9367 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9367
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: Proceedings
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: Colorado Water Workshop July 22-24, 1992.
• Copyright Material: NO

Yellowstone region and found that mining, timbering, and ranching were
declining in relative economic importance to the regional economy
compared to the economic activity generated by people coming to the
area to recreate or to live. Many people are seeking the quality of
the life that open spaces, abundant wildlife and recreational
opportunities can offer.

Spiri tual Val ues
America prides itself on being a pluralistic society with the
freedom of religion. I think that is a great strength of this
country. Some people have a deep spiritual valuation of the natural
world, different species, and different communities. Unless we can
respect that at some level or in some way, we are not as pluralistic
a society as we claim to be. Religious freedom depends on the
existence of components central to each of the various persuasions.
For example, if a wild place or a particular type of wildlife is no
longer available to be appreciated by someone who values it, that
person has been fundamentally stripped of that particular value. At
a core level, though, we have to be mindful that what we may not value
spiritually, maybe valuable to others and they have a right to that.

Species Uniqueness
The final reason why we should care about biodiversity that I
will suggest is for the ultimate pragmatist in the audience. I find
myself becoming a pragmatist more and more because I have found myself
in many situations where my job has been to convey the value of
conservation to people whose primary interests were not conservation.
I would like to share an analogy I heard concerning why we should
value biodiversity and particular species diversity. Suppose it was
shown that a species did not contribute anything to the environment,
provide any ecological services, and was not known to have any
commercial, humanitarian, aesthetic, recreational, or spiri tual value.
However, it still contained something that the modern world is coming
to prize more and more; it contains information. It contains an
original set of genetic information that makes it a unique species.
While it may be possible to say today that something is worthless, it
would be folly to say today that something will be worthless for all
time. When we allow something to become extinguished, when we
participate in the extinction of an entire species, in essence we are
saying, "We are smart enough to know that we are never going to need
this." I think that is a premise we need to be extremely cautious of.

In conclusion I want to return to the relationship between
endangered species and biodiversity. The Endangered Species Act has
generated friction and controversy that we are forced to deal with.
I want to return to an analogy used earlier, in which the Endangered.
Species Act was likened to an emergency room. We are going to have
a steady stream of emergency room cases because there is not a
hospital nearby. With all the energy, creativity, and desire for
change embodied in the dialogue of the Endangered Species Act I hope
people do not see surrendering as the solution. I hope they will see
that the next step is development of a national program for the
conservation of biodiversity that can cut off the flow of endangered
species at its source. It has only been two decades since the

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