What's more important?

Nothing is more important than empathy for another being’s suffering. Nothing. Not career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity. – Audrey Hepburn

There was a  USFWS survey completed almost 40 years ago asking over 3,000 citizens ‘if your monthly electric bill were to increase would you be in favor if it would save an endangered species? A few specific animals listed were: Bald Eagle (89% approved), Mountain Lion (73%), Silverspotted Butterfly (64%), Furbish Lousewort (48%) and Kauai Wolf Spider (34%). The view of these supporters that all life not just humans have value is called biocentrism. These folks approached living with a life centered perspective.

I am curious if I were to look at the IUCN and ESA listing of species, how many of these species have been declared extinct.  The citizens who were most in favor of protecting would now be around 60 to 70 years old. Those least likely to support endangered species (at that time were those aged over 56 years old). The people who felt the environment is a tool to be used to benefit only humans are known to hold an anthropocentric view.  Additionally, those with less education were not in favor. My question is how many of those people felt that all animals are sentient beings (that they feel pain and pleasure)?

The general public has limited knowledge of the interconnectedness of life. We are taught to pursue careers and work hard to obtain possessions. We are told, the animal kingdom has no tangible value. But take a moment to look at the root of the word animal. Anima is Latin meaning breath or soul. It is a life force to be respected. Albert Einstein, the intelligent analytical minded scientist, admitted that if you look into nature you will understand everything better. John Muir stated when you tug at one thing in nature you will find it is connected to the rest of the world. The wilderness will offer clues to the preservation of the world said Henry David Thoreau. The Dalai Lama proclaims that the planet does not need more successful people; it needs peacemakers, healers, restorers and lovers of all kinds. America’s founding father Thomas Jefferson recognized that if one link in nature’s chain is lost, it may continue until the whole of things will vanish. To quote from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring “On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn of scores of bird voices there was not sound; only silence over the fields and woods and marsh”. Chief Seattle in a letter to the President Pierce in 1855 asked the question: Where have all the Buffalo gone? This wise Native American tribal leader announced that his people recognized every part of the earth is sacred. The warmth of the land and sky cannot be owned. The earth is not an enemy to be conquered - it is our mother. The (white mans) cities offer no quiet place to hear or clean precious air to share its spirit with all life. The white man must value nature and treat the land as his brother. What befalls the earth will soon happen to all man. All things connect – what man does to the web of life he does to himself. It seems to me that modern humans have gone from animus to animosity all because we ‘got civilized’. I ask you now, what’s more important? 

During the aforementioned survey from the 1980’s, no more than 33% of the entire national survey correctly answered any of the basic true false questions such as ‘pesticides were a major factor for the decline of Brown Pelicans’. The section of wildlife management knowledge and concern resulted in only 14% of the citizens being educated on the issue of the use of steel shot versus lead shot by waterfowl hunters. 94% felt poisoning was unacceptable method of predator control although was a least expensive method. Only 26% approved hunting of large carnivores.  18% were approving of trophy hunting but more than 80% approve of hunting as a means for food. 87% of people felt that illegal killing of wildlife should result in stiff fines and prison sentences for repeat offenders.  71% disagreed with the statement “Americans should have automobile access to scenic public areas even if the wild animals are disturbed by traffic and noise”. 76% of respondents agreed they would pay more for lumber & paper if it ensured that cutting trees was done in ways to help wildlife.   Do we citizens today still agree with these statements? If yes, have you notified the policy makers and voiced your opinion? ‘Never underestimate the power of a small group of determined people.’  – Margaret Meade.   

I believe, current views & knowledge of our wild surroundings seems to have increased, perhaps due to those who were in favor of coexistence in the 1980’s taught their children to do likewise and those children have taught their children. The reality is however that in general, people have become so urbanized that there is no contact with wild animals and their only way to connect and experience that awe and wonder is through zoos and live educational animal demonstrations. The wild habitats have been so degraded and manipulated for the sole purpose of human betterment, if the captive animals were to be returned to the wild, it would not survive.

Which is the right view: Individualistic or Holistic? One example being a native orchid was rapidly becoming extinct because of the deer population feeding upon them because predators who kept the deer population at a level sustainable for that habitat had been previously removed. What’s more important? How do we choose when the interests of two or more groups conflict?

Invasive species such as European Starlings and House Sparrow (English Finch) as well as Muscovy Ducks, Green Iguanas and Domestic Feral cats or Pigs are all species who in their own individual right should live but they exist in a foreign habitat and decimate the native species who have existed in that habitat for centuries. Hawaii is known as the extinction capital of the world in part due to all the introduced invasive species that have been released onto the isolated and fragile ecosystem. Wild animal activists are working hard to protect the unique biodiversity. They are empathetic to the individual but respectful of the natural ecosystem. These pests which do not belong, threaten the native habitats and inhabitants. What’s more important?

