Conservation to me is about understanding and respect. Understanding our place in the complex web of this planet and respect for all life and non-life that makes up this web. Like Muir said "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." We are just now starting to realize how little we truely understand about our world, and as such, those who know the most agree we should proceed with caution lest we make mistakes we are not prepared to deal with. Conservation and preservation are just a couple of the ways we can exercise caution and show our respect for things we know very little about. For my part I get the "warm fuzzies" when I know I am doin the right thing by participating in a creek evaluation or habitat restoration project. It really gets my spirits up when I am telling my stories and ideas on the subject and my "audience" replies with enthusiasm how passionate I sound and that it in turn makes them more open to my ideas. Everyone should be passionate about something.