The next Chapter in the Battle Against Extinction

Authors: Jack Williams, David Propst

Year: 2018

Abstract

Water was a critical fuel for economic and population growth in the post-World War II North American West and its appropriation for human use brought new challenges to aquatic organisms that had evolved in harsh environments but were little prepared for extensive alteration of fragile aquatic habitats. At that time, neither the general public nor natural resource agencies had much regard for native fish species if they had no immediate and tangible worth to humans. But an increasing awareness by resource managers and academics of the plight of this vanishing fauna spawned the Desert Fishes Council in 1969. With passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, additional impetus for conservation of native aquatic organisms was provided. So began The Battle Against Extinction, a seminal book published in 1991 that chronicled progress and issues in arid-land native fish conservation. Since then, new technologies and evolving strategies provide new opportunities, but climate change exacerbates lingering threats. Now we launch a new effort to examine the ecology, policies and politics of desert fish conservation. As W.L. Minckley and Jim Deacon noted, it is not a lack of scientific expertise that prevents progress in conservation, rather, it is the lack of will by society to implement needed actions. The fate of many arid-land aquatic species and ecosystems now hangs in the balance.