Is there an ideal ecological state from the past? If so, what is it?

I think a lot of people believe that things were better back when we weren’t changing the environment so that many species are going extinct. Is there such an ideal state? If so, when did it exist?

Was it before white man got to the Americas? Before worms and pigs and horses were introduced? Was it before the dodo went extinct? Before the buffalo were decimated? Was it before man discovered oil? Before the industrial revolution? Before coal? Was it before man even evolved?

Or is there no ideal state, and man is a part of nature and whatever happens is part of a natural process, even though man influences things an awful lot.