C. James Snyder

Seeing a Rhino

At the time the law was passed by Congress, environmentally conscious young adults held a growing majority in both the House and the Senate. Older generations championing traditions of a different epoch had finally dried up and cracked like paint from the old wood siding of a house. The Biodiversity Encouragement, Appreciation, and Research Act (the BEAR Act) mandated new funding for the study of all threatened species, especially large animals and predators, which science had shown to be particularly sensitive to habitat disruption. The title of the act and its acronym represented a memorial to the polar bear.