sunday times: warblers and bears

Good news and bad news about rare species:

• The American Bird Conservancy and Fundacion ProAves, a Columbian conservation group, have created South America's first reserve for a bird that nests only in North America.  The 500-acre reserve of subtropical forest along in the Rio Chucuri basin will preserve wintering habitat for the Cerulean Warbler.  This species has experienced pronounced population decreases in recent years.  Crows Really Are Wise recently posted on research being conducted to tease out the migratory patterns of Cerulean Warblers.
• If you didn't wonder about this administration's lack of commitment to the Endangered Species Act, how about this: an effort is underway to delist Grizzly Bears in the greater Yellowstone area.  Many onservation groups strongly oppose delisting, which would open up habitat for oil, gas, and timber extraction.  Supporters of delisting say that ESA protection should be an "emergency room", and not a place to live forever.  I agree, except that in many cases, especially, I would think, for large animals such as Grizzly Bears, large expanses of suitable habitat are necessary for healthy populations. It's hard to imagine this habitat -- not to mention animals which are top predators -- being adequately protected at state or local levels, which might be more prone to special-interest influences even more than the feds.  More thorough info and a look at the issues at PBS.

Comments

[Alan]

If the Bush team really, really, really cared about the country's natural heritage, it would . . . " Well, that's not gonna happen. What's best for the Thunderbear? Huge, unbroken expanses of habitat filled with food sources, plant and animal and with little to no human disturbance. Geez, these political idiots would kiss away their grandmother if doing so would score more political points. Critters became endangered (primarily) because their habitat is lost/diminished/degraded. How to git a critter off the list? Protect its habitat. Remove it from the T/E list, and letting the extractive industry is would only mean returning the species to the T/E list. What a bunch of idiots.