Lyle Lewis
@race2extinct.bsky.social
My book “Racing To Extinction” analyzes the imminent disappearance of humanity through the lens of my 30+ years as an ecologist with federal environmental agencies in the U.S.
https://race2extinct.com
https://race2extinct.com
Pinned
Lyle Lewis
@race2extinct.bsky.social
· Aug 17
Why is humanity headed for disappearance? My book, Racing To Extinction and website race2extinct.com explores our deep-time journey—2.5 million years of evolution leading to the ecological crisis we face today.
A thread on what you’ll find in my work and website 👇
A thread on what you’ll find in my work and website 👇
There’s a ‘staggering disconnect’ between racing to see natural wonders before they vanish and ignoring the damage we cause by racing to see them.
Glacier NP is a mirror. We overwhelm what we love… and annihilate what we don’t.
apple.news/AHnqFdP3zRc-...
Glacier NP is a mirror. We overwhelm what we love… and annihilate what we don’t.
apple.news/AHnqFdP3zRc-...
Travelers are being warned not to visit this popular US site in 2026 — The Independent
The spot is congested, garbarge accumulates fast and wildlife there is being disturbed, according to one group
apple.news
November 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM
There’s a ‘staggering disconnect’ between racing to see natural wonders before they vanish and ignoring the damage we cause by racing to see them.
Glacier NP is a mirror. We overwhelm what we love… and annihilate what we don’t.
apple.news/AHnqFdP3zRc-...
Glacier NP is a mirror. We overwhelm what we love… and annihilate what we don’t.
apple.news/AHnqFdP3zRc-...
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
"What we’ve built in the name of conservation is not a refuge but a mirror—an architecture of reassurance. The Endangered Species Act, the IUCN Red List, ... all reflect our need to see progress, not life. They allow us to measure our virtue even as the world empties around us."
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us.
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
November 24, 2025 at 1:36 AM
"What we’ve built in the name of conservation is not a refuge but a mirror—an architecture of reassurance. The Endangered Species Act, the IUCN Red List, ... all reflect our need to see progress, not life. They allow us to measure our virtue even as the world empties around us."
Fifteen days in the wild, and this truth feels sharper than ever:
We are drying up the fountains of life….forgetting they’re what quench both body and soul.
We are drying up the fountains of life….forgetting they’re what quench both body and soul.
November 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Fifteen days in the wild, and this truth feels sharper than ever:
We are drying up the fountains of life….forgetting they’re what quench both body and soul.
We are drying up the fountains of life….forgetting they’re what quench both body and soul.
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
I was doing wildlife monitoring. Making sure it's empirical. Sadly we use numbers for stories of hope "not extinct yet", not as senses of reality. I quit. Lyle summarizes my own feelings better than I could: "way to declare the patient stable while ignoring that the heart no longer beats on its own"
November 23, 2025 at 3:18 PM
I was doing wildlife monitoring. Making sure it's empirical. Sadly we use numbers for stories of hope "not extinct yet", not as senses of reality. I quit. Lyle summarizes my own feelings better than I could: "way to declare the patient stable while ignoring that the heart no longer beats on its own"
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
"This transformation of extinction into administration mirrors the larger logic of modern life. We don’t end destruction; we regulate it."
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us.
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
November 23, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"This transformation of extinction into administration mirrors the larger logic of modern life. We don’t end destruction; we regulate it."
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
November 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us.
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
November 23, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us.
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
This is an excerpt from a larger piece about what protection means….and what it fails to capture.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us. Tomorrow I’m sharing an excerpt from a new article that pulls at the threads we don’t like to see.
November 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
The Endangered Species Act lets us measure our virtue even as the world empties around us. Tomorrow I’m sharing an excerpt from a new article that pulls at the threads we don’t like to see.
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
"The Beef Industry Plan doesn’t strengthen the West — it destroys our fragile ecosystems and puts wildlife at risk while treating every ungrazed acre as a missed opportunity to squeeze and extract." oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/12/u...
USDA’s beef industry plan sells out public lands • Oregon Capital Chronicle
The Beef Industry Plan doesn’t strengthen the West — it destroys our fragile ecosystems and puts wildlife at risk while degrading recreational experiences like hunting and fishing.
oregoncapitalchronicle.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
"The Beef Industry Plan doesn’t strengthen the West — it destroys our fragile ecosystems and puts wildlife at risk while treating every ungrazed acre as a missed opportunity to squeeze and extract." oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/12/u...
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
In case you have missed our new episode on the weekend! @fisherdanar.bsky.social @climatenews.bsky.social @race2extinct.bsky.social @drpauldorfman.bsky.social @paulhbeckwith.bsky.social
youtu.be/FAD8DwOYZs0?...
youtu.be/FAD8DwOYZs0?...
