Endangered Species

On the eastern side of Ransom County you can find a patch of ground called the Pigeon Point Preserve which is maintained by the Nature Conservancy. Their stated mission is to conserve the lands and waters where a diversity of life thrives. On its 571 acres they’ve identified at least fifteen rare plants growing and flowering in an undisturbed environment. Not only is wild plant life conserved there, it is also an important historic spot in the county being the overnight stop between Forts Abercrombie and Ransom.

Given my present stage in life, I’m finding heroes in the authors and thinkers who have pointed to the need for conservation of resources. In 1962 the biologist Rachel Carson published her popular book Silent Spring. This book had a huge impact and led to the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, an event for which we just marked its 50th anniversary.

Carson’s book awakened an environmental consciousness which led to regulating the use of

pesticides and the banning of DDT. When she came out against DDT the chemical manufacturing companies exhibited their ire and started a name-calling campaign to discredit her. Carson was unmarried without children which prompted one critic to raise it to the level of sexism and say of her, “Why is a spinster without children concerned about genetics?” 

The topic interested enough of the general population to buy over two million copies of Silent Spring. What triggered her research into the topic and caused her to write a book about her findings? One of her friends had written a letter describing the death of birds around her property that she blamed on the spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes. This was in the days of scientists starting to wonder about the effects of fallout from atomic tests, so it was an easy crossover to look at chemical sprays, too. Rachel possessed a scientific aptitude and naturally became interested.

She and other scientists noticed that an unusual thing began developing in the bird world, egg shells were thin and infertile. It was especially notable in the dwindling bald eagle population whereby in 1966 only 487 pairs existed. Since they were the national symbol, an alarm went off. On close inspection, investigators saw that DDT spray used to control mosquitoes had seeped into the ground, affected the water supply, entered the fish population, and poisoned the eagles when they ate them.

DDT use has stopped and look at the situation now. Bald eagles today number over 300,000

making it one of the nation's greatest conservation success stories. Rachel Carson’s determined stance is held in high regard by the conservation community and is credited with breaking through the so-called “glass ceiling” that kept women from being heard.

Birds aren’t the only species benefiting from the legislation. Fish, wildlife, and plants are all

included. Thirty-nine species have been fully recovered, including 23 in the last 10 years.                                                                        It’sbeen estimated the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of roughly 291 species since passage in 1973.

I remember when a fish species called a snail darter came under protection and stopped a dam’s construction in Tennessee. Critics pointed to what they thought was an insignificant creature and dam builders accused the action of environmental overreach. Things worked out, the dam did get built and some of the snail darters were moved to another area. Apparently none of it was necessary because snail darters were later found elsewhere.

Do we hear a meadowlark’s song from the top of a fencepost like we used to. It doesn’t seem like it. And Monarch butterflies? Just a few years ago we woke here in Fargo to find dead butterflies covering the ground. Sure enough, aerial spraying the night before was the cause. Whatever the brand of spray used, it proved to be the culprit. The city just shrugged its shoulders and promised to do better next time.

I know people who would like to eradicate a particular animal in the western part of the state. Prairie dogs dig holes in their pastures. Some even invite hunters to come onto their property and shoot them for target practice. Sorry to say, but my rancher in-laws probably won’t like the fact that Prairie dogs are a keystone species. That means they are a species upon which other animals depend, and removal of these species from the ecosystem would cause changes to ecosystem function.

We started this piece talking about the place called Pigeon Point. More than one type of pigeon has existed and the breed called a “passenger pigeon,” although now extinct, was probably the species for which Pigeon Point was named. The name was derived from the French word passager, meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits of the species.

John James Audubon, the famous name in bird lore, related one experience he had with them. He said, “The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse…” One of the old time residents of Owego said they’d roost so thickly in the trees you could bat them down with a stick.

I remember a feeling of sadness when I read of the last pigeon’s death in the New Yorker

magazine. A boy in Ohio shot one which biologists identified as the last one in the wild. Another one living in a zoo died in 1914. There are plenty of pigeons today, but they are probably Rock Pigeons or common city pigeons.

All indications point to the fact that the multitude of species must be protected to maintain the ecological diversity that has brought us to this point. I for one do not wish to live in a

moonscape. And I hope to get to Pigeon Point this year when the rare Prairie Fringed Orchid

blossoms this year.