The Center for Biological Diversity yesterday presented Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne with its first ever "Rubber Dodo" award, in honor of going a record one year and 90 days without listing a new species as endangered or threatened.
The previous record holder was Ronald Reagan's notorious Interior Secretary James Watt, who went a comparatively wimpy 376 days without listing a new species. Meanwhile, the Fish and Wildlife Service has classified 279 species as "candidates" for listing, because they're in danger of extinction, but haven't yet been given protection by Secretary Kempthorne.
"That waiting list could turn into a 'too-late' list without government action, as species in dire need of protection go extinct," the Center said in an email to its supporters.
According to the Center's Kieran Suckling, some of the endangered species waiting for Dirk to stay the hand of permanent annihilation are the elfin wood warbler of Puerto Rico, the Pacific fisher (a wolverine-like animal that prowls the sylvan coasts of the Northwest), and the red knot, an extraordinary bird whose tale of decline is one of the saddest and weirdest.
The red knot migrates from Alaska, Greenland, and Russia all the way to South America; along the way, it stops in Delaware Bay at just the right time of year to gorge on horseshoe crab eggs. Unfortunately for the red knot, Big Pharma also has its designs on horseshoe crabs; the blood of the horseshoe crab is used to test almost every intravenous drug in development, leading to a drastic decline in population for this once-plentiful species -- and a corresponding decline in the red knot. Fortunately, just talk of putting the red knot on the endangered species list has prompted some states to put tight limits on Big Pharma's bloodsucking ways.
The other good news: in the wake of the award, Suckling reports, Interior Department officials have invited the Center of Biological Diversity in for a meeting, which could lead to a settlement requiring the Interior Department to protect at least some of the species in question.
That hasn't stopped Interior officials from blaming everyone under the sun except themselves for the failure to list endangered species. During an interview with Grist, Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery variously blamed the Clinton administration, environmentalists, and Congress for inundating the Department with lawsuits trying to get them to list more species under the act or protect habitat needed by endangered species without providing sufficient funding or time to do it.
"We've been paralyzed by litigation, much of it by environmentalists like the Center for Biological Diversity," Vickery said. "There's a limited amount of resources and staff and we have to do medical triage on species when they come in."
But with that triage taking more than a year, species like the red knot better hope they don't die in the waiting room.
You can contact Secretary Kempthorne about this issue by clicking here.
This Halloween, cut flesh for the climate
WWF finds tons of new species about to be wiped out by climate change [slideshow]
Comments
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Biodiversivist Posted 2:35 pm
28 Aug 2007
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Backcut Posted 10:53 pm
28 Aug 2007
The biggest threat to many rare creatures are catastrophic wildfire, as we are now seeing in this new millenium of unhealthy forest preservationism and "firestorm embracing".
Yep, we CAN reach 10 million acres burned this year, as we are solidly in the prime time of fire season. Since many think that wildfires are "natural and beneficial", they should relish the images of charred homes and forced evacuations.
Keep watching the NIFC website to watch the acreage skyrocket.
Scenic pics at http://Lhfotoware.blogspot.com
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askantik Posted 11:49 pm
28 Aug 2007
********
Dennis Kucinich 2008
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samara Posted 2:31 am
29 Aug 2007
Check out their web site-it's cool and inspiring: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeu3rwf/index.html
Samara
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caniscandida Posted 10:30 am
29 Aug 2007
Thanks, Samara, for the reference to that site on Red Knots, Calidris canutus. A number of related shore birds, sandpipers and plovers, could use more attention.
The Fisher, Martes pennanti, is indeed related to the Wolverine, Gulo gulo, both being large members of Mustelidae, the Weasel family. But I do not know that they resemble each other all that closely, the former being more cat-like, or rather classically weaselish, the latter more bear-like.
Whether the Pacific population of the Fisher is endangered, I do not know, but it would not surprise me. The species as a whole is not in near danger of extinction, however, which only points to the need to have a more nuanced interpretation of the law so as to show regard for distinct populations.
Also, needless to say, we want the EPA to be run by people whose first question about anything is not, "How will this affect the business interests?"
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Backcut Posted 12:18 pm
29 Aug 2007
Scenic pics at http://Lhfotoware.blogspot.com
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