A report from 25 years ago, demonstrated the “assault on the natives” by the “army of foreign plant and animal invaders”. The cost to the nation at that time in the form of pest control was near $100 BILLION. Today it is $2,000,000,000.00 in ecological damage. More than 4,500 species had been either introduced intentionally or accidentally. Species such as kudzu vines, zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, fire ants, knapweed sp, Mediterranean fruit fly, Eurasian milfoil, boll weevils, common tansy, European gypsy moth, hawkshead sp. etc. etc. etc.

Ethics will offer guidance when faced with difficult decisions. Every action must consider the finite resources available, the social costs and benefits evaluated as well as ensuring a just distribution of benefits and burdens. Morals force us to focus on the value of being impartial. It can rapidly be degenerated into favoritism. Too many issues of conflicting moral demands may lead to burnout because of inadequate understanding or support. We are in this together. The actions of your neighbor have consequences and may directly affect you. The regulations set forth by city, state & national politicians on topics of natural resources to agricultural industry to pesticide or herbicide use all directly correspond to your survival.  

 A habitat is not an ecosystem. ‘A habitat patch must be large enough to provide equal input and output features to sustain a population. It is not just size but structural components. – From forests to lakes and everything in between, it is vital to maintain a healthy habitat.’- McComb. A habitat must have 7 components to sustain life: heat, food, shelter, air, light, soil, water.  An ecosystem is a ‘household’ of organisms and its environment. Humans are part of the household.

In times past: Chicago was once a swamp – full of vegetation and marsh birds, fish and amphibians. Guinea Pigs were once wild species inhabiting the Andes. They were domesticated and now extinct in the wild. Settlers hunted & domesticated the Wild North American Turkey to near extinction. A mexican race (subspecies) had to be imported. The true Eastern Turkey has a brown tail tip, whereas the Mexican has a white tail tip.    

The 1968 International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) reported fewer than 10 bird species vanished in the 1600’s, 21 in the 1700’s, 75 in the 1800’s, 54 to the mid 1900’s. Well over 300 bird species alone are considered endangered.

Current reports show the rising temperatures are causing the tundras of the north are shrinking; giving rise to fields. The species that have inhabited it for generations are starving. The marshlands (which provide Moose a food source and a means to alleviate the biting insects as well as respite from the hot sun) are changing into forests. The Moose population in the North East – Great Lakes area has declined greatly. The speculations from experts include climate change, ticks and consequential hypothermia due to hair loss and ‘toxin’ ingestion.   

Did you know? The Wolverine population decline is shown in regions where wolf population has also declined. They rely upon each other. Documentary 2008 from ‘Lords of Nature’ – ‘life in a land of great predators’.  

Grizzly bears remain in the cool high country (altitude of 6 – 7000 feet) in late summer/fall to feast on the Army cutworm moth (who feeds on the high alpine native flowers: lupine, daisy, & paintbrush). The insects hide in rock crevices during hot days in high country. Moths do arrive in high summer alpine countries from the wheat fields of the plains. They are following the wild flowers which are full of nectar and pollen. The problem is there are fewer moths due to pesticide use. These moths provide protein for the bears during winter hibernation. 40,000 insects are consumed (at 1 calorie each) in one day!

The White Bark Pine trees – grow mainly in higher elevations have seeds that are spread by Clarks Nutcracker but Pine Squirrels cache them but are raided by the bears. A good crop keeps the bears in high country so no people confrontation for garbage. The problem is disease and insect infestation is destroying this vital tree population.

The future of the species relies on food, water, shelter. The threats are interlinked: The native cut throat trout is killed by the introduced Lake Trout (Mackinaw). Pesticides kill insects. Humans dig up (illegally) native wild flowers.  Warming trends take bug shelter away. Trees will take over if rise in temperatures continue. Therefore fewer flowers will be present. Blister-rust is invading White Pines therefore no seeds to provide food for the bird, squirrels, bears. No chance for future tree growth. Without the high protein of the nuts the bears do not have sufficient calories for hibernation and successful breeding. The more aggressive the predator the lower the baby survival rate; the parent gone to get food and young vulnerable. 

Researchers began their study in response to rising numbers of human-bear conflicts and the changing climate. Article by Bruce Finley, Amy Brothers and RJ Sangosti of the Denver Post April 2, 2017. Excerpts follow:  

Warmer temperatures near their rocky den that shorten hibernation. “We could see a ratcheting down of the (black) bear population,” said CPW biologist Heather Johnson, leader of the research, who used radio collars and monitored movements of 40 bears at a time.

“Human development is really expanding,” she said. “There’s shrinking safe space for these wild bears to be.”

“the key driver of bear populations is going to be the carrying capacity of the environment. And that is going to be related to soil moisture and plant productivity — which is directly related to the climate. You cannot change policy overnight on accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, rising temperatures and changes in precipitation. We will want to be addressing these ultimate factors that are driving wildlife populations.” – Colorado State University conservation biologist Barry Noon.

