Animal Sciences Commons^™

Rare, Threatened And Endangered Plants And Animals Of Oregon (2001), James S. Kagan, Sue Vrilakas, Eleanor P. Gaines, Cliff Alton, Ken Popper, Mark A. Stern, Eric Scheuering, John A. Christy, Mary Finnerty, Jon Hak, Anthony A. Tovar, Michael Murray, Claudine Tobalske, Oregon Natural Heritage Program

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Extinction is a natural process. Today, however, plant and animal species are disappearing world-wide at an accelerated pace. Based on current trends, half of the species on earth will be extinct within the next 100 years. The major cause of this phenomenon is large-scale destruction of native habitats, which has increased since European settlement began in the mid 1800's - in Oregon and throughout the New World.

Once lost, a species can never be recovered, and there is no way of knowing how useful it may have been. We do know that human beings and many of their industries depend …