After finishing a story last week about another lawsuit aimed at protecting lynx, I sat back to think about the saga of the rare powder cat. I've been reporting on this subject for 10 years, but even after writing scores of stories, interviewing dozens of lawyers, biologists and land managers, I just don't get it.

Instead of a focused effort to protect and recover lynx, what I've seen can best be described as a mish-mash of half-hearted bureaucratic muddling, with the exception of the Colorado Division of Wildlife's exemplary and well-executed lynx reintroduction program.

Instinctively, I understand the need to protect and recover endangered animals like lynx. They are part of the web that connects all living things. We can't write off even a single species, for moral and ethical reasons that should be obvious, and for biological reasons that, in some cases, we don't even begin to understand.

No doubt, the nitty-gritty of the science is complicated. Wildlife biologists don't completely understand the ecology of lynx, especially in Colorado, where they've been rare since they were hunted to near-extinction.

But the overall concept is simple enough. The cats need plenty of room to roam. They need enough snowshoe hares to eat. And they need quiet, undisturbed places to build dens and breed, preferably in high altitude old-growth forests, with plenty of fallen trees and thick branches to provide cover.

It would seem a few smart people sitting at a table with some maps and the basic facts, using a dash of common sense, could cook up a workable recovery plan in a reasonable amount of time.

So how it can possibly take 10 years to resolve policy, management and legal issues surrounding lynx conservation?

Instead of action, we've seen mostly delay, including seemingly endless revisions of plans. Decisions are carefully crafted to do the minimum required by fundamental laws that mandate conservation of rare species.

And let's be clear about this: Until Congress repeals the Endangered Species Act, the federal government is obligated to act. It's the law of the land, like it or not.

Federal agencies can't just meet the letter of the law when it comes to conservation. They must live up to its spirit and intent. If they don't, they will continue to be challenged — almost always successfully — by environmental groups standing ready to hold the government accountable to the will of the people, as expressed by the laws of Congress.

It's easy enough to point a finger at hapless mid-level bureaucrats. But they have to play the hand they are dealt. Field-level biologists do their best to give the rules some day-to-day meaning. What's really lacking is political leadership from elected officials at all levels, who either just pay lip service to conservation, or treat it like a hot potato.

The system is broken. Politics and profit get in the way of meaningful conservation. The battle over lynx protection is just one local symbol of a much more fundamental question, as is the equally long-running debate over roadless policy. Somehow, these debates have degenerated into absurd partisan battles rooted in ideology.

I don't think this the most productive, logical or cost-effective way to manage this country's natural heritage. We must find a way to develop long-term policies for conserving and managing natural resources. It has to be a policy that's based on the best science and a societal and political consensus, not something that shifts with changes in political winds.

The civil service system used by federal agencies was designed to do just that, if the politicians would only let it work. But each time a new administration takes power, leaders of the natural resource agencies spend their first few months trying to undo the policies of the previous crew in a grown-up version of the playground teeter-totter “bump” game.

Why is any of this important?

Many leading scientists warn that we ignore the current tidal wave of extinctions at our own risk. It is, they say, one of the most critical issues facing the human race.

The best approach might be to put together a non-partisan national commission on natural resource policy. The group should include leading conservation biologists, natural resource policy experts, environmental groups and business leaders. It should be charged with developing viable ways of implementing existing environmental laws to stem the alarming loss of biodiversity in this country and around the world.

Bob Berwyn has been reporting from Summit County since 1996, and is still waiting to see a lynx in the wild.