The Conservation Report

Rachel Maddow Show: Robert Redford Interview Nov. 24, 2008

President Bush’s contempt for the environment and environmentalism raises its ugly head via his eleventh hour attacks on environmental regulations. His attempt to weaken environmental legislation is reckless and dangerous, because he is meddling with a movement that he can’t comprehend. Surely, he knows that Obama, the new Senate, and the new Congress will work to overturn these rule changes, so Bush is certainly behaving callously.

Furthermore, President Bush also knows that our country is currently focused with other pressing matters, so he may be taking advantage of tough times to impose his narrow and misguided ideology. President Bush’s repeals and weakening of environmental regulation may give irresponsible developers and polluters an opportunity to start projects and show reliance by investing time and resources. Therefore, these projects will be difficult to stop or reverse. What’s more, Obama may not be able to overturn most of Bush’s malfeasance right away, because in order to reverse President Bush’s malfeasance, any proposed responses or remedies will have to go through the administrative process (like the commenting period) before any changes can be reversed. However, Obama will at least have competent people running the country, so we can return to being a progressive country. Certainly, President Bush merely put our country backwards many years.

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Via OH, FOR THE LOVE OF SCIENCE!.

On the Net:

1. EPA moves to relax clean air rules near national parks
2. Bush angers environmentalists with last-minute rule changes
3. From ProPublica:
   

   Here is a rundown of rules and regulations that the Bush administration is pushing through the rulemaking process in its waning days. We will update the list regularly by adding new rules, inserting links to breaking news on each rule, and tracking each rule through the rulemaking process. If you know of other rules we should add to this list, please send us an email here. You can use our tip-sheet to get started on your rules research.

The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a type of salamander, is a critically endangered amphibian endemic to central Mexico. This species is a “paedomorphic species, living permanently in water, and does not undergo complete metamorphosis,” so the gills are retained into its adult life. The axolotl is declining due to competition, disease transmission, and predation from introduced species, in addition to overfishing, pollution, and urbanization. Captive populations do exist, since “the species is used in physiological and biomedical research, as well as in the pet trade, but the re-introduction of captive-bred axolotls is not recommended until threats can be mitigated, and disease and genetic risks to the wild populations assessed.” From the Dallas Morning News, TX:

The axolotl, also known as the “water monster” and the “Mexican walking fish,” is a key part of Aztec legend and diet. Against all odds, it survived amid Mexico City’s urban sprawl in the polluted canals of Lake Xochimilco.

But scientists are racing to save the foot-long salamander from extinction, a victim of the draining of its lake habitat and deteriorating water quality. And nonnative fish introduced into the canals are eating its lunch and its babies.

Researchers say the axolotl could disappear in five years.

“If the axolotl disappears, it would not only be a great loss to biodiversity but to Mexican culture, and would reflect the degeneration of a once-great lake system,” biologist Luis Zambrano said.

The number of axolotls (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) is not known. But the population has dropped from roughly 1,500 per square mile in 1998 to a mere 25 per square mile, according to a survey using casting nets.

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

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Who needs regulation—especially environmental regulation, it’s just too inconvenient for some folks. From the Washington Post:

The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

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A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.

An Alaska commercial fishing source, granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about private conversations, said that senior administration officials promised to “get the rule done by the end of this month” and that the outcome would be a big improvement.

Lee Crockett of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environment Group said the administration has received 194,000 public comments on the rule and protests from 80 members of Congress as well as 160 conservation groups. “This thing is fatally flawed” as well as “wildly unpopular,” Crockett said.

Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from power plants, a major energy industry goal for the past eight years that is strenuously opposed by Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.

One rule, being pursued over some opposition within the Environmental Protection Agency, would allow current emissions at a power plant to match the highest levels produced by that plant, overturning a rule that more strictly limits such emission increases. According to the EPA’s estimate, it would allow millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, worsening global warming.

A related regulation would ease limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants near national parks.

A third rule would allow increased emissions from oil refineries, chemical factories and other industrial plants with complex manufacturing operations.

These rules “will force Americans to choke on dirtier air for years to come, unless Congress or the new administration reverses these eleventh-hour abuses,” said lawyer John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Two populations of orcas, known as the northern and southern populations inhabiting the waters surrounding southern British Columbia and northern Washington, are going missing.

