America's lands and waters support a rich array of wild creatures whose contributions to our welfare are perceived or enjoyed, in one way or another, by virtually all Americans. Our earlier, more narrow views of wildlife have broadened, and today we recognize that wildlife enriches our lives in a multitude of ways. We know that wild animals, in addition to their esthetic, scientific, cultural, educational, recreational, and economic values, are sensitive indicators of the health of our environment and that indeed they are components of our own life support system.

Concern with wildlife is integral to the legislative mandate of the Council on Environmental Quality, which has its source in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970, supplemented by Executive Order 11514 of March 5, 1970. The Council has been given the responsibility, among other things, of maintaining an overview of the status and trends of the nation's environment and of the programs and activities of federal, state, and local governments, nongovernment agencies, and individuals which affect the environment. The "natural environment" in this legislative mandate explicitly includes plant and animal systems. Accordingly, wildlife has been a focus of attention of this Council since its establishment in 1970.

The Council has addressed a broad range of wildlife issues, from whaling and marine mammal conservation to predator control and endangered species. The list of these issues is comprehensive; yet we have approached the problems singly, issue-by-issue. We are now learning that in truth there is a limited number of common basic problems which underlie the more numerous and more apparent individual issues. In effect, we have been dealing with the symptoms instead of the causes of wildlife problems. We finally realized that to deal with the underlying causes, we needed a comprehensive look at the state of our wildlife and our efforts to conserve it. We began such a project in May 1976, and this book is the result.

The book is intended as a source book for fact

and philosophy about all our wild animals, vertebrate and invertebrate, terrestrial and aquatic. It is also intended to be a critical analysis of the adequacy of present conservation efforts so as to provoke thought and action on how to improve them. The job required a variety of perspectives and experiences and we have been fortunate in receiving contributions for the 33 chapters that comprise the book from individuals who are preeminent in their fields. An equally qualified group of people has reviewed the chapters.

However, in addition to the professionals' approaches, it was our intent to obtain a presentation of as wide a range of views as possible from the nation's wildlife constituency. To accomplish this a national symposium on "Wildlife and America" was held in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 1976; 400 professional and lay people involved with wildlife discussed summaries of the chapters in this book as presented by the authors. Many of the results of those lively discussions appear in the final versions of the chapters as presented here. Because of this process, the views expressed in the book are not necessarily those of the Council; rather, they are the product of interplay along a cross section of the wildlife community.

This book is intended for three audiences: interested individuals who may read it for both information and pleasure; decision makers at all levels of government who may use it as an agenda for future action; and professionals in the wildlife and associated resource management fields, those in practice and those in training.

Symposium participants highlighted several basic problems. Among those are: the narrow focus on game of many wildlife activities, the problem of predator control, the need for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management, the need for better ecological information as a basis for effective action, and the application of the public trust concept to wildlife on our public lands. In his Environmental Message to the Congress on May 23, 1977, President Carter, in part as a result of the thinking developed at the

symposium, addressed several of these key wildlife problems. He said:

When explorers and settlers from Europe first came to America, they were astonished at the richness and variety of wildlife in our lands and waters. Faced with such abundance, for years most Americans have valued only game species of wildlife. . . . To the rest, little attention has been given, even though they are part of the biological system that sustains

us....

Our Nation's public lands and waters support a rich wildlife resource which we hold in trust for all Americans, now and in the future. My Administration will assure that this public trust-for all wildlife—is adequately and effectively executed. The public's interest in wildlife specifically includes predators, which have in the past sometimes been regarded as competitors for livestock or game, leading to their destruction ..[W]e now realize the importance of the role that predators play in various ecosystems.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration helped support the endeavors that led to this book. Nearly 150 people from state and federal government, from the scientific and academic communities, from the environmental organizations, and from the wildlife

management profession actively

participated in the project.

Many people deserve appreciation for their contributions, but there is space to mention only a

few for special recognition. Chief among these is Howard Brokaw, who after many years with the Du Pont Company decided to turn his avocation of conservationist into a vocation and began by volunteering a year's professional time to direct the project and serve as editor-in-chief of the book. He is President of the Delaware Nature Education Society and a Trustee or Director of the Brandywine Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

The reviewers of the chapters supplied important criticism, and symposium moderators stimulated effective discussion. Their names appear below. Steven Jellinek provided valuable guidance and criticism. Elizabeth Manners searched out pictures and organized the illustration of the book. David Sheridan and Katherine Gillman devoted many weeks of editorial effort. James Mandros and Kevin Mullen assisted with the symposium and in other ways.

Particular attention is due to Russell Peterson, former Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, whose strong personal interest and support launched this project, and to Charles Warren, present Chairman of the Council, who made possible the project's successful completion.