July 27, 1997

Northern Great Plains Planning Team

USDA Forest Service

125 North Main Street

Chadron, NE 69337

Re: Northern Great Plains Management Plan Revision -- Scoping

Gentlepersons:

Human beings think that we own, and have the right to dominate, every square inch of the Earth. That, besides being an absurd idea, is the basic reason why we are losing, worldwide, about 100 species per day. Habitat loss is at the top of every list of the primary reasons why species have become extinct or are in danger of becoming extinct.

We as a species survive only because of a host of services provided by nature (food, clean air, clean water, soil, the fixing of nitrogen, etc.), services which we cannot duplicate, and which we cannot even begin to provide in a sustainable fashion. For example, wetlands clean water far better than we can, cheaper, and without the use of fossil fuels. Natural ecosystems, which have evolved over millions of years, are also far more productive than anything we have replaced them with. For example, the grassland/bison ecosystem is far more suited to the Great Plains than our agriculture based on exotic species (cattle are native to Southeast Asia).

Thus, the top priority of your management plan should be the preservation and restoration of the native species, such as the bison, prairie dog, black-footed ferret, coyote, wolf, amphibians, bats, birds, fish, and plants. Of course, they can be secure only in a matrix that contains all, or as many as possible, of the original species. Even with all of our current knowledge of biology, we still don't know how to create viable ecosystems. The best that we can do is to try to preserve them intact.

Wildlife (all non-human, non-domesticated species) are not as flexible as we are. We can live almost anywhere; they must have certain strict requirements met. It follows that, if we are to try to preserve all existing species, which I think we should, we have to plan for wildlife first. This means giving top priority to habitat- and species restoration, and considering human needs (jobs, agriculture, resource extraction, recreation, etc.) only after the security of the wildlife has been assured. We are flexible enough to set aside sufficient habitat to preserve all native species and ecosystems, and satisfy our needs without disturbing those areas. Indeed, I am certain that, if we don't preserve those species and ecosystems, we will end up with either a drastically impoverished existence, or no existence at all!

Wildlife have already lost nearly all of their habitat, certainly all protected habitat. We can't afford to reduce their allotment any more. The lands under your care are a tiny percentage of the states where they located. Surely at least there we can afford to give priority to wildlife. If we don't, we will end up like Japan and England, where local ecosystems have been so decimated that the country is totally dependent on sustenance from abroad. Just as we have survived just fine without mining Antarctica, we can afford to leave the tiny portion of our land that is in public stewardship to the wildlife who live there.

Since we don't have enough knowledge of ecosystems to be able to create and manage them sustainably, your management plans should lean towards "hands-off" management, once restoration has been completed. As recent research has shown, mere human presence can often be harmful to wildlife (see Wildlife and Recreationists). Thus, human presence should be minimized. The best way to do that is to make access difficult, by minimizing roads, buildings, trails, and other human artifacts, and by excluding the use of technological aids such as motor vehicles, rafts, climbing equipment, and bicycles in habitat areas.

Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D.

References:

Callenbach, Ernest, Bring Back the bison! A Sustainable future for America's Great Plains. Washington, D.C.:Island Press, c.1996.

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Grumbine, R. Edward, Ghost Bears. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1992.

Knight, Richard L. and Kevin J. Gutzwiller, eds. Wildlife and Recreationists. Covelo, California: Island Press, c.1995.

Life on the Edge. A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources: Wildlife. Santa Cruz, California: BioSystem Books, 1994.

Myers, Norman, ed., Gaia: An Atlas of Planet Management, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1984.

Noss, Reed F., "The Ecological Effects of Roads", in "Killing Roads", Earth First!

Noss, Reed F. and Allen Y. Cooperrider, Saving Nature's Legacy: Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Island Press, Covelo, California, 1994.

Sachs, Aaron, "Eco-Justice: Linking Human Rights and the Environment". Worldwatch Institute, December, 1995.

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Vandeman, Michael J., http://www.imaja.com/site/environment/mvarticles/

Ward, Peter Douglas, The End of Evolution: On Mass Extinctions and the Preservation of Biodiversity. New York: Bantam Books, 1994.

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Wilson, Edward O., The Diversity of Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1992.