Orca hunting behavior and diet are geographically dependent. As a result, three types of orcas are recognized: resident, transient, and offshore. Although these orca types appear the same, each type has “specific genetic differences and specific food preferences and habits.” The resident orca type are salmon specialists, so declining salmon stocks are probably having a negative impact on these orcas. Certainly there are probably other related factors, but it’s safe to postulate that these animals require their main source of protein—salmon—in order to sustain their massive bodies. “Peanut head,” a term of art describing an orca’s condition, is a sign of starvation, and it has been reported from the area by fisheries observers and researchers. From Canada.com, Canada:

Some endangered southern resident killer whales are developing “peanut heads,” showing they are not getting enough food, said Howard Garrett of Washington-based Orca Network.

“They are looking sick. There is usually a thick layer of blubber just behind the skull, and that seems to be the first place to be drawn from when they need to draw down blubber,” he said. “In some of them, there’s a dip right behind the blow-hole and, when you see that, you know the whale has been hungry.”

.       .       .

Unusual liaisons are happening as the whales search for elusive chinook salmon, Garrett said.

“A small group from L Pod have been traveling with J Pod all summer long, and twice J Pod has split into two completely separate groups, out of acoustic range from each other,” he said. “It’s an indication that they are searching high and low and in every nook and cranny for fish.”

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The strategy’s objectives are to ensure the whales have an adequate and accessible food supply, that chemical and biological pollutants and disturbance from human activities do not prevent recovery and that critical habitat is protected.

John Ford, marine mammal scientist at DFO’s Pacific Biological Station, is an expert on the eating habits of resident killer whales. Ford wrote last year in a University of British Columbia paper, that “resident killer whales may be dependent on chinook salmon, and the abundance of this prey species may have a direct effect on their survival.”

From the Globe and Mail, Canada:

The northern resident population, which ranges around the northern end of Vancouver Island, has relatively stable numbers. The group has about 200 whales, a decline of about 7 per cent since 2000. But reports this summer indicate the population has been struggling to find food.

The southern residents, a population of 83 whales found in Puget Sound and the southern end of the Strait of Georgia, have been hit harder. Not only have they had few salmon to feed on, but the Center for Whale Research, a U.S. facility that has been studying the population for 30 years, reported last week that seven adults - including two reproductive females - have vanished. Two calves are also missing.

Observers had earlier reported signs of starvation in some of the whales, which develop a distinctive condition known as “peanut head” when they lose weight. And the birth rate has declined - with only one calf born this year.

Dr. Barrett-Lennard said the southern resident population fell to 90 in 2004 from a historic level of about 200 and now is at 83.

Image Found Here

The Interior Department is hell-bent on gutting Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In order to minimize the impact on endangered species, Section 7 requires developers or anyone potentially harming endangered species and their habitat to consult with federal officials to develop a plan for their proposed development project, so the ESA doesn’t actually mean zero development in most cases.  Nonetheless, weakening the ESA has been the Holy Grail for most developers, neoconservatives, and republicans.

The Interior Department has made a mockery of the public commenting process (or the democratic process) by reducing the normal commenting period of 90 days to 60 and then to a mere 30 days. Public outcry forced the Department to give the public 60 days to comment. In the end, the Department received 300,000 comments, and 100,000 of these comments were letters.

Previously, the Department decided to disallow commenting via email. This was a strategic move by the Department, because the Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must review all the comments and publish a final rule before the new president is elected. Barack Obama is against the changes to the ESA, so it is now or never for the neoconservative republicans President Bush has festooned throughout agencies such as the Interior Department. From TheNewsTribune.com, WA:

The Interior Department received 300,000 comments about the proposed changes, which supposedly were intended to prevent greenhouse gas emissions from threatening projects thousands of miles away.

About 100,000 of those comments were form letters; the ones that remain include comments from scientists, lawyers, other government agencies and members of Congress.

Actually, “comments” is something of a misnomer since the submissions can run 70 pages or more. At the pace Interior has established, each staffer will have to read and digest seven comments a minute to meet the deadline. Some paper shredders don’t work that fast.

