Letter to the Editor, Logan Banner, April 24

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon make a final decision on whether or not to remove the West Virginia northern flying squirrel from protection under the Endangered Species Act. The squirrel continues to be rare just as it was in 1985. It will be robbed of protection without convincing statistics on population trends.

Many West Virginians may consider this "much ado about nothing." However, the squirrel is a "signature" species of the boreal forests in our higher mountain, a unique ecological community that has been called "a bit of Canada gone astray." The boreal community in the Alleghenies will doubtless be changed and perhaps disappear in the future from global warming. An even more uncertain future may await the squirrel without (endangered species) protection

Long ago humankind was instructed by our Creator to treat the earth gently and care for our fellow creatures. Tragically, the dark side of humanity – greed, arrogance, selfishness – are still much with us. Let us demand full protection in order that one of God’s wild creatures not be sacrificed!

J. Lawrence Smith
Hurricane, WV

Editor’s note: OVEC is part of the Save Our Squirrel coalition led by the Save Blackwater Canyon campaign. Thanks to all our efforts, SOS generated over 5,000 comments on saving the squirrel. As Erik Reece points out in Lost Mountain, the flying squirrel is under threat from mountaintop removal. See www.saveoursquirrel.org.