Each individual

The population of individuals; not each individual: that's what my training as an ecologist teaches me to focus on. After pondering this for years, I realize I have shifted my focus. I now see the individual as deserving of more attention than what my training led me to assume.

on the wing

Science is in God's right hand
Beauty is in her left
Finally knowing, learning where to stand
I can see as if aloft
The flight of birds can take me there
I can feel it at the heart
The wind, the light, the falcon's stare
I learn to play my part

more on intrinsic value in nature

Holmes Rolston discusses intrinsic value in nature here.

Professor Rolston is perhaps better able to discuss this topic than most anyone. 

Gift of the Fallen Leaves

The great cycling of life and death
Green leaves translating the sun's energy
Now return to earth, some traveling
Downstream.

Colors that were always there, hidden
Behind the chlorophyll
Now unmasked, and short-lived
Pass before our eyes.

This message; what does it say to me
The need to wait for truth to unfold -
I am so impatient, waiting for justice,
Realizing it may not come today.

But I will stay and keep working at my small tasks
Hopeful that they will add to the total
I am not working in a vacuum
We all wait on justice. 

a wonderful book: Falling Upward

Richard Rohr has produced something amazing: Falling Upward, A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. Check some excellent reviews at these links:
http://www.bobcornwall.com/2011/04/falling-upward-review.html
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=21039
http://blog.beliefnet.com/aliteraryspirit/2011/10/new-release-book-review-falling-upward-by-richard-rohr.html