The answer to the ecological dilemma is to assess realistically the extent of the damage and work to create a sensible, practical solution to the problem of our eroding environment through cooperative efforts. .

             It is hard to doubt that human beings are wasting or eroding the earth which we all live on. Not only have the industrial nations altered their natural settings by overbuilding dams, destroying rain forests, and driving species out of their natural habitats to die or mutate, but they have pushed the earth close to the limits of its resources. Lame Deer charges that because certain animals like coyotes, if left alive, "could lose some man a few cents," (Erodes 212) our fauna are being depleted. We have also divorced ourselves from the healing power of nature and from our innate " 'love for all that has been placed on this earth' " (Erodes 214) such as vegetation, the waters, the air, and all animals-- except homo sapiens, whom out of self-interest we favor. Anyone living in Dallas or coastal areas of Louisiana last summer will find it hard to forget the "smaze" that choked us. Blowing in from dry regions to the South, such as Mexico, the smoke came from widespread fires caused by aridity and by flammable industrial materials. Consequently, if anyone mocks those who claim our earth is decaying, these doubters should have just taken a whiff of the "smazed" air and then listened to his or her own coughing. .

             We need to preserve not just the beauty of our few remaining wildernesses, but biodiversity, human and animal health, and the very survival of our planet as we know it now. Most environmentalists and other analysts date widespread concern over ecological balance and conservationism to the appearance of Rachel Carson's landmark book published in 1962, Silent Spring. From its publication on, "Nature became more than something that existed at a distance from most of human settlement, and nonhuman species were suddenly not the only species at direct risk from human impositions on the natural world.