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Post by NAU Wildlife Society Admin on Nov 2, 2004 1:25:13 GMT -5
The rate at which we are losing species today is unprecedented, and helping to protect Endangered Species is becoming more common as well as more difficult. If you would like to start a discussion on an Endangered Species, conservation methods etc., or would like to debate about the importance of protecting or not protecting Endangered Species, please post here!
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Nov 15, 2004 21:44:00 GMT -5
Just some quick Endangered Species Act news. Truth be told, (not to start a political argument here) conservation biologists have long since feared what the current administration could do to the ESA, especially since it is coming up for re-evaluation soon. So here is one of the current threats............
California developers are pressuring members of Congress to place a rider on the upcoming Omnibus Appropriations Bill to fundamentally weaken the Endangered Species Act. The amendments would be the most significant changes to the ESA since 1982. Massive public policy changes should not be done through stealth riders. They should be subject to rigorous public review and debate. Please do not allow the rider to be attached or to be voted through on the Omnibus coattails.
RIDER 1. For almost 20 years, federal agencies have used a controversial Reagan-era regulation that undermines the recovery of endangered species by allowing the destruction and degradation of their critical habitats. In the past four years, three different federal appeals courts have ruled that the regulation is illegal. The most recent decision states: "This can not be right. If the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] follows its own regulation, then it is obligated to be indifferent to, if not to ignore, the recovery goal of critical habitat." The victory should issue in a new conservation era that focuses on recovery of endangered species, not merely keeping them alive in a continuous endangered state. Developers want to override the Endangered Species Act and the courts to undermine recovery, allowing critical habitats to be destroyed and wildlife populations to continue their slow spiral toward extinction.
RIDER 2. The rider also seeks to shield logging, development, mining and other large-scale plans from scientific review and reform -even when the plans are proven by scientists to be pushing imperiled plants and animals to extinction. The rider would thus amend the ESA to include the controversial "no surprises" policy created in the mid-1990s. Like the anti-critical habitat regulation, this plan was also struck down by the courts. Developers want the outdated policy made a permanent part of the ESA even though it has been thoroughly opposed by scientists and is currently being rewritten to include greater public review and to remove its most glaring flaws. The developers don't want to wait for public review; they don't want the flaws removed; they want the plan enshrined in its worst, most damaging form.
....sigh....well, we'll see what happens.
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Nov 16, 2004 0:56:26 GMT -5
Bah, stupid Bush administration. I'm not afraid to say it...people can disagree with me if they want. ~_^
Really though, the man has no clue and nothing he does is based on reason or science. He's a mad man.
*sigh* Let's hope our wildlife can make it through another four years, and hopefully we'll get someone in office who cares about them.
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Nov 18, 2004 15:09:37 GMT -5
I hear you man...... _____________________ Here is some good news for our friend the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher................... In response to a court order obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to protect 1,557 miles of river as critical habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Though the Bush administration has opposed establishing critical habitat areas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data shows that species with critical habitat are recovering twice as fast as those without it. The administration is the first in the history of the Endangered Species Act to have designated no critical habitat areas except under court order. The protection proposal includes rivers and streams in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. It is considerably larger than a previous designation, but inexplicably excludes all unoccupied habitat and hundreds of miles of streams identified by the federal recovery plan as essential to the species survival. I have one thing to say about this............FITZBUE!
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Nov 18, 2004 17:17:41 GMT -5
That's wonderful news. It's always good to hear success stories. They seem too few these days.
Do you know if there are any relatively close spots that are good for seeing the Flycatcher?
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Nov 19, 2004 15:17:39 GMT -5
Not too close, but I have heard one over the past summer near the town of Camp Verde. They are pretty hard to spot, not only because they like very thick riparian areas that are extremely difficult for humans to wander through, but also because if you do happen to see one they end up looking like 5 other birds in the fieldguide and its hard to differintiate between them. The sound they make is unforgetable though....."Fitzbue". Go to this link if you'd like to hear the infamous call: www.usgs.nau.edu/swwf/wiflvocl.htmlIf someone wanted to see one, I would suggest going down to Roosevelt Lake in the summer time and heading up the Tonto River in a boat of canoe of some sort, then just listen along the river banks. Stinger would undoubtably know better hotspots than I do though.
