small tree, BIG PROBLEM!

Michelle Nijhuis uses a small Torreya taxifolia tree as her main focus to prove a big point, ironically. This Torreya taxifolia is a representation of the problem of extinction. One main issue I had with this article was that in one instance she discusses an option of ending the extinction issue, "pick up the plants and animals and carry them to better habitat"(183), meanwhile this article is focusing on plants. I feel that if she wanted to make a strong case she should have kept her focus on the plants and show how relocating them, roots and all, would save them from becoming extinct. I guess this is what you would consider the big picture, the destroying of plants habitats and animals surroundings. The idea of relocated the organisms that were in danger was given the name, "assisted migration" (183) thanks to a graduate student by the name of Brian Keel. Nijhuis tells of the suggestions that some other people have come up with. Conservationists, for instance, suggest:" Bigger nature reserves. More protected corridors for wildlife migration and movement. More regulation incentives, and ingenuity in service of greenhouse-gas reductions"(182). Nijhuis argues that even though this is a good suggestion, some species would still not be able to be rescued, such as the before mentioned Torreya taxifolia because of the climate. Printiss, the manager of the Nature Conservancy Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, thinks that it is better to consider the big picture rather than the little object. He doesn't focus his attention on the single Torreya taxifolia species, but instead the land surrounding it. He feels that if that is restored first, then it will be easier to regrow the former plants and acquire sunlight to help them to grow. I think that this is a more suitable way to look at this issue. It is almost moronic to believe that someone could possibly relocate all of the plants and animals that are in danger to a location that suits them better. It has to be taken into consideration how much money,time, and labor would go into that project. Another problem is that Nijhuis assumes that the public is willing to change their ways in order to restore the surrounding environments. I will end this abstract with a quote that sums up this issue in my opinion: " This is the longstanding conservation credo: with enough space, money, and knowledge, we can protect natural places and, in many cases, restore them by stitching them back together"(185).