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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>
2-25-01
#267
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§
ORCAS FACE 80-95% CHANCE OF EXTINCTION- ENDANGERED
SPECIES
PETITION IN THE WORKS
§ LAKE STOCKING SHUT DOWN TO SAVE IMPERILED
FROG
AND TOAD
§ SCIENTISTS CALL FOR GLOBAL MARINE
RESERVE SYSTEM
TO SAVE DYING OCEANS
§ TAXPAYERS
RAKED AGAIN: PUBLIC LAND GRAZING FEES
REMAIN AT 1966
LEVEL
§ LETTERS NEED TO PROTECT STEELHEAD TROUT
ORCAS FACE 80-95%
CHANCE OF EXTINCTION
According to a scientific report by the Center for
Biological Diversity, the
Puget Sound population of killer whales (called the
Southern Residents)
has a 81% probability of extinction in the next 300
years. Using a
population simulation model, the Center found that the median
time to
extinction is 219 years. If the Southern Residents are exposed to
just one
major oil spill per hundred years, the probability of extinction
increased to
94% with a median extinction time of 180 years.
The
Southern Resident killer whales are among the most contaminated
whales on
earth. They have PCB and DDE levels well above those known
to harm other
marine mammals. Reproductive age females have lower
levels of contaminants
because toxins are transferred to their nursing
calves. The whales are also
impacted by the decline and endangerment
of Puget Sound salmon stocks, their
preferred prey species. An adult
male orca requires 25 salmon per day.
Without salmon, the whales may
take a higher percentage of bottom fish which
are more heavily
contaminated with PCBs. On top of all this, the whales are
faced with a
growing private and commercial whale watching presence which
may
disrupt travel, feeding and communication patterns.
The population
has plunged from 98 individuals in the mid-1990's to just
82 in 2000. The
Center and other scientific and environmental groups will
petition the
National Marine Fisheries Service to list the orcas as an
endangered species
in March. The read the report and find out more
killer whales:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/orca/index.html>
______________________
LAKE STOCKING SHUT DOWN TO SAVE IMPERILED FROG
AND
TOAD
Citing a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity
and the Pacific
Rivers Council to list the Mountain yellow-legged frog and
the Yosemite
toad as an endangered species, the state of California has
reversed a
nearly century long policy of stocking hatchery trout in high
mountain
lakes in the Sierra Nevada. Millions of non-native trout have been
placed
in lakes which naturally have no trout in order to promote
recreational
fishing. But the voracious fish devour the tadpoles of
endangered
amphibians. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has issued a
preliminary
finding that the frog and toad from may deserve endangered
species
status.
Thus far the state has not said how many of the 850
traditionally stocked
lakes will fall under the ban. Many lakes in the
Shasta/Cascade area will
also likely be put off limits to save the Cascade
frog.
To find out more about the Mnt. yellow-legged frog and Yosemite
toad
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/herps/amphibians.html>
__________________
SCIENTISTS CALL FOR GLOBAL MARINE RESERVE SYSTEM
TO
SAVE DYING OCEANS
Citing a massive die-off of coral reefs, a growing
list of endangered marine
mammals, fish and invertebrates, toxic algal
blooms, and a global decline in
commercial fisheries, 150 of the world's
leading marine scientists have called
for a global system of marine reserves.
Unlike many current sanctuaries, the
reserves would be totally off limits to
fishing and mining.
"All around the world there are different
experiences, but the basic
message is the same: marine reserves work, and
they work fast,"agreed
past American Association for the Advancement of
Science president Dr.
Jane Lubchenco. "It is no longer a question of whether
to set aside fully
protected areas in the ocean, but where to establish them.
We urge the
immediate application of fully protected marine reserves as a
central
oceans management tool."
Scientist have found that within
fully protected reserves, fish densities are
95% greater, biomass is 192%
greater and species diversity was 23%
greater.
For more information
check out the Environment News Service
<http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-22-06.html>.
________________
TAXPAYERS RAKED AGAIN: PUBLIC LAND GRAZING FEES
REMAIN
AT 1966 LEVEL
For the sixth year in row, the Department of Interior
has set public land
grazing fees at $1.35 per animal unit month (i.e. for cow
and calf, a
horse, or five sheep). So for about the same amount of money it
takes to
feed a gold fish, the livestock industry can chew up hundreds of
acres of
public land per month, per cow. By law, $1.35 is the minimum
allowable
fee. It is based on the price of beef in 1966.
Taxpayers
lose hundreds of millions of dollars each year because grazing
fees do not
even come close to covering the cost of administering the federal
lands
grazing program. When the cost of reintroducing wolves and other
species
extirpated to benefit cattle growers, stabilizing soils which erode
away due
to overgrazing, and restoring habitat for the hundred of
species which have
been imperiled by livestock grazing, the cost of public
land grazing to
taxpayers each year likely approaches a billion dollars. It
is one of the
nation's largest federal subsidy programs.
_________________
LETTERS NEED TO PROTECT STEELHEAD TROUT
Responding
to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies,
the National
Marine Fisheries Service in December proposed to extend
Endangered Species
Act protection for the southernmost population of
steelhead trout in North
America. The proposal moves the southern
boundary of the protected population
from Malibu Creek in Los Angeles
County, south to San Mateo Creek in San
Diego County. But the proposal
in inadequate because it does not provide
protection to important
steelhead populations and habitat upstream of dams
and in several prime
San Diego County streams, including those on Marine
Corps Base Camp
Pendleton.
Please send a letter to the Agency by March
22, 2001:
- ESA protection should extend to the southern edge of
the species's
historic range in northern Baja, not just to
San Mateo Creek.
- ESA protection should include southern
steelhead/rainbow trout
populations above dams throughout the
species's historic range.
\
- Critical habitat should be designated for
steelhead upstream of dams,
along San Mateo Creek and in other
Orange and San Diego County
streams.
Assistant Regional Administrator
Protected Resources
Division
National Marine Fisheries
Service
501 West Ocean Blvd. Suite
4200
Long Beach CA 90802-4213
FAX
(562) 980-4027
Please also attend the public hearing now scheduled in San
Clemente on
March 12, 6-9 pm, 100 N. Calle
Seville.
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