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The shithead who illegally cut down a 7-foot conifer in the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle got himself a lot more than a typical Christmas tree...  It was a rare, imperiled Keteleeria evelyniana from China, and it may be impossible to replace. University of Washington Botanical Gardens manager Randall Hitchin told The Seattle Times that he nurtured the tree since it arrived as a seedling from mountainous Yunnan province in 1998: "A Keteleeria is something that even most arborists have never heard of," Hitchin said. "Or if they have, it's just a reference in a book. To have a specimen in the flesh is just a tremendous thing... it makes me want to cry."
Replacing the tree will be costly. It may not even be possible to find a genetically equivalent specimen. "I don't even know if the site where this tree was collected is now under a hotel or something," Hitchin said. This isn't the first time thieves have struck the park. Several years ago, an employee of a local restaurant made off with an unusual fir tree and set it up in his workplace, said David Zuckerman, horticulturist for the UW Botanic Gardens. When the eatery's manager realized the tree was stolen, he turned the worker in. The university manages the 230-acre Arboretum as a collection of 20,000 trees, shrubs and plants used in classes and educational programs. Officials have considered fencing or dousing at-risk trees with paint or foul-smelling animal urine in an attempt to prevent them from being sawed off for Christmas. "We always worry this time of year," Zuckerman said. "But there's not much we can do unless we put cages around everything." I have an idea, Mr. Zuckerman: How about a bunch of these? Tags: asshole, christmas, crime, endangered species
From: Chicago
Mood:  Humbug
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The senseless scourge of rhino poaching continues to grow, with poaching levels at 15-year highs. Part of the reason according to WWF is rising demand in Asia, where the horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine, but Mongabay points out an undoubted contributing factor. Rhino horn is now worth more than gold... 
(Hat-tip Matthew McDermottA kilogram of rhino horn now goes for $60,000 on the black market, whereas that much gold is currently worth a bit over $40,600. That's $1610 an ounce for the rhino horn. Back in July, WWF reported that from 2000-2005, about three rhinos were killed per month in Africa as a whole, with that figure rising to 12 per month in Zimbabwe and South Africa. At least in the case of Zimbabwe, an utter lack of law enforcement, not helped by virtually no funding for rangers to protect rhinos, and weak penalties for poachers who are caught doesn't help the situation. In fact, 25% of Zimbabwe's rhinos have be killed just in the past three years, as evidence mounts that poachers are linking up with international crime syndicates to sell the horn. Poaching in Asia isn't much better, with at least ten rhinos being killed in India and seven in Nepal since the start of 2009. There are only five remaining rhino species left in the world and, according to the UCN, three are classified as critically endangered (Javan, Sumatran, and black rhino), the white rhino is listed as 'near threatened', while the Indian rhino is 'vulnerable'. Learn more (and get involved) here.Tags: africa, animals, crime, endangered species, extinction, greed, india, loathsome people, poaching, wildlife
From: Chicago
Mood:  Damned, Dirty Apes
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The wholesale slaughter of the gray wolf is now back in full swing, thanks to Obama's decision to continue Bush's irresponsible environmental policies... 
(Hat-tip Chris in Paris)What a disappointment and waste of years of recovery efforts by the federal government. After being on the endangered species list for years (and with wolf populations slowly coming back), it's all gone, quicker than you can say "special interest." At least Obama can wrap up those critical rancher votes which he covets so much, eh? Melanie Stein, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, said that the wolf populations "are just on the cusp of recovery and that we are almost there." But she says the hunts represent "a step backward and away from recovery" of the wolf populations.
Defenders of Wildlife, one of several groups urging the court to stop the hunt, detailed the ecological role of the wolves on its web site.
