THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Winter 2018-19 21 TheCoastalBend.com THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Winter 2018-19 21 TheCoastalBend.com Pioneer explorers Lewis and Clark set off on their famed ex- pedition in 1804 following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, which extended the United States possession west of the Mississippi River. They journaled that the Great Plains were painted black with vast herds of wild American Buffalo, tens of thousands strong and creat- ing a ground-shaking roar that could only be compared to an earth- quake. But following a century of western expansion, decimation of the American Indian population, the introduction of rifles to said Indian population, as well the permanently open hunting season on buffalo for meat, hides and horns, by the turn of the 20th Century, the American Bison population amounted to less than 1,100 animals. Us humans have taken the same general approach to just about every valuable natural resource, particularly those of the animal kingdom. Numerous whale species were nearly hunted out of ex- istence until Greenpeace got involved; many of the world’s most important fisheries have been harvested to the point of extinction; sea turtles, sharks, and even the Atlantic Dolphin (those of Flipper fame) have been fished to the point of endangerment in many parts of the world—and that’s just at sea. From birds to bats to wolves and coyotes, to caribou, woodrats and mule deer, the American endan- gered species list is populated by hundreds of animals that many of us have never heard of, and many that are as familiar as our own national bird. As a matter of default, people generally do not respect the worldly gifts our creator gave us enough to protect and preserve them. Then entire idea of environmental protection in the United States is very new, relative to our history as a country, and even newer to most of the rest of the world that has been around much longer than the U.S. If we were meant to use up, burn up, eat up, and generally consume as much of the earth’s resources, as fast as we can while we’re here, then so be it. Go for it.