Ivory-billed Woodpecker (formerly updates) (8 Viewers)

dacol · Jul 19, 2006

jbissell said:
How has the Endangered Species Act been weakened by the current congress or the Bush Administration? I know there have been attempts by Congressman Pombo of California to mess with it, but Im not aware of the act being altered.

Others have gone in detail so what I am going to say is somewhat superfluous. One of the most damaging changes was in the critical habitats provisions of the ESA. Those have been gutted both by Congress and by regulatory action on the part of the administration. Beyond that there is an exceedingly long list of anti-conservation/pro-exploitation actions by the administration and by the Republican Congress. The general anti-science clime [fostered by the President himself and his appointees, including his habit of dismissing government scientists by labeling them "the bureaucracy"], affecting scientists in the USFWS, the EPA, the USGS, BLM, Forest Sevice, NOAA and NASA (regarding climate change studies) etc. And the general funding starvation of all agencies dealing with the environment and conservation, including Bush breaking his campaign promise to provide enough funding for the National Park Service to take care of its maintainance backlog (which in 2000, when Bush made this campaign trail promise, was around 6 billion dollars, i.e., about one billion less than the average monthly cost of the war in Iraq).

Dalcio

Winterdune · Jul 19, 2006

jbissell said:
Im not saying that Bush gets an A+ for conservation policy, but he certainly merits at least a C.

For God's sake. Bush's stance on global warming alone makes him THE biggest obstacle in the way of tackling one of the most dangerous threat to the environments of the entire planet. Wake up and kick him out!

MMinNY · Jul 19, 2006

If that were only possible. . .would that you all could do the same with the poodle.

seanofford said:
For God's sake. Bush's stance on global warming alone makes him THE biggest obstacle in the way of tackling one of the most dangerous threat to the environments of the entire planet. Wake up and kick him out!

Winterdune · Jul 19, 2006

MMinNY said:
If that were only possible. . .would that you all could do the same with the poodle.

Yes indeed. Soon...

Curtis Croulet · Jul 19, 2006

seanofford said:
Wake up and kick him out!

We're gonna try!

humminbird · Jul 20, 2006

Curtis Croulet said:
We're gonna try!

No we aren't Curtis. We missed our one chance. He can not return as Pres. so we will not get a chance to kick him out!

jbissell · Jul 20, 2006

seanofford said:
For God's sake. Bush's stance on global warming alone makes him THE biggest obstacle in the way of tackling one of the most dangerous threat to the environments of the entire planet. Wake up and kick him out!

Im not talking about enviromental policy (global warming). Im talking about conservation policy, and the protection of land in particular. In my opinion, enviromentalists and conservationists are 2 different sets of people with different agendas and priorities.

Just to make myself clear, Im strongly in favor of acquiring and protecting as much habitat as possible both privately and publicly. I think thats the only way to save endangered species. The president certainly isnt stellar in the realm of conservation, but he isnt the devil either.

I guess I'll go back to lurking now. Feel free to pound away...its been fun.

jbissell · Jul 20, 2006

Blackstart said:
To quote John McEnroe: You cannot be serious!

Federal officials have added an average of 9.5 species a year to the endangered list under President Bush, compared with 65 a year under President Bill Clinton and 59 a year under President George H.W. Bush. They have designated as "critical habitat" only half the acreage recommended by federal biologists. And they are transferring key decision-making powers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to other agencies with different priorities.

The above is taken from the following article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26242-2004Jul3.html

More on the assault on the ESA:

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/esa/report/report.pdf

And more on the Bush administration's illustrious environmental record:

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/back_issues.php

http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2003/09/we_531_01.html

http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/BushRecord.cfm

Let's get real, shall we?

Adam

I would take those articles (other than the Washington Post article) much more seriously if they were from objective sources. Not one of those organizations offered any sort of praise or acknowledgment that Bush designated an area the size of Montana as a national monument. That is because Bush is a conservative....period. Just shows the above organizations and others have an agenda that goes beyond protecting the enviroment.

On the other hand, I will fully support and donate to Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, The Duck Stamp program, The Nature Conservancy, The American Bird Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Refuge System and other similar groups. These groups have 1 common goal...to buy up as much land as possible before the developers get it. These are the groups that will ultimately do the best job in protecting species, including the IBWO if it still exists!

OK now I promise that I will go back into lurk mode.

cyberthrush · Jul 20, 2006

I'm thinking it might be best if we returned to the prime subject here and dropped politics -- besides, doesn't everyone realize that Bush isn't in charge here; Cheney and his cabal run the show and he has no intention of giving up power in '08 (despite what he says) ; - )))

But... speaking of IBWOs: I've been trying without success to find out what if any findings there are from the official Texas and S.C. searches, and if/when summaries will be issued; also, can I assume one or both of those searches will continue next winter??? -- anyone here by chance able to respond to those queries?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward woodwood · Jul 20, 2006

humminbird said:
No we aren't Curtis. We missed our one chance. He can not return as Pres. so we will not get a chance to kick him out!

He lost the election, didn't he

everyone seemed to think so

but no one did anything

Tim

Curtis Croulet · Jul 20, 2006

humminbird said:
No we aren't Curtis. We missed our one chance. He can not return as Pres. so we will not get a chance to kick him out!

You're right, of course. Under the 22nd Amendment, he can't run again. Whatever, we'll be rid of him.

