But the questions behind those struggles from the Big Kill of 1962 that triggered the Leopold Report—How much should we respect nature’s autonomy? How much should we try to manipulate and control it to save it? Do we know enough to risk doing it? And what happens if we get it wrong?—have not been conclusively answered, nor should they be. They are more useful as questions that ought to be asked every time we face any decision about preserving life on earth than any answer we can give today.
