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Official Extinctions of 2022
In September of 2021, US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed 23 species be “removed from the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants due to extinction.” Most of the species listed have not been reliably sighted since the 1960s or before. So the very fact of the list is a sad surrender, a letting go of hope. By November, the list had caught the eye of the media, likely because the fabled Ivory-Billed Woodpecker had made the list of species to be removed.
I grew up on stories from my woods-loving parents, largely along the lines of, “if you’re quiet and keep hiking maybe you’ll be the lucky one to spot one!” Spoiler: I never did. But the mystery of that “is it or isn’t it still out there to be seen” seeped into my imagination, and the official move of the Ivory-Billed from endangered to extinct—along with 22 other species, most of whom I’d never even heard of—touched me deeply. I made this series of small works in tribute to each of the lost 23, with the idea of using them to help prevent further losses by raising funds for two of the areas with the most losses on the list: Hawai’i and the Tennessee River Valley, which crosses several states.
For each piece, I spent time reading about and looking at images — in some cases, only etchings were available — of the lost species. I learned at least a little of how they lived, and what changed around them to keep their species from continuing. In every instance, the hand of humankind was the deathknell: deforestation, dams, invasive species. Then I created a fanciful image to honor the spirits of the departed. I see these works not as sorrowful, but as proud and defiant testimony. These creatures had their part to play, and we are all lessened by their loss. Their stories remind us we are all inextricably connected to everything in the natural world. Let us do what we may to protect habitats and prevent more such extinctions.
The final US Fish and Wildlife listing determination will be made in September of this year, 2022.