Jos Stratford · Jul 20, 2006

jbissell said:
Im not talking about enviromental policy (global warming). Im talking about conservation policy, and the protection of land in particular. In my opinion, enviromentalists and conservationists are 2 different sets of people with different agendas and priorities.

Just to make myself clear, Im strongly in favor of acquiring and protecting as much habitat as possible both privately and publicly. I think thats the only way to save endangered species. The president certainly isnt stellar in the realm of conservation, but he isnt the devil either.
.

Okay, on conservation policy, isn't he the same guy that has been pushing to open up the Arctic Wildlife Preserve to oil exploration? A pristine, fragile environment and an area America could justifiably be proud of ...would you regard this regime as having done a great deal in protecting habitat/conservation issues in this case?

humminbird · Jul 20, 2006

cyberthrush said:
I'm thinking it might be best if we returned to the prime subject here and dropped politics -- besides, doesn't everyone realize that Bush isn't in charge here; Cheney and his cabal run the show and he has no intention of giving up power in '08 (despite what he says) ; - )))

But... speaking of IBWOs: I've been trying without success to find out what if any findings there are from the official Texas and S.C. searches, and if/when summaries will be issued; also, can I assume one or both of those searches will continue next winter??? -- anyone here by chance able to respond to those queries?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talking to John Arvin at GCBO, the Texas search is scheduled to be in the field this fall.

MMinNY · Jul 20, 2006

It's all politics. . .

There's no real distinction between "conservation" policy and "environmental" policy. Conserving land or species means nothing if the general environment is degraded beyond repair, and I fear we are at or past the proverbial tipping point.

Whether we believe the IBWO has survived or not, its future (and that of most life on the planet) looks pretty bleak.

This article is chilling, though probably no surprise to most of us:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article1187003.ece

One brief snippet.

"Birds

One in five species are believed to be in danger of extinction; that amounts to about 2,000 of the 9,775 named species. Most are at risk from logging, intensive agriculture, trapping and habitat encroachment."

London Birder · Jul 20, 2006

frightening statistics indeed ...

colonelboris · Jul 20, 2006

[lurk=off] I used to read the Independent once, but switched to a paper with some actual news in it. I'd always take their statistics with a big pinch of salt, especially after a few of their Gulf War II stats turned out to be, at best, overblown. [lurk=on]

MMinNY · Jul 20, 2006

I believe the stats are from Nature, though that's not entirely clear from the article. [lurk=on]

colonelboris said:
[lurk=off] I used to read the Independent once, but switched to a paper with some actual news in it. I'd always take their statistics with a big pinch of salt, especially after a few of their Gulf War II stats turned out to be, at best, overblown. [lurk=on]

Edward woodwood · Jul 20, 2006

I have referred to the Pink-headed Duck befreo on this thread (It's a 'foreign' bird)

thought to have been observed a few years back....

from BIrdLife:
Pink-headed blank

18-07-2006

A fourth joint BirdLife/Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA - BirdLife in Myanmar) survey in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, has failed to find evidence of the continuing existence of the Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea.

"We followed up local reports, but all proved to be White-winged Ducks," said expedition leader Jonathan Eames of BirdLife in Indochina. "If the Pink-headed Duck was resident in Kachin, we surely would have found it by now. Perhaps it is indeed extinct or is only a visitor to the region."

The team used elephants and boats to search the floodplain grasslands and ox-bow lakes along the Nat Kaung River, north of Kamaing and south of Shadusup. Although no Pink-headed Ducks were found, several globally threatened species were recorded, including Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, Masked Finfoot Heliopais personata, White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps teniurostris, White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis and Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus.

Large areas of apparently suitable habitat have now been surveyed in Kachin State, through a project funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative. Undaunted, the team hope to survey areas further south in Myanmar where Pink-headed Ducks were historically recorded.

that's the way to do it.

Tim

Jesse Gilsdorf · Jul 20, 2006

cyberthrush said:
But... speaking of IBWOs: I've been trying without success to find out what if any findings there are from the official Texas and S.C. searches, and if/when summaries will be issued; also, can I assume one or both of those searches will continue next winter??? -- anyone here by chance able to respond to those queries?

I have heard nothing from Texas or S.C. There are a lot of searches going on that are being kept very quiet.

MMinNY · Jul 20, 2006

I don't think the elephants are a good idea. . .

Tim Allwood said:
I have referred to the Pink-headed Duck befreo on this thread (It's a 'foreign' bird)

thought to have been observed a few years back....

from BIrdLife:
Pink-headed blank

18-07-2006

A fourth joint BirdLife/Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA - BirdLife in Myanmar) survey in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, has failed to find evidence of the continuing existence of the Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea.

"We followed up local reports, but all proved to be White-winged Ducks," said expedition leader Jonathan Eames of BirdLife in Indochina. "If the Pink-headed Duck was resident in Kachin, we surely would have found it by now. Perhaps it is indeed extinct or is only a visitor to the region."

The team used elephants and boats to search the floodplain grasslands and ox-bow lakes along the Nat Kaung River, north of Kamaing and south of Shadusup. Although no Pink-headed Ducks were found, several globally threatened species were recorded, including Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, Masked Finfoot Heliopais personata, White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps teniurostris, White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis and Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus.

Large areas of apparently suitable habitat have now been surveyed in Kachin State, through a project funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative. Undaunted, the team hope to survey areas further south in Myanmar where Pink-headed Ducks were historically recorded.

that's the way to do it.

Tim

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