mention a few that might surprise us.