How to Save Ourselves from Climate Crisis I Dr. Dana Fisher on Resistance and Climate Action
YouTube video by Science Talk
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 2:31 AM
In case you have missed our new episode on the weekend! @fisherdanar.bsky.social @climatenews.bsky.social @race2extinct.bsky.social @drpauldorfman.bsky.social @paulhbeckwith.bsky.social
youtu.be/FAD8DwOYZs0?...
youtu.be/FAD8DwOYZs0?...
Time offline reminded me what writing can’t imitate: the resilience of living systems still holding on.
Thanks for sticking with my posts while I was off-grid.
New ESA piece tomorrow. Catching up this week….and here’s a moment from the wilderness.
Thanks for sticking with my posts while I was off-grid.
New ESA piece tomorrow. Catching up this week….and here’s a moment from the wilderness.
November 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Time offline reminded me what writing can’t imitate: the resilience of living systems still holding on.
Thanks for sticking with my posts while I was off-grid.
New ESA piece tomorrow. Catching up this week….and here’s a moment from the wilderness.
Thanks for sticking with my posts while I was off-grid.
New ESA piece tomorrow. Catching up this week….and here’s a moment from the wilderness.
The IUCN calls the extinction crisis a mix of “hope and concern.” But hope thrives in the absence of honesty. Humanity would rather lie to itself about endless growth than face the reality of limits.
November 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The IUCN calls the extinction crisis a mix of “hope and concern.” But hope thrives in the absence of honesty. Humanity would rather lie to itself about endless growth than face the reality of limits.
Weirdos and outliers often survive where “normal” individuals can’t — especially at the edges of a species’ range. Behavioral diversity is evolutionary insurance. As populations shrink, we lose not just numbers, but the quirks that could help species survive a shifting world.
November 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Weirdos and outliers often survive where “normal” individuals can’t — especially at the edges of a species’ range. Behavioral diversity is evolutionary insurance. As populations shrink, we lose not just numbers, but the quirks that could help species survive a shifting world.
To say plants or invertebrates perceive and respond to their world is still considered sentimental or unscientific. But not long ago, we said the same about animals…..and we were wrong then too.
November 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
To say plants or invertebrates perceive and respond to their world is still considered sentimental or unscientific. But not long ago, we said the same about animals…..and we were wrong then too.
We’ve shredded the planet’s carbon-capture machinery. The atmosphere isn’t the disease….it’s the symptom.
November 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
We’ve shredded the planet’s carbon-capture machinery. The atmosphere isn’t the disease….it’s the symptom.
We call it wilderness, but every branch, every tidepool, every bear carries the memory of what humans choose to forget.
November 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
We call it wilderness, but every branch, every tidepool, every bear carries the memory of what humans choose to forget.
Long before agriculture, humans reshaped life on Earth — carelessly squandering millions of years of evolution.
November 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Long before agriculture, humans reshaped life on Earth — carelessly squandering millions of years of evolution.
Protecting a species without protecting its ecosystem is like saving a single lung and calling the patient cured. Stay tuned. My upcoming essay on the Endangered Species Act explores how policy too often mistakes paperwork for protection.
November 15, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Protecting a species without protecting its ecosystem is like saving a single lung and calling the patient cured. Stay tuned. My upcoming essay on the Endangered Species Act explores how policy too often mistakes paperwork for protection.
By romanticizing the past and rationalizing the present, we hide from the enormity of what we’ve done…..and are still doing to Earth’s living systems.
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
By romanticizing the past and rationalizing the present, we hide from the enormity of what we’ve done…..and are still doing to Earth’s living systems.
We didn’t just fill the sky with carbon — we dismantled Earth’s ability to absorb it. Forests, wetlands, soils, oceans — the lungs, heart, skin, and blood of a living planet.
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
We didn’t just fill the sky with carbon — we dismantled Earth’s ability to absorb it. Forests, wetlands, soils, oceans — the lungs, heart, skin, and blood of a living planet.
Ecology is as much art as science. It asks us to interpret a world too complex to fully measure, too interconnected to isolate, and too ancient to replicate. The deeper we go, the clearer it becomes: understanding life means listening, not just modeling.
November 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Ecology is as much art as science. It asks us to interpret a world too complex to fully measure, too interconnected to isolate, and too ancient to replicate. The deeper we go, the clearer it becomes: understanding life means listening, not just modeling.
Extinctions unfold not through one fatal blow, but through the slow convergence of many.
November 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Extinctions unfold not through one fatal blow, but through the slow convergence of many.
The things humanity clings to — corporations, money, nations, religions — are not anchors. They’re myths. And when the storm comes, they will turn to dust and blow away.
November 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The things humanity clings to — corporations, money, nations, religions — are not anchors. They’re myths. And when the storm comes, they will turn to dust and blow away.
In a world of increasing risk and uncertainty, you can only attempt to guide your life in the right direction. There will be times it gallops off another way. Do what you can. Enjoy what you can.
November 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
In a world of increasing risk and uncertainty, you can only attempt to guide your life in the right direction. There will be times it gallops off another way. Do what you can. Enjoy what you can.