Writer Douglas Chadwick has said that there is as much beauty and importance in the beat of a butterfly wing as there is in the howl of a wolf. Such thinking forms the basis for a remarkable law, the Endangered Species Act.
Since its inception in 1973, the ESA has become the most important tool in the fight to save animals from extinction. Though much maligned and woefully underfunded in the past eight years, the law protects all creatures great and small, from ocelots to beach mice. It even protects a single species of fly found on the California coast.
By isolating species on black and white backgrounds, all are given equal consideration (and hopefully equal attention) by readers. Public support of the law is vital to its continuance, saving hundreds of species for future generations.
|