The Interior Department’s review is sham and an insult to the people and organizations who took time to analyze the proposed rules and respond thoughtfully.

If the Bush administration succeeds in ramrodding its proposal through, it could take years for a new president to formally undo – if the next resident of the White House is so inclined.

Democrat Barack Obama is opposed to the rewrite of the endangered species law; Republican John McCain has not taken a position. McCain has said in the past that he is in favor of unspecified changes to the ESA.

The determination of this presidency to weaken wildlife protections is remarkable. Would that the same could be said for its commitment to fully vetting public policy.

To keep up with the deadline, the comment reviewers will have to review 6,250 comments per hour. From the Associated Press:

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne’s office, according to the e-mail, will be responsible for analyzing and responding to them.

The public comment period ended last week, which initiated the review.

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., whose own letter opposing the changes is among the thousands that will be processed, called the 32-hour deadline a “last-ditch attempt to undermine the long-standing integrity of the Endangered Species program.”

At that rate, according to a committee aide’s calculation, 6,250 comments would have to be reviewed every hour. That means that each member of the team would be reviewing at least seven comments each minute.

It usually takes months to review public comments on a proposed rule, and by law the government must respond before a rule becomes final.

“It would seem very difficult for them in four days to respond to so many thoughtful comments in an effective way,” said Eric Biber, an assistant professor at the UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.

Along with other law professors across the country, Biber sent in 70 pages of comment.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall told the AP on Tuesday that the short time frame for processing the comments was requested by Kempthorne and would set a record.

On the Net:

1. Consultations with Federal Agencies: Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act
2. Tell us what you think! (Quickly.) (By postal mail only, please.): Bush administration hustles through ESA rule change with minimal feedback; Obama opposes
3. Stifling Public Comment On Species Act
4. Comment On Endangered Species Act
5. 200,000 Letters In 32 Hours?
6. Bush administration bent on getting last licks in
7. Rush to read 200,000 comments on Species Act
8. FWS Staff to Review Seven Comments a Minute

IMAGE: NOAA fisheries biologists fix a satellite transmitter onto a female beluga whale in Cook Inlet, Alaska. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Genetic isolation from other beluga whale stocks, industrial development, and a failure to recover are some factors that resulted in NOAA’s decision to list the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales as endangered. NOAA’s decision contradicts Republican vice-presidential candidate Alaskan governor Sarah Palin’s view that Cook Inlet beluga whales are not endangered. From NOAA:

In 2000, NOAA declared the Cook Inlet beluga population depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In response to a petition submitted by the Trustees for Alaska on April 20, 2006, the agency proposed on April 20, 2007, that Cook Inlet beluga whales be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The act requires a final determination by Oct. 20, 2008. This announcement is the result of NOAA’s scientific review of the proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas.

The Cook Inlet beluga population declined nearly 50 percent between 1994 and 1998, based on annual scientific surveys. NOAA scientists estimated the Cook Inlet beluga population at 375 for both 2007 and 2008. Estimates have varied from a high of 653 belugas in 1994 to a low of 278 belugas in 2005.

Despite restrictions on Alaskan Native subsistence harvest of Cook Inlet belugas starting in 1999, the population is still not recovering. Between 1999 and 2006, Alaska Native hunters took a total of five Cook Inlet beluga whales for subsistence. No beluga whales were harvested in 2007 or 2008.

Cook Inlet belugas are one of five populations of belugas recognized within U.S. waters. The other beluga populations inhabit Bristol Bay, the eastern Bering Sea, the eastern Chukchi Sea, and the Beaufort Sea. Of the five stocks of beluga whales in Alaska, the Cook Inlet population is considered to be the most isolated, based on the degree of genetic differentiation and geographic distance between the Cook Inlet population and the four other beluga stocks.

The recovery of the Cook Inlet whales is potentially hindered by strandings; continued development within and along upper Cook Inlet and the cumulative effects on important beluga habitat; oil and gas exploration, development, and production; industrial activities that discharge or accidentally spill pollutants; disease; and predation by killer whales. The agency will identify habitat essential to the conservation of Cook Inlet belugas in a separate rulemaking within a year.

