Welcome to my site which is not particualrly active at the moment.
The following are examples of my work.
Be warned this contains adult material.
MOUSE AND DUNES ALMOST GONE: When the St. Andrew beach mouse was
listed in 1998, the threat of extinction was "of high magnitude and
imminent" and with development in its habitat continuing almost
"unabated," the Center for Biological Diversity and Earth Justice
are
going to court to gain critical habitat protection of dunes vital to
the species survival says the Tallahassee Democrat, AP 9/29. In a
thinly veiled threat, the USFWS warned that the "effort could prompt
lawsuits against protecting the habitats if the agency declares them
off-limits to human activity."
LISTING SCIENCE SOUND: A just released report by the GAO has
found
that the USFWS is using the best available science in implementing its
endangered species program but could improve the way critical habitat
is used for species recovery says SFGate.com, AP 9/29. The GAO found
that "peer reviewers overwhelmingly supported the science behind
decisions on which species should be on the list, courts seldom
overturned those decisions and only 10 of the more than 1,200 domestic
species have been delisted because of new and contradictory scientific
information." The report identified problems with critical habitat and
"urged Interior Secretary Gale Norton" to implement guidelines for
designations that the GAO recommended 15 months ago.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03803.pdf .
SEED BANK RACES EXTINCTION: British scientists at the Millennium
Seed
Bank are "racing against time to save from extinction as many of the
world's endangered plants as they can" says Planet Ark, Reuters 9/18.
So far, they have collected some 300 million seeds from nearly 8,000
species of plants and trees, stored in glass jars at minus 4 degrees
Fahrenheit, "awaiting the day the scientists hope will never come -
when the species no longer exists in the wild." The goal of the seed
bank is to "collect 10% - or 24,000 species - of the world's seed-
bearing plants by 2010." Scientists now estimate that "within half
a
century a combination of climate change and environmental pressure will
put a quarter of the world's plant species on the condemned list."
BUTTERFLY RECOVERY PLAN FOCUSES ON REINTRODUCTION: The recovery
plan
for the endangered Karner blue butterfly is focusing on restoring
viable populations across its range says ENS 9/22. The butterfly has
populations in just 7 of the 12 states where it was historically found
and reintroduction efforts are currently underway in New Hampshire,
Indiana and Ohio. Reintroduction is crucial to recovery because it is
a weak flyer that does not move far from favorable habitat, which is
limited to remnant savanna and barrens as well as disturbed habitats
and younger forests where its only food source, wild lupine, is found.
My favourite sites:
www.glamors.com
UPPER MISSISSIPPI CONSERVATION PRIORITIES: A first-ever comprehensive
assessment of freshwater ecosystems in the upper Mississippi River
basin has identified "critical priority areas" in a seven state region
needed to ensure the survival of the basin's fish, mussels, crayfish
and other aquatic species says the Nature Conservancy 9/30. The study,
in connection with NatureServe, identifies some 200 types of aquatic
settings, and 47 specific sites for conserving over 100 of the regions
aquatic species at risk.