"In what is known as the cascade effect, wolves are exerting influence over a multitude of species within the park's ecosystem. Elk, wary of the reintroduced top predator, have altered their grazing behavior... With less grazing pressure from elk, streambed vegetation such as willow and aspen is regenerating after decades of overbrowsing. As the trees are restored, they create better habitat for native birds and fish, beaver and other species..." More good reading on the topic — from a former Montana hunting guide, no less — right here. Tags: animals, barack obama, disgrace, dumb americans, endangered species, environment, greed, hunting, wildlife, wolves
From: Chicago
Mood:  Pyew
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A $15,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and/or conviction in the shooting death of a Florida panther, one of the world's rarest big cats...  The dead female panther was found near the Hendry Correctional Institute on private property bordering the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) special agents and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) investigators are jointly investigating the case. There are only about 100 Florida panthers left in the world, protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, making it unlawful for a person to ‘take' one without a permit. ("Take" is defined as "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct.") If convicted, the federal penalty is up to one year of imprisonment, $100,000 fine per individual or $200,000 per organization. In addition, State of Florida makes it a third degree felony to kill or wound any species designated as endangered or threatened, carrrying a penalty is up to five years in jail and/or up to a $5,000 fine. "The FWC encourages anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case to come forward, so we can bring the person or persons responsible for this crime to justice," said FWC Capt. Jeff Ardelean. "It is our agency's mission to protect and preserve the rare and magnificent panther, the state's official animal, for future generations." Anyone with information regarding this case should call the USFWS's Office of Law Enforcement at (239) 561-8144. Those wishing to stay anonymous should call the FWC's Wildlife Alert Line at 1-888-404-3922. You can help up the bounty here, as the Defenders of Wildlife is currently matching all contributions made toward the reward fund. Tags: animals, crime, endangered species, extinction, florida everglades, justice, loathsome people, poaching
From: Chicago
Mood: Pissed
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And the award goes to...  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who took a big step backwards in the history of American wildlife conservation with the stroke of a pen, moving the gray wolf from under the protection of the Endangered Species Act and squarely into the crosshairs of hunters, ranchers and special interest groups across the Northern Rockies. This asshole's decision to allow the Bush's last-minute delisting rule for wolves to take effect risks a tremendous loss for the 30-year legacy of recovering wild wolves in the region. The rule, effective as of May 4th, allows the majority of the region's estimated 1,600 wolves to be killed, once again putting their survival as a species in peril. The rule takes effect even as new pups are being born throughout the region, making them easy targets for those who want them shot, trapped and poisoned. All the reasons why this delisting plan was a bad idea when the Bush administration proposed it in January 2009 still stand today. The rule allows all but 300 of the 1,300 wolves in Idaho and Montana to be killed. It also eliminates protections for wolves in northern Utah and eastern portions of Washington and Oregon. Idaho, which hosts the area's largest wolf population, has already publically announced plans to kill more than half of its wolf population within the year after federal protections are lifted. It is beyond comprehension and without precedent that we find ourselves in this situation; with a wildlife population that has only just been declared "recovered" now facing a possible loss of over half of their numbers. No one would have dreamed of "managing" the bald eagle so aggressively as soon as it came off the Endangered Species Act, yet for purely political reasons, wolves in the Northern Rockies face the possibility of the eradication of the majority of their population soon after losing federal protections. Salazar should not have allowed this rule to take effect without engaging in a clear and transparent public consultation process. Instead, he made the surprise decision to move forward without considering current science, and without ensuring that appropriate state wolf management plans are in place to ensure a sustainable wolf population after delisting. In fact, Salazar rejected offers from groups in the region and around the country to work with him to find the right way to delist wolves in the region. Delisting under these conditions casts aside the decades of work, expense and stakeholder participation that