As this last year of the so called "noughties" winds down, I would like to share with you a remarkable video, and two stories, of wildlife conservation amid human enterprise, that straddle some of the gamut of conflicting emotions experienced by those involved in any kind of biodiversity conservation during this dismal decade. That entire gamut, of course, ranges from the absolute pit of despair over what we are doing to other lifeforms on this Earth, all the way up to cautious (but ever so skeptical) optimism that maybe, just maybe, we aren't entirely screwed after all, and there may yet be hope for us all.

Let's start with the video, shall we? Of the remarkable human presence in Yosemite National Park in California: