Michael Tobias, Nature's Keepers: On the Front Lines of the Fight to Save Wildlife in America (1998).

• Author: Haist, Fred
• Position: Review

The discovery of America had untold repercussions on the European world. The inhabitants of Europe suddenly had a new continent to explore. This exploration led to the discoveries of new forms of life--new animals, new plants, and new cultures. These discoveries also gave the European invaders new objects to exploit and destroy. The fur trade is one such example of this exploitation. The beaver was highly prized in Europe at the time of colonization of North America. Beaver fur was hard to obtain in Europe, in part from years of trapping. America was a fertile source of beaver pelts. So plentiful in fact that European explorers took beaver pelts from Native Americans which were being used for children's diapers. This desire for beaver pelts decimated the beaver population. It also demonstrates the historical desire for animal pelts, with no consideration of the ramifications of killing of those animals.

This desire for furs and animal skins has not abated at the end of the twentieth century. Any examination of an upscale department store will reveal many products containing animal fur and skins. The desire for fur is not limited, however, to a small number of animals. Often people desire an exotic animal as a pet, or the fur of some rare animal, or misguidedly seek the internal organs of another to cure some illness. These desires have lead to an explosive growth in the illegal trade of animals and animal parts.

The decimation of wildlife populations in America by this desire for fur is the subject of Michael Tobias' book, Nature's Keepers: On the Front Lines of the Fight to Save Wildlife in America. Tobias is concerned with the way that the American people approach the killing of animals. His book offers a unique perspective on the issues surrounding wildlife preservation. Tobias is concerned with the consumerism stance that Americans often seem to have towards the wildlife that surrounds them. This consumerism is one theme that emerges from his book. Tobias argues that the degradation and decimation of animal populations is in large part due to people's desire to have a unique pet, or unique fur, or gain the bragging rights associated with the mass slaughter of animals.

The other major theme that emerges from Tobias' book is the woeful inadequacy of U.S. laws designed to protect animals and their populations. As Tobias points out, there are few enforcers of the wildlife protection laws in comparison with the number of general law enforcement officers. Thus, many violations of wildlife protection laws are never even discovered. Furthermore, of the violations that are discovered, few are ever prosecuted. Prosecutors generally give crimes committed against humans a much higher priority than crimes committed against animals, and thus, they concentrate on the human crimes. Even if the perpetrators of crimes against wildlife are prosecuted, vague laws make conviction difficult and provide inadequate punishments. Thus, while laws do exist to protect wildlife, they often fail to provide wildlife with adequate protection.

Tobias primarily focuses on those individuals and agencies that help protect wildlife and those that do not. The Prologue sets the stage for Tobias' book, and exemplifies his concern about the slaughter of American wildlife. He indicates that while the popularity of the National Parks is increasing, the actual time spent in wilderness areas and appreciating nature is short. Furthermore, the land area devoted to nature and wildlife is shrinking. Tobias declares that within the whole of the United States, an area equivalent to the...