On the Net: Experts reject Palin’s claim over decline of beluga whales in Alaska
On the Net: Cook Inlet Alaska Beluga Whales and Beluga Whales in Western Alaska

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 Washington Post

Although signed by a Republican President, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) hasn’t been popular with Republicans, corporations, or developers, and there have been numerous attempts to change the landmark legislation. The ESA doesn’t solely conserve endangered species, but it protects natural landscapes and ultimately our own health as well. However, there are many folks who don’t believe in the benefits that can bloom from conservation or environmentalism.

Back in August, the Bush Administration proposed eleventh-hour changes to the Endangered Species Act. The Administration wanted to gut the “mandatory review by independent federal scientists” component from the Act. However, allowing corporations and developers to manage endangered species is a complete antithesis to what the ESA was legislated to do. The Administration also lowered the public commenting period from 120 to a mere 30 days. However, fierce criticism forced the Administration to extend the public commenting period for an “extra 30 days.”

Of course, conservation groups are fighting back. Recently “more than 100,000 citizens opposed the Bush Administration’s attempt to severely weaken the Endangered Species Act,” and “representatives from the Endangered Species Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity delivered over 100,000 comments emailed in from Americans of all walks of life after the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration refused to accept public comments in the form of e-mails or faxes.”

The one bit of government that hasn’t increased under George W. Bush is the ESA. Certainly, it illustrates this Administration’s agenda and priorities.

Number of new species added to the ESA by recent Presidents of the United States:

^*54 of those 58 species were added “in response to litigation.”

On the Net: ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: To Act or not to act

Certainly, people consume their way to poverty, and the affects of over-consumption and living unsustainably is more obvious in some areas of the world than others. For example, in certain African landscapes over-consumption is readily observable, but in parts of the world like the United States of America, the problems associated with over-consumption are not readily observable, because we live comfortable lives, subsidize our gluttony overseas, and often consume at the expense of other countries.

A symptom of over-consumption is the loss of biodiversity, particularly through the bushmeat trade and deforestation. An argument is being made that legalizing bushmeat will alleviate poverty or solve the ongoing food crisis. Not surprisingly, there is resistance to this remedy.

Richard Leakey is making several arguments against legalizing bushmeat, so he does not believe legalizing bushmeat will alleviate poverty. Some of his arguments include (1) the importance of wildlife in providing ecosystem services for people, such as seed dispersal, since “there is evidence that conserving primates, rather than eating them, will actually enhance food availability for humans”; (2) the fact that some species are already critically endangered and cannot sustain hunting pressure; (3) the need for alternative forms of agriculture such as bee-keeping and farming cane rats or grasscutters, which are already a bushmeat favorite; and (4) the spread of zoonotic diseases such as Ebola. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is thought to have jumped to humans because of bushmeat. From Wildlife Extra, UK:

Legalizing bushmeat hunting will not solve the food crisis. I am incredulous that the Centre of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) would suggest that bushmeat hunting be legalized, giving the local people the task of policing themselves. This position shows remarkable naïveté and totally fails to understand the realities on the ground. A hungry population is never going to practice conservation of food, especially where it can be had free from the forest.

CIFOR argues that since up to 80% of the rural households in central and western Africa already depend on bushmeat for their daily protein requirements, a blanket ban on the trade would endanger both humans and wildlife. They call for regulated but legal uptake of wildlife protein. Maybe, but just how can this be done? There are no mechanisms to regulate this even with the best legislation.

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I do not personally dispute the tragedy of the poor but allowing them to hunt and encouraging a process that will result in exploitation of wildlife will not alleviate their poverty. Why don’t people encourage the rearing of chickens, fish or cane rats to alleviate their protein deficiency? This will bring development and a better and healthier existence.

A species of deer, the Sumatran muntjac (Muntiacus montanus), was considered “lost” until it was rediscovered in “in the remote mountains of western Sumatra, Indonesia.” The Sumatran muntjac has not been seen since 1930, until a specimen was rescued from a snare by a team “on an anti-poaching patrol 6400ft above sea level in Sumatra’s Kerinci-Seblat National Park.” The discovery highlights the importance of protected areas and conservation. From the Scotsman:

The rangers took the photographs in 2002 but did not realise until years later that they had found a species that was thought to be extinct.

