Nick Mott

Buff's boss, the Secretary of the Interior, got fired over criticizing the war in Vietnam. When that happened, Buff says, all hell started breaking loose in the department.

Buff himself didn't get fired, but the new boss did have some new priorities, and those didn't include Wales. So Buff got the order to withdraw that rule that would list Wales.

Buff himself didn't get fired, but the new boss did have some new priorities, and those didn't include Wales. So Buff got the order to withdraw that rule that would list Wales.

Buff himself didn't get fired, but the new boss did have some new priorities, and those didn't include Wales. So Buff got the order to withdraw that rule that would list Wales.

Wait, make sure I'm understanding you. You were told to remove this from the register, and you didn't.

Wait, make sure I'm understanding you. You were told to remove this from the register, and you didn't.

Wait, make sure I'm understanding you. You were told to remove this from the register, and you didn't.

I call that very pointed procrastination. And even though he got his way, eight species of great whales made the endangered species list, he realized that precursor to the Endangered Species Act wasn't enough to stop a species going extinct. The act had no teeth at all. No teeth, as in no tools that could force meaningful action. And Buff couldn't let that stand.

I call that very pointed procrastination. And even though he got his way, eight species of great whales made the endangered species list, he realized that precursor to the Endangered Species Act wasn't enough to stop a species going extinct. The act had no teeth at all. No teeth, as in no tools that could force meaningful action. And Buff couldn't let that stand.

I call that very pointed procrastination. And even though he got his way, eight species of great whales made the endangered species list, he realized that precursor to the Endangered Species Act wasn't enough to stop a species going extinct. The act had no teeth at all. No teeth, as in no tools that could force meaningful action. And Buff couldn't let that stand.

Because at the time, the problem wasn't just whales. We'd logged and developed and drilled and poisoned our way into a full-on biodiversity crisis. The passenger pigeon, which had once blackened the skies, had been snuffed out. Wolves had been killed off everywhere in the lower 48 but near the Great Lakes.

Because at the time, the problem wasn't just whales. We'd logged and developed and drilled and poisoned our way into a full-on biodiversity crisis. The passenger pigeon, which had once blackened the skies, had been snuffed out. Wolves had been killed off everywhere in the lower 48 but near the Great Lakes.

Because at the time, the problem wasn't just whales. We'd logged and developed and drilled and poisoned our way into a full-on biodiversity crisis. The passenger pigeon, which had once blackened the skies, had been snuffed out. Wolves had been killed off everywhere in the lower 48 but near the Great Lakes.

By the time Buff was in the Interior Department, even the animal symbolic of America itself, the bald eagle, was on the brink.

By the time Buff was in the Interior Department, even the animal symbolic of America itself, the bald eagle, was on the brink.

By the time Buff was in the Interior Department, even the animal symbolic of America itself, the bald eagle, was on the brink.

for man to make his peace with nature. Republican Richard Nixon was president, and lots of other changes were taking hold of society. Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring had documented the chemical DDT's impact on bird populations and awakened the American public to the havoc we're wreaking on wildlife. The first Earth Day came less than a decade later, in 1970.

for man to make his peace with nature. Republican Richard Nixon was president, and lots of other changes were taking hold of society. Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring had documented the chemical DDT's impact on bird populations and awakened the American public to the havoc we're wreaking on wildlife. The first Earth Day came less than a decade later, in 1970.

for man to make his peace with nature. Republican Richard Nixon was president, and lots of other changes were taking hold of society. Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring had documented the chemical DDT's impact on bird populations and awakened the American public to the havoc we're wreaking on wildlife. The first Earth Day came less than a decade later, in 1970.

The Civil Rights Movement had shown that the grassroots could make lasting political change. And now, the public was demanding meaningful action on the country's air, water, and wildlife.