Passing of the Pigeon

A commemorative plaque at Wyalusing State Park of the Passenger Pigeon is there to remind us about a bird that once was thought to be the so numerous its supply was unending. The flocks blackened the daytime sky and their masses broke limbs from trees as they congregated.

People of the 1800's, the European settlers, not the native americans, took what they wanted for food, wasting millions more and destroying others as they were bothersome. So numerous, the Passenger Pigeons were thought to be the largest population of any bird species. Until the unchecked decimation reached a level that surpassed their ability to reproduce. Now they are history.

Today we have conservation laws and efforts to protect our natural resources. These efforts are slowly being eroded away in the interest of progress/greed/business opportunities. We are seeing it as a new power line is being installed, their disregard for scheduling in sensitive habitats. New legislation that undermines the study of effects of removing natural resources and contamination and cleanup costs disregarded.

I certainly hope people will be able to look back in time and be able to say thank god for our State Parks and the land that was preserved for the sake of the animals and for all to enjoy, because it's man that keeps screwing things up.