AN ILLUSTRATED CELEBRATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY BY ALLEN
In 1973, the United States Congress came together with bipartisan support to create and pass a bold and visionary act—one of protection, preservation, and promise. For the past fifty years, this promise, the Endangered Species Act, has ensured that the most threatened and vulnerable species and their habitats are protected. From the Steller sea lion to the ivory-billed woodpecker, from the steelhead trout to the red wolf, this landmark act has worked to preserve the wild beauty that surrounds and sustains us.
In A Wild Promise, acclaimed artist Allen Crawford beautifully illustrates over eighty animals that embody the spirit, legacy, and commitment of the Endangered Species Act. In his trademark inventive style, Crawford’s full-color illustrations and illuminated text create a vibrant tapestry of our nation’s habitats—oceans, mountains, deserts, wetlands, prairies, and forests—and the varied species that call these places home. With a powerful and moving introduction by award-winning writer and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams, A Wild Promise is critically urgent and inspirational, lending voice and spirit to all endangered species. A visually delightful, oneof-a-kind work, A Wild Promise is a celebration of conservation, commitment, and compassion—a clarion call to continue to embrace, engage, and act in ways that preserve and protect our living world.
ALLEN CRAWFORD is the illustrator of Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself. He and his wife, Susan, are proprietors of the design/illustration studio Plankton Art Co. Their illustrations are on permanent display at the American Museum of Natural History’s Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Orion, and Art in America. He lives in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.
TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS is an American writer, educator, and conservationist. Her awardwinning books include Refuge, When Women Were Birds, The Hour of Land, and Erosion: Essays of Undoing. She lives in Castle Valley, Utah.
ISBN 978-1-953534-89-7 $35.00
53500>
“In our eleventh hour, the art of Allen Crawford and the words of Terry Tempest Williams offer witness and warning. A Wild Promise celebrates the lives that have been saved by the Endangered Species Act, even as that half-century act itself is endangered. This gentle, strong book marks this moment of peril and promise.”
— RICHARD LOUV, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods
AN ILLUSTRATED CELEBRATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS
GRIZZLY BEAR
Ursus arctos horribilis
Found in Alaska, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.
Population in Alaska: 30,000.
An estimated 1,913 grizzlies remain in the lower 48 states.
Listed as threatened in 1975.
WESTERN BUMBLEBEE
Bombus occidentalis
Population has dropped 40% over the past decade.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering it for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
DWARF BEAR-POPPY
Arctomecon humilis
Only eight known populations, all of which are located in Washington County, Utah.
Listed as endangered in 1979.
BELUGA WHALE COOK INLET POPULATION
Delphinapterus leucas
Found in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Population in 1979: 1,300.
Population in 2018: 279.
Listed as endangered in 2008.
FLORIDA PANTHER
Puma concolor coryi
The last surviving population of puma in the eastern US.
Found only in South Florida.
Restricted to less than 5% of its historic range.
Population in 2017: 120-230 adults and sub-adults.
Listed as endangered in 1967.
(following page)
RED WOLF Canis rufus
Once found throughout the southeastern US. Causes of its near-extinction in the wild include shooting, poisoning, roadside fatalities, habitat destruction, and interbreeding with coyotes.
The killing of red wolves reintroduced to federal and state lands in North Carolina has thwarted recovery efforts.
93 wild red wolves survived in 2007. By 2023 there were less than 20.
Fewer than 235 red wolves survive in captivity.
Listed as endangered in 1967.
UTAH PRAIRIE DOG
Cynomys parvidens
Range limited to the southwestern quarter of Utah.
Population in 2023: fewer than 10,000.
Listed as endangered in 1969.
Downlisted to threatened in 1984.
