sunday times: updates on past issues

• More on the endangered Endangered Species Act, where we last had the horrible Pombo bill passing the House. Grist Magazine has a good article outlining the seriousness of this situation. It notes
  • The legislation would require payments to landowners for lost profits if the presence of an endangered species limits development options. Because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lacks funding to make such payments, this could effectively eliminate regulatory restrictions on commercial developers. It could encourage more development in sensitive habitat by creating a perverse incentive for landowners to develop on the most biologically sensitive areas of their property so they can cash in on a government rebate.
  • It contains a provision that would remove restrictions on the use of pesticides in biologically sensitive areas for five years.
  The Grist piece does into more detail on what the Senate might do and various outcomes.


• Some time ago, I provided a link to the arguments against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The Wilderness Society has now posted Arctic Reality Check, which picks apart the proposed drilling legislation.

• I have a deep affection for Gray Catbirds, and an equally deep objection to outdoor cats. Recent research on catbird fledgling survival by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center shows that young catbirds in urban settings in Maryland had much higher mortality rates at sites with higher numbers of outdoor cats.
  

• In my post on the Blue-headed Vireo I discussed the threat from the Wooly Hemlock Adelgid. Hoping to limit the devastation of Appalachian forests, a beetle from the adelgid's native Asia has been released into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Using one non-native organism to control another is extremely risky, but it appears that some sort of biological control is the only way to control the adelgids.


• I've posted on women in science here and here.  I recently came across the Women in Biology launch pages, a site where you can find links to all sorts of resources for women in the biological sciences: history, education, organizations, career planning, and more.

Comments

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will challenge the constitutional basis of the ESA. As an attorney, I've often worried that there is no constitutional basis for the ESA. With this court - see Robert's dissenting opinion on the ESA in the "hapless toad" case - as brilliantly and clearly explained by Benjamin Witte in the Atlantic - I think we can kiss the ESA (except the CITES implementation provisions, which are based on the Treaty Clause of the Constitution) goodbye. If Pombo's bill is enacted prior to the time the Court hears this case, the Court would undoubtedly dismiss it as moot.

Ellen