went towards building a viable wolf population in the region. Hundreds of scientists have formally spoken out against the delisting rule, noting that the rule ignores contemporary scientific research on what constitutes a recovered wolf population, and allows wolf populations to be reduced to the point where they could not achieve the natural genetic connectivity deemed by scientists to be essential to the species' long-term survival in the region. Most recently, scientists with the Society for Conservation Biology wrote a letter to Salazar urging him to reconsider publishing the rule based on unresolved scientific issues regarding the genetic health and connectivity of the regional wolf population. Sadly, none of this was considered by Salazar, whose rushed decision is especially disappointing given President Obama's statements emphasizing the need to restore scientific integrity in the administration of the Endangered Species Act. Just three days before Salazar's announcement that he would delist the Northern Rockies wolf, President Obama pledged in a memorandum to "restore the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act." This pledge was not upheld by the administration in going forward with delisting the Northern Rockies wolf, a process which should have included in-depth consultation and a full scientific review. And it's a potential tragedy that could have easily been avoided. Click here now to give Obama a kick in the ass for allowing
this idiot Salazar to call open season on the gray wolf.Tags: asshole, barack obama, ecology, endangered species, environment, hunting, wolves
From: Chicago
Mood: Pyew
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In just a short time, one of the rarest sharks in the world went from swimming in Philippine waters to simmering in coconut milk...  The 13-foot-long megamouth shark ( Megachasma pelagios), captured by mackerel fishermen off the city of Donsol, was only the 41st such specimen ever found, according to WWF-Philippines. The fisherman brought the creature — which died while struggling in the fishermen's net — to local project manager Elson Aca of WWF, an international conservation nonprofit. Aca immediately identified it as a megamouth shark and encouraged the fishers not to eat it. But the draw of the delicacy was too great: The 1,102-pound shark was butchered for a shark-meat dish called kinuout."It is essential that we continue working with the government and local community on the sustainable management of Donsol's fisheries resources for the benefit of whale sharks, megamouth sharks, and the local community," Lee said. The megamouth shark species, discovered in 1976 off Oahu, Hawaii, was so bizarre that scientists had to create a new family and genus to classify it. With its giant mouth but tiny teeth, megamouth, like the whale shark, is a filter feeder that preys on tiny animals and appears to be no danger to humans. The shark is so rare that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the megamouth species as "data deficient." Tags: endangered species, environment, extinction, fishing, greed, marine life, sharks
From: Chicago
Mood: Damned, Dirty Apes
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For the first time, a newborn blue whale has been captured on camera, according to a National Geographic documentary to air this coming Sunday... The baby is believed to be the first scientific proof that a blue whale "hot spot" in the Pacific is a birthing ground for the endangered species. During a January 2008 expedition to the "Dome" — a warm-water region off Costa Rica that draws blue whales from hundreds of miles away — the researchers had begun to lose hope of finding a calf. Then two telltale spouts began erupting at the sea surface. "Oh, tell me that one of them is a small blow, please," Bruce Mate, of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, says in the documentary. One of the spouts did turn out to be that of a calf, which approached the research boat — surprising the scientists, given blue whale mothers' protective reputations. A photographer and videographer dived in and soon had the visual evidence needed: fetal folds establishing the whale as a newborn blue. Averaging 25 feet long at birth, blue whale babies nurse for about seven months until they double in size. Gaining about 200 pounds a day, they are the biggest babies ever known to have roamed the Earth. The species was heavily hunted until a worldwide ban in 1966. Today, they still face a very high risk of extinction. Tags: animals, ecology, endangered species, environment, marine life, science, whales
From: Chicago
Mood:  Neat-o
