Giant flocks of passenger
pigeons, sometimes exceeding three billion birds, once flew over our
country. “On
September 1, 1914, Martha, the last known Passenger Pigeon, died in the
Cincinnati Zoo. Her body was frozen into a block of ice and sent to the
Smithsonian Institution, where it was skinned, dissected, photographed and
mounted.” *
Prior to Martha’s
death, individual state legislatures tried to pass laws that might have protected
the Passenger Pigeons, to no avail. Subsequent conservation actions and federal
legislation have made a difference in saving species under threat of extinction.
In “Saving our Birds”, a meditation on Martha’s
death and the extinction of her kind in the
New York Times, John W. Fitzpatrick wrote
“The Endangered Species Act [of 1973] is by far the most powerful piece of environmental
legislation ever passed. Today, the act continues to be a source of
on-the-ground success — a steadfast reminder that timely conservation pays off .
. . On this centenary of Martha’s death, it bears reflection that a strong
federal Endangered Species Act would have saved the passenger pigeon a century
and a half ago.”
The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service is the principal federal partner responsible for administering
the Endangered Species Act. Their website devoted to Endangered Species is a
rich source of information for anyone interested in the conservation of
species.
Massachusetts has
its own Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) in M.G.L. c. 131A, with
implementing regulations at 321 CMR 10.00. The Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP), part of the Massachusetts Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife, is responsible for protecting endangered vertebrate and
invertebrate animals and native plants and maintaining the official
Massachusetts List of Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern Species.