Debbie Martyr and a colleague rescued the deer – about the size of a large dog – from a tiger hunter’s snare 6,400 feet high in the mountains of the Kerinci- Seblat National Park while they were looking for poachers.

Ms Martyr said: “We got a report that there were snares active in the area and we went to take a look and see what was going on.

“We found two tiger snares then followed a trail and found this deer caught. It was about 70 centimetres high, a hind, and it was pregnant.

“The ranger I was with gave it a massage with some special oils because it had a sore leg. I took lots of photographs because I thought there was something not quite right.

“I know my cats and my primates very well but I’m not as well up on the deer. Lots of species are very variable so you have to be careful if something is not quite the right colour or the right size.”

They then set the animal free. “It went off on all four legs. It had a bit of a limp – but it had a chance,” said Ms Martyr.

Robert Timmins, a British naturalist and muntjac expert, later contacted the park looking for any evidence of the “lost” species. He identified the animal in the picture as a Sumatran muntjac.

On the Net: NEW SPECIES: Little known and poorly described mouse-deer of the Sri Lankan highlands may be undescribed species

AGRICULTURE: SCIENTIST AT WORK | NORMAN T. UPHOFF: Food Revolution That Starts With Rice

ANIMAL WELFARE: Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile: A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice in “Death Spiral,” Is Near Record Low

AUTO INDUSTRY: No “Revolting” the Volt: Chevy Battery Does Not Recharge While Driving

BUSHMEAT: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa’s Animals, Poor?

CARBON: Heat Hinders Ground’s Ability to Absorb CO2

E-WASTE: 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 19 Electric Car Players Pitch San Francisco, 30 electric cars companies ready to take over the road, China Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

ENERGY: Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan: Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Croc Hunter’s ‘Bum-Breathing’ Turtle Faces Extinction

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake, From the Onion: Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs ‘Oh, Shit,’ Says Humanity

FUEL CELLS: First Fuel Cell-Powered Plane Presented in Germany

GOOGLE: Google search finds seafaring solution

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing, The First LEED Platinum Skyscraper Nearly Completed, Lost middle-class tribe’s ’secret’ eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves

HIV/AIDS: Colonial clue to the rise of HIV: The arrival of colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa at the dawn of the 20th Century may have sparked the spread of HIV

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle, Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID unveiled

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: State wildlife commission seeks tougher rules for owning pet snakes, Stop slithering intruders: Asian swamp eels are an invasive foreign species that is dangerously prolific and adaptive, threatening fish and other native creatures

NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Pickens Overlooks Existing Natural Gas Cars in Energy Plan: Reality Check

NEW SPECIES: New Iguana Species Revealed

OFFSHORE WIND POWER: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval, Offshore Wind To Supply 15% of Rhode Island Electricity

PHEV: Plug-In Hybrids Aren’t Coming — They’re Here, Houses passes bill with $5k Volt tax-credit, mandatory alternative fuel pumps

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Earth From Above comes to NYC, Yup, still a pig, Monk Seal

RECOMMENDED MAP: USA National Gas Temperature Map

RECOMMENDED YOUTUBE: SOUTH CENTRAL FARM - PART 1, The End of Suburbia - 52 minute documentary on oil, McCain’s YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare, Sarah Palin Gibberish

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Rare Plant Thought Extinct Re-discovered in Upstate New York

SCIENCE: Sciencedebate2008: Presidential answers to the top 14 science questions facing America, Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Indiana will get $227 million waste to fuel plant

WATER AVAILABILITY: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think, Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: The slimy ooze inside prickly pear cactuses that helps the plants store water in the desert can also be used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water, according to research at the University of South Florida in Tampa

WATER CONSERVATION: Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go to Waste

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones, Judge refuses to let snowmobiles roam Yellowstone

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Hamsters, Exotic Pets May Put Young Children At Risk, Doctors Say

Mammals are at risk from (1) anthropogenic activities such as slash-and-burn agriculture; (2) climate change; and (3) habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation. Larger mammals, especially predators such as big cats and wolves in addition to migrating herds of herbivores, are at high risk because they are susceptible to climate change and habitat loss, since these mammals require a lot of land to roam. Furthermore, specialists such as the Iberian Lynx, which specialize in certain prey, or specialists that are restricted to unique habitat types are at great risk from habitat loss. From the New York Times, United States:

Experts who helped lead the study said the hazards were, if anything, increasing.

