Bill Muhlenfeld is owner and publisher of Distinctly Montana magazine and other publications.  He lives in Bozeman with his partner, Anthea, and always finds time to enjoy the great outdoors, when he is not writing about it....

Some thoughts on an article I read this morning about a move by the congressional house republicans to “overhaul to the 1973 Endangered Species Act, giving states more authority over imperiled species and limiting litigation from wildlife advocates.” (from the Billings Gazette)

On the surface, this appears to be a practical, reasoned approach to conservative ideals involving principles such as “states’ rights,” “prosperity,” and lessening the economic impact of decades-old environmental policies.

I think not.

In this third century of the perennial wrangling over states’ rights and federalism it seems obvious to me that there are often policies and programs which demand attention on a national basis; when “local” or “state” oversight and control lends itself to capriciousness , neglect and dangerous imbalance of things that are truly of national significance.  Health care jumps to mind, as does the building chasm of income inequality…and the environment.

What price a grizzly bear, a wolf, a bald eagle?  The article I read “priced out” our national symbol’s recovery at $28,700 per bird…from 417 eagles in 1963 to more than 20,000 in 2007, the last estimate.  Boy, does that seem a bargain-- to preserve a rare life form, and one which, coincidentally, has powerful symbolic value to this particular nation.  Methinks it a bargain!

Consider these words from Thoreau’s journal:

“When I consider that the nobler animal have been exterminated here - the cougar, the panther, lynx, wolverine, wolf, bear, moose, dear, the beaver, the turkey and so forth and so forth, I cannot but feel as if I lived in a tamed and, as it were, emasculated country... Is it not a maimed and imperfect nature I am conversing with?

So…this is a blog, a top-of-mind reaction…not a dissertation.  I am simply a strong advocate of the Endangered Species Act, which may be imperfect (as it is run by man and conceived in compromise); but which gives me great hope that somewhere in distant time, one might still view an eagle in flight, or a wolf on the prowl.

Nature serves us all in ways we cannot measure.