by David S. Wilcove, David Rothstein, Jason Dubow, Ali Phillips, and Elizabeth Losos

About the authors: The authors are all environmental researchers and activists. David S. Wilcove is affiliated with the Environmental Defense Fund. David Rothstein is a professor at Northeastern University Law School. Jason Dubow works for the Nature Conservancy. Ali Phillips is with the Wilderness Society. Elizabeth Losos is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

On April 28, 1987, a biologist hiking through the remote Alakai swamp on the island of Kauai paused to listen to the sweet, flutelike song of a distant bird. He recognized the song as belonging to a Kauai ’o’o (Moho braccatus), a sleek chocolate-brown bird native to these woods. He was surely aware of the significance of this particular song, for during the past four years...