Refuge for a Vanishing Species

When a bird or animal is threatened with extinction, it is placed on the Interior Department’s endangered-species list. That is the easy part. The difficult task then is to restore the species so that it can live in the wild again and propagate without fear of being overwhelmed by civilization.

Since 1937 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted without success to revive the flocks of masked bobwhite quail that flourished in southern Arizona and northern Mexico until their habitats of tall grass were devastated by excessive grazing by cattle herds at the turn of the century. Now, finally, a solution is at hand, and Congress has approved the funds to achieve it. But for some reason the secretary of the Interior has declined to take the final action that would make the restoration of the masked bobwhite quail possible.

During the past two years Congress has appropriated $9 million to purchase the 118,694-acre Buenos Aires Ranch south of Tucson as a national wildlife refuge. The ranch is the only area where the masked bobwhite has been successfully transplanted from captivity. Only a handful survive, however, and they are threatened so long as cattle are allowed to forage in the tall grass and brush that provide cover and food for the bird.

If the purchase does not go through--and the ranch owner now reportedly is talking to other buyers--the Fish and Wildlife Service expects the masked bobwhite to vanish from its natural habitat altogether in the near future. Although the plight of the little quail has not received much public attention, the Audubon Society considers the rescue project to be on a par in importance with efforts to save the California condor.

Nine million dollars for a quail may seem like a lot of money in days of huge budget deficits. An Interior Department document raises the philosophical question of how much it is worth to save a species. But the project has general support among Arizona officials, and Congress twice has voted funds, at the urging of the Interior Department, to buy the ranch.

The goal of the endangered-species law is not merely to put names of wild creatures on a list but to achieve their recovery. There is no reason to equivocate about saving the masked bobwhite quail. The Interior Department should complete the purchase as quickly as possible.