The Future of America’s Wildlife
A statement of the National Park Service says, “A primary mission of the National Park Service is to preserve native plants and animals on lands it manages. In cases where native species have been eliminated from parklands, the National Park Service may choose to reintroduce them.”
The practice of reintroduction has been gaining more and more popularity over the last century, as the preservation of our ecosystems becomes a major concern for many Americans. The story of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone is considered an amazing success at revitalizing a damaged ecosystem. Bison are being reintroduced all over the country to parts of their native range before being nearly wiped out. And, just this fall, Colorado voted to bring wolves back to their state by the year 2024.
If more issues of reintroduction are decided by the ballot box, we can expect more species that disappeared from their native habitats due to hunting, habitat destruction, or other human means to be reintroduced to those ranges. So, what’s next? What animal would you like to see reintroduced to areas where it was once abundant? Would you like to see grizzlies brought back to California, or red wolves reintroduced into the Carolinas? Or if you live in the midwest, are you ready for a bison jam on your way to work?
The main challenge that proponents of wildlife reintroduction will have to face, in my opinion, is habitat fragmentation. Though there may be suitable habitat in the Sierras for grizzly bears, these apex predators need enormous swaths of uninterrupted wilderness to find food and mates. Habitat fragmentation is a major issue all over the world for wild animals. Even in Costa Rica, where over 25% of their land is protected wild areas, animal death due to human conflict (i.e. roadkill and poaching) is common. How will America’s wild animals fare when we bring them back to where they once lived but have to live in a bubble of wilderness, surrounded on all sides by sprawling human civilization?
In the end, I am an outspoken proponent for restoring the balance of the ecosystems we have destroyed, if we are capable of doing so. But, such an enormous undertaking will require the unified action of both state and federal governments, as well as the support of the American people. Tell us where you stand on the issue, and what wildlife you would like to see return to your part of the country.