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Nov 30, 2004 12:21:17 GMT -5
Well folks, the IUCN (a great organization by the way, you should check out their link on the TWS page, it is a treasure trove of global information) just released the updated list of endangered species throughout the world...........the total: 15,589, and that is a conservative estimate to say the least.
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Dec 1, 2004 22:55:17 GMT -5
Good News! This is straight from AZG&F.
Arizona's two wild condor chicks take first flights Endangered species making a comeback
PHOENIX - Arizonans can already celebrate a milestone this holiday season... Both endangered California condor chicks that hatched in our state this year have successfully taken their first flights.
"We're so pleased to have wild-hatched chicks take flight in Arizona," says Susan MacVean, a biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. "Last year, we had the first condor chick hatched anywhere in the wild in more than 20 years. This year, we have flights from the second and third California condor chicks hatched in the wild in Arizona since reintroduction of the species began here in 1996."
Back in 1982, only 22 California condors were left in the world. Biologists captured them in an effort to save and breed the species. Experts now care for about 140 of the birds in captivity and periodically release them in California, Mexico, and Arizona, as the population begins to rebound. Forty-eight of the birds currently live in the wilds of our state, and these wild-hatched additions are particularly special.
"These chicks are a good sign that the California condor population may be able to thrive in the wild again," says MacVean. "Hopefully, next year we'll see even more wild-hatched condors."
The two chicks both began to fly, or fledged, last week. One took its first flight at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on Nov. 23. The other took flight on Nov. 25 at Grand Canyon National Park. Both chicks hatched back in May.
California condors are the largest flying land bird in North America. The birds can weigh up to 26 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 9 1/2 feet. The species has been listed as endangered since 1967.
The condor reintroduction in Arizona is a joint project of several partners, including Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Peregrine Fund, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Kaibab National Forest, and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Dec 6, 2004 15:18:57 GMT -5
Got this off the BBC............ Rare bird falls to avian malaria An extremely rare Hawaiian bird has died in captivity, possibly marking the extinction of its species only 31 years after it was first discovered. The Po'o-uli, which was suffering from avian malaria, belonged to one of the world's most threatened bird families - the Hawaiian honeycreepers. Thirteen other honeycreeper species have already died out, in what some are calling Hawaii's extinction crisis. Many species are in decline due to habitat loss and introduced predators. "The tragic death of this bird means that we may now be too late to prevent the addition of the Po'o-uli to the depressingly long list of recent extinctions in Hawaii, " said Stuart Butchart, of BirdLife International. "It should serve as a wake-up call to redouble our efforts to save Hawaii's threatened species." Failed plans The small, stocky, brown Po'o-uli (Malamprosops phaeosoma) was first discovered in 1973, in Maui's Ko'olau Forest Reserve. Even then it was desperately endangered, with an estimated population of fewer than 200 individuals. Since then, its decline has been steep. In 1995, fewer than seven birds were known and by 1997 that number had dropped to just three individuals However, none of these three remaining Po'o-uli seemed keen to breed, and each maintained a distinct home range in Hanawi Natural Area Reserve and the immediately adjacent Haleakala National Park. In 2002, one of the three individuals was caught and placed in the range of another, in an attempt to get them to mate. But the plan failed and the introduced bird soon left the area. The following year conservationists decided to take drastic action and capture all three birds to begin a captive breeding programme. But this proved difficult, and only one bird was caught in September 2004, which is the individual that has just died. Search efforts On Tuesday a hunt began for the two remaining birds - believed to be a male and a female - but they have not been seen for nearly a year and hopes for their survival are slim. "This species was a unique part of Earth's history," said Eric VanderWerf, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. "We'll never have another one like it if it disappears. "I kind of liken it in some way to the loss of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel. If we lost that we could never get it back." Tissue samples from the dead bird were saved for possible cloning in the future; it could be the species' only hope. As well as habitat loss, Hawaii's massive bird losses are blamed on introduced mosquitoes, which carry diseases like avian malaria. On top of the Po'o-uli, a further seven species of Hawaiian honeycreeper are classified as Critically Endangered, with another endemic land bird, the Hawaiian Crow, now considered to be Extinct in the Wild. "Hawaii's bird extinction crisis is a global tragedy that is largely being ignored," said George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy. "That the world's wealthiest nation is allowing bird extinctions to continue, largely unchecked, is unconscionable."
