Wednesday Wisdom – Margaret Mead

Original image by the Delaware DNREC

This Delmarva fox squirrel was caught on a remotely triggered camera located in Delaware back in 2004 when this species was teetering on extinction.

Over forty years of concerted, “on-the-ground” conservation efforts by states, landowners and others working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including bands of “thoughtful, committed citizens,” contributed to the Delmarva fox squirrel’s leap off the Endangered Species list last year.

This major conservation success story highlights exactly what Margaret Mead spotlighted in her famous quote: that “just a few” can bring about change and make a major impact on the health of the “whole.”  Anthropologist, explorer, writer, and teacher Margaret Mead who worked for over fifty years at the American Museum of Natural History was acutely aware of the natural world’s impact on culture and the human experience.  We celebrate her insights this National Women’s History Month as her quote alone has lit many conservation “fires.”