When you look around you, what do you see? Chances are good, you do not see an area of land that is untouched by human hands in some ways. At one time, we lived in a land that was untouched. Animals had more room to roam, grass and trees were abundant, and there were fewer homes, buildings, and concrete. The air was fresher, no one had to think about the water supply, and there were always plenty of hunting opportunities for those who lived off the land. Times have changed and the resources that were once a part of our world have dwindled in most areas. Therefore, conservation efforts were put into action and it is something that we should all respect and take part in whenever it is possible for us to help the world we live in.

Conservation Matters

For a moment, think about the stories you may have heard growing up about a wild animal that roamed freely. Untamed by humans and living off the lands that it called home. It may have been an exotic animal or a horse running free through a field. Thanks to humans, those animals are fewer now than they used to be. Humans captured and tamed the horses to help them and many animals killed as our food needs increased. At times, we have animals that came into our area to protect our homes and businesses after taking it from them and pushed them into other areas.

We also took part in mining, use water excessively, and fill the air with pollution in the cities that we built. As more cities grow, more homes and people come into an area, etc. we cut down trees to use in our homes or to make a space for them and put our stamp on the environment that cannot be washed away or changed with ease. This makes it imperative that we try to lessen our impact and the government has stepped in along side of many states to designate areas that become our national forests or state parks.

The Future without Parks

If our government agencies did not take part in the attempt to preserve certain areas for the animals and natural habitats, we would attempt to fill those areas as well. Eventually, we would have a situation where more animals would end up near extinction because they were run out of their homes to make room for ours. More of our worlds natural resources would be used up. Fewer trees would mean more pollution and less fresh air for us to breathe. If there weren’t specific times or limits for when we could hunt certain types of animals, the animals we seek would become extinct. This includes both land animals and fish.

The Conservation Strategy

Fishermen may wish that they could catch a fish and not measure it to make sure it is legal to take home. Hunters may want to put venison on the table all year long rather than a few months out of the year. We may wish that we could put a home in the middle of a national forest to gain quiet for our own families. We may even prefer to never lift a hoe or worry about that dripping faucet, but the truth is, without these efforts, we wouldn’t have much of a life to live on Earth. These are all efforts that help with conservation and we should all strive to follow them as closely as possible. Otherwise, there will be nothing left for our future generations to enjoy.