“What we’ve found is that one in four mammals are truly in peril, but these assessments were done largely without accounting for the potential impacts of climate change,” said Jonathan Baillie, the director of conservation programs at the Zoological Society of London.

“If we continue emitting greenhouse gases at the current rate, we’re looking at 40 percent loss of biodiversity by the end of the century,” warned Dr. Baillie, referring to the potential extinction of all species.

Jan Schipper, the director of the global mammal assessment for the conservation union and for Conservation International, an environmental group, said it was hard to draw a direct comparison with its last detailed survey on mammals in 1996. New species have been identified, others discovered, and the criteria used to assess species have been changed to make them more broadly applicable across all animals and plants.

But he gave a mostly bleak assessment.

“Although 5 percent of mammals are recovering, what we observe are rates of habitat loss and hunting in Southeast Asia, central Africa and central and South America that are so serious that the overall rate of decline has steadily increased during the past decade,” Mr. Schipper said.

10 highlighted endangered or threatened mammals from around the world:

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), Status: Critically Endangered

The Iberian lynx survives in isolated areas of Spain and perhaps Portugal. The IUCN 2008 Red List of Threatened Species reports that a “minimum of 84 and a maximum of 143 adults [survive] in two breeding populations (in the Coto Doñana and near Andújar-Cardeña in the eastern Sierra Morena).” The Iberian lynx is a specialist in preying on the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and its decline is attributed to the decline of the European rabbit. Habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation threatens the Iberian lynx as well, since habitat fragmentation prevents populations from intermingling or sharing genes through sexual reproduction.



The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), Status: Critically Endangered

The decline of this small porpoise species is linked to the increase of the gillnet fishery. This species, one of the smallest cetaceans, also has one of the smallest ranges, since it is “endemic to [just the] upper quarter of [the] Gulf of California.” Strategies to save this species include conservation education and providing local fishers with alternative employment and fishing methods.



The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania), Status: Critically Endangered

The IUCN 2008 Red List of Threatened Species reports that the “only viable population of the species [is in Assam, India], with a few hundred individuals, [existing] in small grassland pockets of Manas National Park (500 km²) and an adjacent reserve forest in the Manas Tiger Reserve and nowhere else in the world (Narayan and Deka 2002).” Work to save this little species of pig is being undertaken via a captive breeding program at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Pygmy hogs raised at the Trust have been reintroduced back to the wild.



The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), Status: Near Threatened, but population is decreasing

Certainly one of the oddest mammals in the world, the aye-aye is a species of lemur endemic to Madagascar. Although they don’t look like primates at first blush, aye-ayes are primates. It is rarely seen in the wild, and deforestation via the practice of tavy, or slash-and-burn-agriculture, threatens this species.



The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), Status: Critically Endangered, and only 30 exist

The Amur leopard is one of the most beautiful and rarest of the big cats. Hunting and habitat loss have decimated this species, and only some 25 individuals exist today in southwest Primorye. Another threat to the Amur leopard is the lack of genetic variability, since its population is so small.



The Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), Status: Critically Endangered

“Relentless hunting” has decimated this species. There are four subspecies of black rhino, and one subspecies may be extinct. According to the IUCN 2008 Red List of Threatened Species:

In Cameroon, no evidence of the Western Black Rhino was found during extensive surveys over much of its known range during the dry season in 2006. The population was estimated at 10 to 13 individuals in 2002, though these were unconfirmed. This subspecies may now be extinct. The South-western Black Rhino currently numbers 1,510 individuals, while the South-central subspecies numbers 1,980. Numbers of the Eastern Black Rhino stand at 700.



The Sumatran rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri), Status: Vulnerable

This species of rabbit is endemic to Sumatra, and it is very rarely seen. Deforestation and other anthropogenic influences such as agriculture activities threaten this species. More data to determine abundance and range is needed to accurately conserve this species.



Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi), Status: Critically Endangered

Hawaiian monk seals are threatened by ciguatera poisoning, human expansion, and pollution. Conservation efforts to save the Hawaiian monk seal include a species recovery plan, which is implemented by NOAA. Earlier this year, NOAA declared another species of monk seal—the Caribbean monk seal—extinct.



Southern marsupial mole (Notoryctes typhlops), Status: Data Deficient

This unusual marsupial is endemic to sandy areas of the Northern Territory in Western Australia. Little data is available for this species, but climate change may threaten it as some areas either become drier or wetter.



Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), Status: Critically Endangered, possibly extinct or functionally extinct

The demise of the Baiji seemed to catch the world by surprise, and there are several species of freshwater dolphins that suffer similar anthropogenic threats, which resulted in the demise of the Baiji. These unique aquatic mammals are both indicator species of a river’s health and flagship species for conservation. Certainly, any extinction is a loss, but every time a species becomes extinct due to anthropogenic activities, it sends a negative message about our priorities as a civilization.

Iberian lynx image found here
Vaquita image found here
Pygmy hog image found here
Aye-aye image found here
Amur leopard image found here
African black rhinoceros image found here
Sumatran rabbit image found here
Hawaiian monk seal image found here
Southern marsupial mole image found here
Baiji image found here

Is John McCain a closeted bear lover, because he certainly voted for the bear study he recently criticized at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi, and he attacked the bear study in political ads criticizing earmarks. From FactCheck.org:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain cites three absurd-sounding examples of pork-barrel spending in a recent ad: a “bridge to nowhere,” a study of the DNA of bears and a Woodstock museum.

McCain is known for fighting against earmarks, the other term lawmakers use for funding of pet projects back home. But he appears to have chosen these three because they’re easy to mock, not because he had significant involvement in removing them from the budget.

He never specifically went after the “bridge to nowhere,” and he was absent for key votes on its funding.

While he tried to cut money for several other projects in the same bill, he never proposed cutting the bear study and voted for the final bill containing it.

He wasn’t present for the most important votes on the Woodstock museum, including one on an amendment he co-sponsored to kill the earmark and divert some of the funds.

What is the objective of the bear research McCain has consistently attacked although he supported it?  The aim of the research certainly wasn’t what McCain claimed: a paternity test. From Scientific American:

Currently the front-runner for the GOP nod, McCain also hits the research in speeches on the stump, cracking jokes about bear paternity tests and criminal investigations. “I don’t know if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money,” McCain railed last month during a campaign stop in Clawson, Mich. Scientists, however, are not amused: They insist that the study is not only worth every penny but that the $3-million price tag cited in the ad is, in a word, wrong.

.       .       .

“This is not pork barrel at all,” says Richard Mace, a research biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). “We have a federal law called the Endangered Species Act and [under this law] the federal government is supposed to help identify and conserve threatened species.”

The grizzly has been listed as a threatened species since 1975 and scientists say that it is essential to get a handle on the population to preserve it. But, according to Kendall, until the feds decided to invest in this grizzly bear DNA study, researchers lacked the funds to conduct research at the scale necessary to get a reliable measure.

In 2002 Kendall assembled a scientific panel with representatives from the USGS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and FWP, along with other scientific and environmental organizations to determine the best way to measure the remaining grizzly population of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. It recommended setting up barbed wire hair-snagging stations to painlessly pluck fur from passing bears that would be used for DNA fingerprinting, a technique employed to distinguish individuals of the same species by the differences in their genetic material. This is the only way to accurately estimate population in such heavily forested terrain, where bears are difficult to spot, says Chris Servheen, a grizzly expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In response, the USGS set aside $250,000 to launch the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project; the next year, Congress stepped in to provide additional funding, and from 2003 to 2007 appropriated $4.8 million to the effort, Kendall says.

Image Found Here

This is a hodgepodge posting of random images that I’ve come across during the last few days, which may find interesting.

Cost of bailout versus major federal spending



Who voted against the $700 billion financial bailout bill? From NYTimes.com.



WebEcoist hosts “20 of the World’s Weirdest Endangered Species.” Image: Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis). Image Found Here



The New Yorker magazine’s cover illustrates Sarah Palin’s foreign policy experience.