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At feeding time, it's not just the odd pint of milk that's needed for these hungry mouths - it's gallons...  Every one of these elephant calves lost its parents to the poacher's gun or snare. Rescued from all corners of Kenya and brought to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, 30 minutes outside the capital of Nairobi, they're cared for with every intention of returning them to the wild. But this year there are more orphaned elephants than ever, because poaching has increased dramatically. The poachers have been encouraged by the Convention for Trade in Endangered Species' decision to allow China and Japan to buy 108 tons of ivory in African stockpiles. 74-year-old Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who runs the orphanage, believes there is a link between legal ivory sales and the number of newly-orphaned calves. "Every time ivory is auctioned legally, there's a rise in poaching," she says. "We estimate that the number of elephants killed in Africa this year has risen by almost 45% last year" said Daphne, who has worked with her staff to protect Africa's wildlife for over 50 years. "At the beginning of 2008 the total number of infant elephants that had been hand-reared through the Trust's Nairobi Nursery was 75. By the end of 2008, the number of orphans number over 90."  The elephants are fed a special formula milk every three hours day and night and are not weaned until they are three years old. Eventually, they graduate to a 'rehabilitation facility' in Tsavo National Park to enable them to rejoin wild elephant herds. "Gradually the orphans pluck up courage to mingle with wild herds while the keepers maintain a safe distance," says Daphne, "but before they get to that stage, they'll take their jumbo milk breaks every three hours. You can help.Tags: africa, animals, ecology, elephants, endangered species, environment, poaching
From: Chicago
Mood:  Pessimistic
Now Playing: Kitchen Chaos
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 For the last 12 years, a single, solitary whale whose migratory patterns and vocalizations match no known living species has been tracked across the Northeast Pacific. Its vocalizations have also subtly deepened over the years, indicating that the creature is maturing and aging. And, during the entire 12-year span that it has been tracked, it has been calling out for contact from others of its own kind... It has never received an answer.Read more here, here and here. Tags: endangered species, environment, extinction, marine life, science, whales
From: Chicago
Mood:  Haunted
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Temporarily, anyway... I'll take it.  The federal government plans to withdraw a rule that removed wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington from the endangered species list. If U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula agrees, a lawsuit filed by environmentalists will end, and federal biologists will get a chance to rewrite the plan to meet objections the judge made. Molloy's preliminary injunction July 17th temporarily relisted wolves and put a halt to plans in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to open hunting seasons on the animals. Since that decision, the estimated 2,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies have been under federal management. Ed Bangs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's top wolf manager, acknowledged the Bush administration has failed to explain why it was confident it could delist wolves without endangering the species again. Before the agency can issue a new rule, it must address Molloy's concerns, Bangs said. "There's going to be a thorough, fine-toothed comb going through it to decide what we can do better," Bangs said. The Natural Resources Defense Council and 11 other wolf advocacy groups demonstrated they would likely win the case on the merits of their arguments, Molloy said in his July opinion. Molloy made that decision based on the wolf advocates' claim that wolves in Yellowstone National Park were not genetically mixing with other wolf populations, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said was necessary. If the wolves don't interbreed throughout the region, that could leave isolated and genetically threatened enclaves, not a sustainable population. Malloy also criticized Wyoming's plan, which left 90% of the state open for wolf killing year-round. But the judge said the Montana and Idaho wolf plans were good enough to protect wolves at least as well as the federal rules in place when the wolves were delisted. Idaho estimated it had a spring wolf population of 1,063 and, before Molloy's ruling, had authorized a hunting season that would have allowed the killing of up to 428 of them. Bangs said shortly after the July decision that he was confident he could change the judge's mind on the genetics issue. But Wyoming's determination to let wolves be killed in much of the state was an issue that was harder to defend. "Hopefully they'll go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that better protects wolves," said Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold, who had filed the lawsuit on behalf of environmentalists. The war over the wolves isn't over by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure feels good to win a battle once in a while. Tags: animals, bush legacy, endangered species, esa, hunting, wolves
From: Chicago
Mood:  Encouraged
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These rotten bastards are hell-bent on doing as much damage as they possibly can in their final months... 