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Dec 8, 2004 16:31:45 GMT -5
Howdy folks...just a quick note to let you know that the government is accepting public comments on the Mexican Wolf Project write now. The link below is to the AZGFD weppage that has all the information, including .pdf files of project summaries and management goals. They have to be sent to USFWS through the mail, but these do make a large impact when reviewing future management efforts. Anyway, here is the link if you have the time....
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Dec 12, 2004 12:32:22 GMT -5
Well...the current administrations attack on wildlife has begun. It is no surprise for folks who have seen the effects of thier wildlife policies for the past four years.... __________________________ Bush Administration Plans to Rollback Protections for Salmon and Steelhead The Bush administration has dropped any pretense of providing serious long-term protection for endangered salmon species in the Pacific Northwest. Last Tuesday, the administration proposed to roll back restrictions on commercial development across millions of acres in California north to the Canadian border that had been designated four years ago as "critical habitat" essential to salmon recovery. The next day, the administration ruled out demolishing four dams on the lower Snake River - even as a last resort to save the fish. Both announcements represented departures from the Clinton's administration's more robust approach to salmon recovery. Both also reflected the degree to which the administration is prepared to contort science and common sense to slide out from under its obligations under the Endangered Species Act to ensure long-term recovery of the fish instead of merely slowing their rate of decline. Earlier this year, for instance, the administration proposed to count millions of hatchery-raised fish as wild fish - a bit of mathematical casuistry that would instantly make wild populations seem healthier than they are, undercut the need to keep wild salmon on the endangered species list and give the green light to federal agencies to drop protections against logging, homebuilding and other forms of commercial development. But this was nowhere near as preposterous as its argument, in the dam ruling last week, that the dams were immutable parts of the landscape, like a mountain, and thus beyond the reach of the Endangered Species Act and "beyond the present discretion" of the government to remove them. The administration offers endless justifications for its proposals, chiefly the insupportable claim that both dam removal and habitat protection would exact an unacceptable economic price. It also promises mitigating measures, including technological fixes to help the fish over and around the dams, and more "focused" habitat protection, albeit in a much smaller area than the fish's historical range. But clearly the administration's heart isn't in it. The underlying message here is that commercial interests come first, salmon second, even if history suggests that the two can comfortably coexist. _____________________ Unbelievable! Dams are "part of the landscape"! What a load of bull.
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Jan 20, 2005 12:07:44 GMT -5
Sonoran Pronghorn numbers are slightly up! "Following a recent survey, experts estimate that there are 58 Sonoran pronghorn in the United States. This estimate is more than double the survey from 2002, when biologists estimated 21. Although Sonoran pronghorn still face dire threats, the new numbers and the efforts of a captive breeding program bring hope that the animals will survive." Still not a lot, but it is a start. Heres to the Pronghorn's recovery!
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Jan 20, 2005 18:19:04 GMT -5
Awesome. That's really a great improvement if you think about it. The numbers have more than doubled in two years. Plus, they're growing instead of declining. =)
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Feb 9, 2005 18:36:57 GMT -5
I agree with you man, it is some good news. PUGET SOUND KILLER WHALES PROPOSED FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION On 12/16/04, the National Marine Fisheries Service reversed its earlier decision that the killer whales of Puget Sound are "not significant" and instead issued a formal proposal to protect them under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The decision came in response to years of advocacy by the Center for Biological Diversity including scientific population modeling, attracting federal monies for oil spill containment, filing of a scientific petition to have the species placed on the endangered species list, and even a lawsuit. The Puget Sound killer whale is a unique, highly intelligent, and highly endangered population. During the summer it resides primarily in Puget Sound, but in the winter can travel as far as Monterey Bay, California in search of food. After rebounding from a spate of shootings and captures for zoos and theme parks in the 1960s and 1970s, the population began to plummet again in the 1990s. While the reasons for the decline are not entirely clear, the species is known to be impacted by high levels of pollution in the food chain, decline of wild salmon runs, increased whale watching pressure, and oil spills.
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Feb 9, 2005 22:30:36 GMT -5
I heard about the Orcas being protected, I think it is a good idea. They are such amazingly beautiful animals that I would hate to think that future generations could possibly never have a chance at seeing them in the wild! Hell, I may never see them! Who is up for a trip to Alaska!?
Here is a weird question, are the Puget Sound whales considered a su-species? Or are all the Killer whales going to be protected?
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