Food for Thought

I do not have an article for this entry, this is just something I have thought about and I have had on my mind. I like to think of myself as a conservationist but in a way that benefits not just wildlife but mankind as well. I am all for saving a species from extinction or moving towards clean energy to prevent climate change, but I have often though "what if this species is supposed to die out?" What if by preventing the extinction of a species we are instead of helping the environment by restoring the numbers but are actually causing harm by not allowing a new species to come in or an evolutionary divergence to occur by keeping a small amount of genetic information around in an areas they harshly but honestly no longer should be in? Darwin and Wallace came to the conclusion of evolution and natural selection many years ago, before any type of conservation efforts were put into place and now it seems the main goal of any environmentalist is to maintain what we have now or go back to how it was at X time period. My thought is how can new genetic material be formed if we do not allow some to completely disappear. I am not saying go out and kill all the polar bears or death to endangered species, that is not at all what I am talking about, but I am posing the question for discussions sake what if the plan, the environment's push for new genetic material, the path nature has been on for millions of years is for these species we strive so hard to keep alive or restore are supposed to die out. As Aldo Leopold talks about in his encounter of a green fire in the eyes of a dying wolf, the species and the environment surrounding knows whats best not us. Like the title suggests, its just food for thought.