“If bears are denning less, they’re active longer. They’re interacting with people more. It’s going to change the numbers of interactions people have with bears. We should expect our rate of interactions with bears to really increase.” conflicts happen because bears wander into cities looking for food when natural foods aren’t available during dry years, which with climate change is expected to happen more often. – Johnson

Beyond foraging, CPW researchers focused on hibernation. They determined that bears hibernate seven days less for every 1.8-degree temperature increase at their dens. In addition, for every 10 percent increase in overlap of foraging terrain with urban development, hibernation decreased by three days.

“As the average temperatures in this state increase,” Johnson said, “we should expect our bears will sleep less.” That means bears probably will be more active, leading to more potential encounters with people.

The end result? Bears lost out, because even though human food helped them reproduce, fewer were able to survive. From 2011 to 2016, CPW researchers documented a drop in the female bear population to 84 from 200, mostly due to a dry year in 2012 that drove more bears into Durango. The population didn’t bounce back.

An Oregon State University horticulture research study reported on the decline of Aspen in Yellowstone. They discovered in that National Park (and several others) that the loss of top predator is directly related to the decline of streamside trees. The intricate network of connectivity is astounding!

The aspens in Wyoming declining causes bank erosion. The lack of shade also causes rise water temperature. The warmer temperatures cause small creatures (fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects) demise. There is also less songbirds – example being the Pine Grosbeak makes up to 20% of its diet with the buds of willow, aspen, poplar trees. Without the top predators, there are increased prey species. These animals require large quantities of vegetation; the loss of trees and bank vegetation causes erosion and alters the quality of the stream. In Yellowstone, the top species affected are the Wolf and Elk and White Tail Deer. In Utah’s Zion National Park the decline of the cottonwood trees directly affects the cougar and mule deer.  

 “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” – Aldo Leopold. This view places the ecosystem at the center. The view is holistic. All life is interconnected but the individual is simply part of the whole.  

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. …the air shares its spirit with all life it supports. …(I) do not understand how the smoking iron horse (locomotive) can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts are gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children-that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth soon be falls the sons of the earth. If men spit on the ground, they spit on themselves. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. 

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may someday discover, our God is the same God. You may think that you own Him, as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and his compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your own bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.      But in perishing, you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of God, who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.  That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the sacred corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the hills blotted by taking wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.  - Chief Seattle 1854 statement excerpt

Joseph Wood Krutch felt and stated that ‘Man’s assumption that the earth can be treated as belonging to man alone and can pursue his immediate aims without regard to the fact that he is no less than the humblest animal and is part of an interrelated complex to which he must adjust himself.’ Fortunately while others are still learning there are consequences for every action, some humans recognize the true reality of the statement that humans are the most destructive predators on the earth today and act accordingly. Many countries have even passed laws or rewritten their constitution (such as Ecuador in 2008) protecting the rights of rivers, forests and ecosystems. There must be an extension of moral concern over all native species is the general concern at the world summits on sustainable development. These regulations should not be viewed as a loss of what John Locke viewed as natural rights, the right to life liberty and property. We as rational and compassionate humans should accept the responsibility to self-impose freedom of actions because it is the ethical thing to do. It is the dignified way to survive. To phrase it simply, live simply so others may simply live.

We as humans have been on the precipice of oblivion for years. To put it into scientific terms: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The use of pesticide, herbicide, insecticide, as well as direct or indirect dumping of chemicals into the land, waterways and air not to mention unsustainable harvesting of natural resources and prolific human population growth are all actions which have consequences for not only human population in part due to the limits of carrying capacity (coincidently for the US was lost in the 1970’s) but all our native neighbors and our combined home.

To view it from the ethical perspective held by Immanuel Kant, we must treat others as a free and equal person; the actions must be acceptable to be performed by all, and always respect each other even to the extent of developing the ability for that person to choose an action for themselves. These actions are not motivated by self-advancement, but out of duty as being the right way for all people to behave.  

Those who are privileged enough to be self-isolating are perhaps rediscovering what it means to be part of nature. The days of hectic lifestyle and experiencing chaos may be a distant memory but recall in the midst of the storm you felt isolated and focused solely on yourself. And now that the pace has slowed, life has taken priority. When you are in nature, with your wild native neighbors, you experience calm as you identify with all those individuals around you. You recognize you are but one strand in the intricately woven web of life.

Now is the time to ask ourselves and each other: What’s more important? career, wealth, intelligence, status or peaceable coexistence with the native neighbors who have been struggling to share our unique fragile ecosystems. Do we consider them living beings who are also entitled to moral standings and have rights? Please bear in mind as you venture forth, ultimately what we do to them and theirs so too we do to ourselves. Leonard Peltier was quoted saying “I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t have the answers or The Answer. I hold no secret knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of generations past and present. I only know that without compassion and respect for all of Earth’s inhabitants, none of us will survive – nor will we deserve to.”