CONSERVING AMERICA: Champions of Wildlife

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Starring: Mason Adams
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: VIEW, Inc.
Release Date: 2006-02-28
Fifty-nine native American animal species are now extinct and 186 others are endangered. CONSERVING AMERICA: Champions of Wildlife, introduces us to a new breed of inspired individuals who work day and night to fight the destruction of America's wildlife and natural habitats.

Meet a modern day Noah from Oregon, who rescues and returns injured animals to the wild. A Massachusetts couple who create nesting sights for osprey and a group of Montana kids who save loons on Talley Lake. There is also the 84 year old "turtle lady," Ida Loetscher, legendary for her work with sea turtles. Narrated by Mason Adams.

Awarded the Dove Foundation Family Approved Seal, this exclusive DVD Bonus Features include a Glossary of Wildlife Terms, Dangers of Plastic to Wildlife, How You Can Make A Difference, Digitally Mastered, Multi-Directional Interactive Menues and Dolby Digital.

Mostly Great
Sometimes it's easy to believe doomsaysers: big business always wins, global warming can't be stopped, islands will disappear, and species will die. This work was "a little bit of good news." It showed people who are trying to save animals and their ecosystems.

This work helped to open my eyes about the extent of things that need to be done. The narrator explained that not only do animals need food and space, but shelter. Some animals need lots of trees to hide in and wet, muddy places to call home. In the suburbs of Chicago, wolves kill dogs and are a problem. However, the narrator says wolves keep the rodent population down and ecosystems need them.

The narrator sounded like the man who narrates Smucker's jelly commercials. At one point, he says, "The osprey is a master fisherMAN" [my emphasis]; he should have said, "The osprey is a master fisherBIRD." Ha-ha!

The work covers diverse species: birds, mammals, turtles, etc. It showed diverse regions: Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, etc. However, I was disappointed that the humans recorded were so un-diverse. There are people of color interested in saving species. Hopefully, white conservationists do not just share their ideas with other whites, as this documentary films it. One man is named Gil Fernandes, but I'm guessing he's Portuguese American rather than Latino, as many Portuguese Americans live in Western Massachusetts. It's disappointing that a documentary could be so un-diverse in a time when the percentage of Americans of color keeps increasing greatly.

The documentary "Grizzly Man" was in the back of my head as I watched this. The environmentalists here helped animals that needed assistance. They weren't sticking their faces in business where they didn't belong. I feared that movie had the effect of misportraying conservationists as mentally unstable; this documentary showed them to be reasonable and progressive. I'm not doing this eco-friendly work, but I'm glad other people are and have been filmed so that they may inspire more people.