National Park Service Needs Proactive Strategy

摘要

THE RECENT DECISION BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS) TO CONSIDER AUGMENTING THE beleaguered wolf population on Michigan's Isle Royale, and by doing so influence national policy, is a step in the right direction ("Are Isle Royale's wolves chasing extinction?," C. Mlot, News Focus, 24 May, p. 919). The NPS's mission—to preserve "unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for.. .future generations" (1)—has historically been an apt guiding principle, but it may need a revision to reflect today's realities. The recent plight of another rare canid, the island fox, touted by NPS personnel as a case study in endangered species recovery (2), is another case in point.