ETHICS OF NATIVE SPECIES RESTORATION - THE GREAT-LAKES

Environmental philosophy may be traced back at least as far as St. Fra ncis of Assisi early in the 13th century, but it was another 600 years before Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau introduced it to N orth America, followed by John Muir and pioneer conservationists Giffo rd Pinchot and Aldo Leopold at the end of the 19th and first half of t he 20th centuries. Although value issues are of increasing importance as a means of understanding and solving contemporary environmental pro blems, narrow academic backgrounds and traditional scientific rigidity among decision makers have impeded proper consideration of ethics in the decision-making process. Facts tend to be concrete and unimpeachab le, whereas values and ethics are elusive and relative. Emergence in 1 979 of the journal Environmental Ethics constituted a major breakthrou gh in communication between philosophers and scientists. Aldo Leopold' s Land Ethic and related philosophical concepts provide solid foundati on for restoration of habitats and native fauna in the Great Lakes and elsewhere, and constitute a management direction strongly supported b y most contemporary environmental philosophers. Adherence to these pri nciples provides the best chance for constructing biologically and eth ically sound restoration programs.