For Us In The Minority, The Opportunity

An Ecologist Lives In A World Of Wounds.

There Are Men Charged With The Duty Of Examining The Construction Of The Plants, Animals, And Soils Which Are The Instruments Of The Great Orchestra. These Men Are Called Professors. Each Selects One Instrument And Spends His Life Taking It Apart And Describing Its Strings And Sounding Boards. This Process Of Dismemberment Is Called Research. The Place For Dismemberment Is Called A University.

Wilderness Is The Raw Material Out Of Which Man Has Hammered The Artifact Called Civilization. Wilderness Was Never A Homogenous Raw Material. It Was Very Diverse. The Differences In The Product Are Known As Cultures. The Rich Diversity Of The Worlds Cultures Reflects A Corresponding Diversity. In The Wilds That Gave Them Birth.

Our Remnants Of Wilderness Will Yield Bigger Values To The Nation's Character And Health Than They Will To Its Pocketbook, And To Destroy Them Will Be To Admit That The Latter Are The Only Values That Interest Us.

A River Or Stream Is A Cycle Of Energy From Sun To Plants To Insects To Fish. It Is A Continuum Broken Only By Humans.