lost mountain #2

After reading the next section of Lost Mountain, a lot of information sticks in my head. One thing that Erik Reece mentioned and talked about that really stuck with me was the fact that many animals and plants are going extinct because of what we’re doing to the environment and their habitats. In the chapter, what is a flying squirrel worth, he tells us a story about a time he went with a naturalist, Jim Krupa to check out the flying squirrels and their environment. This story really interested me. Jim Krupa would set up traps all around this area and try to catch flying squirrels. He then would release them and watch them fly. Erik Reece really enjoyed this and shared in detail what had occurred. During this trapping expedition the naturalist told Erik that many animals and plants are going extinct because their habitats are being destroyed. To me this is a horrible fact. I feel that most things we are doing can be prevented but no one is willing to actually try and find a better way of extracting things from the environment. For example, mountain top removal destroys a lot of the environment and kills many trees, plants and animals, but we keep doing it. I do not understand how these coal companies can just go in and destroy nature and not even care about the animals and plants. Jim Kurpa even told Erik that many plants that are going extinct actually contain anti-cancer components. Cancer is one of the main killers in the U.S. and we are actually killing plants that might be able to help us cure this disease. To me this is alarming. I never realized how many plants and animals were going extinct and dying off until I read this chapter. This information has made me really think about what people are doing to the environment for money. I feel that people should start thinking more about the other species in this world because they live here too. If we keep destroying them, we can lose out on a lot of species that could actually help us. People really need to consider finding a new ways to extract resources that is more environmentally friendly.