A regular roundup of important news on birds and their habitats. Check back often for updates.
2/27/07
The list of hopefuls for the Democratic presidential nomination grows longer each day. But many of the leading candidates who hope to be the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party in 2008 have been slow to put the environment at the top of their agendas.
Other than Dennis Kucinich, who Birders United has already identified as being a candidate who would place a great deal of importance on protecting the environment and bird habitats, the other major Democratic candidates appear to be sidestepping the issue. It is possible that this early in the campaign, the leading Democratic candidates have yet to formulate policy in this area. When environmental issues are mentioned in their campaign materials it is usually related to lessening our dependence on foreign oil in order to put the brakes on global warming or to decrease our dealings in the Middle East.
Traditional “green” policies of conservation, expanding open space, protecting endangered species, and making sure we have clean air and water do not seem to be at the top of the Democrats’ agendas. We hope this will change in the near future. But the fact that environmental issues are not yet deemed important by the major Democratic candidates is not a good sign, especially after the very serious damage that has been done to bird habitats during the six years of the Bush presidency.
Red Knot Population Drops to Dangerous Levels
The states of New Jersey and Delaware have restricted the harvesting of horseshoe crabs because the endangered red knot feeds on their eggs when the shorebirds stop over on their annual migration from the Antarctic to the Arctic. Researchers have noticed a significant decrease in the number of red knots visiting the eastern seaboard each spring.
For the past six years researchers are visiting the red knot’s winter home near Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of South America to determine if the number of the endangered birds is indeed decreasing. This winter Larry Niles, a biologist at the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, was part of the team that counted 9,000 birds at the South American site. This is the lowest population of red knots that has been observed by the American researchers who have traveled to South America each year since 2000 to conduct the count. In 2000 the researchers counted 50,000 red knots.
Environmentalists Call on the Federal Government to Take Concrete Steps
to Reduce Global Warming in Order to Protect Endangered Species
The Endangered Kirtland's Warbler
A diverse group of environmental organizations have filed a petition under the Administrative Procedure Act in an effort to compel seven Cabinet level departments and agencies to establish binding rules to reduce global warming in order to protect endangered species. No government agency currently has any regulations or procedures governing global warming.
The environmental groups hope to force the federal agencies to implement policies and regulations to reduce global warming or its impact on endangered species by implementing science-based recovery plans. Among the agencies targeted by the environmental groups are the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation, which combined have regulatory authority over firms that produce 73 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in this country.
Large Decline in Populations of the Marbled Murrelet
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing the marbled murrelet from the list of threatened species. The FWS says the bird is plentiful in waters off the Canadian coast and these birds are not biologically distinct from the declining populations of marbled murrelets off the coast of Oregon, California, and Washington. Because the marbled murrelets in U.S. waters nest in old growth forests along the coast, logging operations in these areas have been restricted. Removing the birds from the U.S. endangered species list would open these forests to logging.
But a new review of seabird populations has found that the number of marbled murrelets off the coast of British Columbia and Alaska has declined by 70 percent over the past quarter-century. The sea biologist who was the lead author of the report commissioned by the U.S. Geological Survey said that increased logging alone could not explain the sharp decline in populations of the marbled murrelet. He suggests that climate change has altered the bird's food supply.
Global Warming Is Already Affecting Birds and Their Habitats
Global warming is already affecting bird habitats in many areas. There are reports that robins are appearing in the Arctic, songbirds are nesting earlier in the spring, migration patterns of many bird species are changing, and bird food supplies may be irreparably harmed by warmer temperatures in some climates.
Drastic changes in bird habitats may be in the offing. In the worst case scenario, rapidly rising ocean levels caused by melting polar ice could cause the destruction of millions of acres of bird habitats along coastlines around the world.
The American Bird Conservancy has made available a new report on how global warming may impact birds. Birders United readers who want to access this report can click here.
GOP Candidate Sam Brownback Has No Interest in Protecting Bird Habitats
GOP senator from Kansas Sam Brownback is considered to be the most conservative of the major party candidates for president.
On the candidate’s Web site is an extensive list of issues that concern him. But not one of these issues touches on the environmental concerns of birders. On his senatorial Web site, Brownback does talk about the environment to a small degree, but coming from a farm state, most of the policies he discusses are about agriculture. There is nothing about wetlands conservation, Endangered Species Act protections, or efforts to preserve bird habitats, clean air, or clean water.
Senator Brownback, who wants to nail down the far-right vote in the GOP electorate, does not appear willing to alienate developers, timber operators, mining interests or oil and gas drillers who might be inclined to contribute to his presidential campaign.
County Officials Balk at Price Tag for Monitoring Bird Deaths at California Wind Farm
Last July Alameda County officials rejected a $3 million proposal to monitor bird deaths from wind turbines in the Altamont Pass in northern California. A 2004 study found that up to 4,700 birds are killed each year at the wind farm. Many of the birds killed are threatened or endangered species including burrowing owls, golden eagles, and red-tailed hawks. At that time, the county government said that any monitoring program would have to operate on a budget of under $2 million.
Later, a monitoring program conducted under the auspices of the University of California at Santa Cruz was approved by county officials. Now the county government says that the costs of the program are escalating out of control and they are not sure whether the program will provide an accurate assessment of the danger to birds. So the county board directed its staff to go back to the drawing board to come up with a new plan that would remain within the $2 million budget.
Endangered Status of Bald Eagle Remains Up in the Air
It was widely believed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would remove the bald eagle from the endangered species list in February. In response to a lawsuit seeking delisting, a federal court had given the FWS until February 16 to determine if the bald eagle should remain on the list or have the protection downgraded to threatened status.
Now the federal court has decided to extend the time for the FWS to make its decision until June 29.
No matter what the decision, bald eagles will remain protected. Under other federal laws it is illegal to harm a bald eagle or disturb its nest. However, if it loses Endangered Species Act protections, there will no longer be protected habitats for the bald eagle. Real estate developers will be able to move into choice sites formerly belonging to nesting eagles.
A Web site that may be of great interest to members of Birders United is LocustFork.net. The site covers a wide selection of issues of interest to birders including a news column and Weblog.
There is also a photography section. Note particularly the feature on the birds of Alabama.
More than 71,000 people visit the site each month. If you would like to sample the site, click here.
New GOP Proposal to Change the Endangered Species Act
GOP Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, a leading proponent of Endangered Species Act reform
In 2006 revisions to the Endangered Species Act proposed by Congressman Richard Pombo of California were passed by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Pombo’s stance on the Endangered Species Act was a major factor in his defeat at the polls last November.
Pombo’s bill did not become law because the U.S. Senate, also controlled by the Republican Party at that time, failed to reach consensus on what course to take.
Now, GOP Senators Larry Craig of Idaho and Craig Thomas of Wyoming have introduced new legislation seeking changes in the act. The new bill does not eliminate the establishment of critical habitat for endangered species, as did the Pombo legislation. Rather, the bill would make it harder for species to be listed as threatened or endangered and make it easier for species to be delisted once sufficient recovery measures have been achieved.
GOP Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho and Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas also plan to introduce new legislation calling for tax breaks for landowners who voluntarily set aside habitat for endangered species.
Now that the Democratic Party is in control of Congress, it is unlikely that any major changes will be made to the Endangered Species Act. If some changes are made, it will likely be the result of the Democrats working with environmental groups on a plan agreeable to both parties.
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