Please, Say It Isn't So

Words fail me when I try to describe the springtime trill of a Western Meadowlark. Try as I might, I can’t do it, although when I close my eyes I hear that beautiful melody filling the air as I drive through the countryside. Meadowlarks mean spring to people who savor the beauty of its song. It sounds so rich and pleasant that six states call it their official state bird - Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Wyoming, and North Dakota.

But something’s happening. The numbers of our state bird are shrinking, and perish the thought, might disappear from the earth. It is troubling to think about and shouldn’t be dismissed by saying it will never happen. History says it can. Passengers Pigeons once numbered in the billions but have now become extinct. A location in the eastern part of Ransom County bears the name of Pigeon Point from early pioneer days when they could easily be hunted in the trees.

A hunter in Pennsylvania reported that with one shot from his shotgun he brought down forty-one birds thickly crowded in the trees. European settlers deforested the countryside to clear farmland, an act which destroyed habitat. Another large factor contributing to their demise was the development of markets for their cheap meat. The last one died in captivity in 1914. No conservation action had been taken.

Our national bird, the American Bald Eagle disappeared from our skies but luckily benefited  from efforts to save it. The only place I’d ever seen any was in Alaska, but now they can be seen here in eastern North Dakota. The Endangered Species Act offered the protection they needed to make a comeback.

Remember how the disappearance of Whooping Cranes filled news reports. Grizzly bears numbers declined and the California Condor almost became history. Looking back, over fifty species have recovered under protection of the act.

We don’t yet know if our meadowlarks will need protection, but some sources say the continent has lost nearly 3 billion birds representing hundreds of species over the past five decades.  Put another way, there are 29 percent fewer birds in the United States and Canada today than in 1970.

The phrase “canary in a coal mine” comes to mind. It comes from the old coal mining days when miners carried caged canaries with them into the tunnels of the mines. In there if poison gas was present, that little bird would keel over dead before the levels of the gas reached those hazardous to humans. Therefore the miners knew they’d better get out before they died, too. A wordsmith could spin the canary concept to apply to the shrinking numbers of birds in our environment. Scientists and environmentalists have begun promoting the idea.

Concern for the environment does exist and needs to be dealt with now and in the coming years. One more quotation comes to mind - “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”