WebUrbanist hosts “7 Abandoned Architectural Wonders of Modern Asia.”  One of the more famous abandoned buildings includes the failed Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea.



Via Andrew Sullivan, I found this article that highlights “Of All the People in All the World,” an event that uses grains of rice to illustrate statistics. More information here.



Celebrity Solstice, practically a floating city, makes her debut.



Michel de Broin turns a dumpster into a jacuzzi.



Oil Consumption by state.  WTF? Texas!



Bullfrog vs. Sparrow. Sparrow loses. See an amazing series of images here.

After some 20 years of absence, National Geographic is reporting that an adult miles’ robber frog (Craugastor milesi) was rediscovered in Honduras after it was considered extinct. The species was thought to be a victim of the chytrid fungus, which has devastated other frog populations and resulted in frog extinctions worldwide. There is some evidence that the miles’ robber frog may have developed resistance to the fungus. However, more research is needed to determine if resistance has truly developed and more research is needed to uncover the true status of the population. Image by Jonathan Kolby.

Here is a statement by Betsy Loyless, Senior Vice President, National Audubon Society regarding the 11th-hour changes by the Bush administration concerning the attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act:

“Science and sound decision-making have never been the hallmark of the Bush administration. Today’s proposal to gut the Endangered Species Act is the latest in a sad list of serial offenses against the environment. In fact, it’s likely to be one of many attacks on the environment the American public can expect as this administration limps out the door. We will fight this proposal in every way possible and can say with all sincerity that we look forward to January.”

More at the National Audubon Society.

If Senator Barack Obama wins the election he will overturn any changes by the Bush Administration that weakens the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Furthermore, Senator Barbara Boxer will have a hearing on September 24^th regarding the policy changes to the ESA. From TheHill.com:

Boxer’s office is trying to get administration officials to drop the changes administratively. At the very least, aides say, they want to get Congress on the record stating the changes are illegal. If Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) wins the presidency, the changes could then be overturned easily.

“We are holding this hearing because it is essential to conduct oversight and establish a clear record when an agency acts outside the bounds authorized by law,” Boxer said in a statement. “The Bush administration’s backdoor attempt to repeal one of our landmark environmental laws must be reversed.”

But the committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, is gearing up for a fight. Inhofe aides say the changes do not alter “the underlying philosophy of the act,” and that Inhofe is disappointed the changes don’t go further.

From CBSNews.com on YouTube:

Bob Simon gets a glimpse of an ancient tuna fishing method called “la mattanza” off the coast of Sardinia. The global demand of sushi-grade tuna is having a big impact on the local fishermen. (CBSNews.com)

On the Net: The King Of Sushi, Growing Demand For Sushi Is Having A Big Impact On The Bluefin Population - CBS News

More at The Huffington Post.

The Bush Administration attempts to weaken the Endangered Species Act with eleventh-hour rulemaking. Learn the facts and what’s at stake via E&ETV. Watch the video here, or read the transcript here. An excerpt from the transcript:

Monica Trauzzi: So, how do you think this decision fits into the Bush administration’s broader stance on the environment?

John Kostyack: Well, there have been a number of similar assaults on the environment in the past, most have not been successful, some have. But we think, at this particular moment, that it’s more dangerous because people are distracted by the elections, Congress is trying to get home, and, therefore, we are extremely wary about this and a few other proposals that are moving forward, some through the regulatory process with notice and comment procedures, others much more surreptitiously through changes in legal guidance from solicitors offices and that sort of thing. So there’s definitely reason now for more concern than ever.

Monica Trauzzi: So, let’s take a look at the presidential candidates. How are you expecting things to change or will they change with a new president in office in terms of environmental regulations?

John Kostyack: Well, things are bound to change, particularly on the chief issue of our time, which is the impact of global warming on both wildlife and people. Both candidates have taken positions in favor of mandating cuts and emissions through a cap-and-trade program, both candidates have expressed support for taking the funds that would be generated from the sale of emissions permits and put them to good public uses, such as protecting our natural resources from the extremely harmful impacts of global warming. So we’re encouraged by that and we think there’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re going to have to hit the ground running with whatever administration comes in.