"What they are talking about doing is eviscerating
the Endangered Species Act." - Eric GlitzensteinAccording to a document obtained by the Associated Press, the Bush administration wants federal agencies to "decide for themselves" whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants. New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing for 35 years, according to the draft acquired by the AP. Interior Secretary Dirk "The Vampire" Kempthorne said yesterday that the changes were needed to ensure that the Endangered Species Act would not be used as a "back door" to regulate the gases blamed for global warming. In May, the polar bear became the first species declared as threatened due to warming temperatures that melting the sea ice they depend on for survival. The draft rules would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats. "We need to focus our efforts where they will do the most good," Kempthorne said in a news conference organized quickly after AP reported details of the proposal. "It is important to use our time and resources to protect the most vulnerable species. It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species." If approved, the changes would represent the biggest overhaul of endangered species regulations since 1986. They would accomplish through rules what conservative Republicans have been unable to achieve in Congress: ending some environmental reviews that developers and other federal agencies blame for delays and cost increases on many projects. ( Read it & weep... )Tags: animals, bush, bush cronies, bush legacy, disgrace, ecology, endangered species, environment, loathsome people
From: Chicago
Mood:  Damned, Dirty Apes
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(Hat-tip TruthDig & Georgianne)While National Geographic continues to rank among the world's best, mainstream sources for educating people about the gut-churning horrors of humankind, they also bring us some encouraging news once in awhile... Like this.Now that the "secret paradise" has been revealed, let's see how long it takes for the commercial poachers, loggers, miners and rebel "soldiers" to move in and wipe out our last-living ancestors, shall we? You can help Jack Hanna & the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project here,
and/or Dian Fossey's Gorilla Fund International here.P.S. Wait, what?... Tags: africa, animals, endangered species, environment, extinction, fox news, gorillas, poaching
From: Chicago
Mood: Cautiously Pessimistic
Now Playing: 'Crash' - The Primitives
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(Hat-tip Stephanie Mencimer)Y'know, I love it when the Bush administration channels Ronald Reagan. The linguistic twists alone are nothing short of priceless, like this one, from yesterday's WaPo. In a story about how the new anti-immigrant fence along the Mexican border is threatening countless species of endangered wildlife by disrupting migration patterns and cutting off water sources, Homeland Security spokesperson Amy Kudwa — undoubtedly with a straight face — suggested that the new fence might actually improve the environment by "reducing the trash left by immigrants crossing the border." Yeah, Amy... just like golf course ponds are wetlands, and the " Clear Skies Initiative" actually clears the skies. Tags: bush legacy, ecological disaster, endangered species, environment, extinction, homeland security, immigration, mexico
From: Chicago
Mood: Bastards
Now Playing: 'Stupify' - Disturbed
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 My fellow Sea Shepherd supporters will be happy to know that Operation Migaloo is well underway, with Captain Paul Watson and his crew of 41 international volunteers currently sailing the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary in search of a face-off with the outlaw Japanese whaling fleet. With limited resources and no governmental support of any kind, Watson has pledged to "enforce international conservation regulations on the high seas" vs. Japan's goal of killing more than 1,000 whales - a purely commercial hunt (in direct violation of an international whaling moratorium), thinly disguised as " scientific research." As the whalers seek to hunt down and kill the whales, Watson says, Sea Shepherd will be hunting the whalers with the objective of directly intervening in the slaughter.  "Basically we're going down there to stop them," said Sea Shepherd's Jonny Vasic. "We're not going down there to protest; we're going down to directly intervene and put an end to this criminal behaviour. We've been known to ram a vessel that's engaged in illegal activity as a last-ditch effort to get them to stop... we don't have a problem with economic destruction when it's engaged in illegal activity.” You can follow the crew's blog here, and - if you can - help support the mission by making a donation, no matter how small. It'd make a helluve welcome Christmas gift for the crew. UPDATE: It appears the international attention/negative publicity the Japs are getting from this year's hunt have forced them to temporarily de-list critically endangered humpback whales from their target quota "due to concern about the negative impact on relations with Australia..." Good news for the humpback - for now - but no help to the 1,000+ minke and fin whales that remain on the hit list. Tags: captain paul watson, endangered species, extinction, overfishing, sea shepherd, whales, whaling
From: Chicago
Mood:  Determined
Now Playing: 'Godzilla' - Blue Oyster Cult
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(Hat-tip National Geographic)In 1780, Alaska's first Norway rat climbed ashore on a rugged, uninhabited island in the Aleutian chain after a rodent-infested Japanese ship ran aground there. Since then, " Rat Island," as it was dubbed by a sea captain in the 1800s, has gone eerily silent. The sounds of birds are missing. That's because the rats feed on eggs, chicks, and adult seabirds, which come to the mostly treeless island to nest on the ground or in crevices in the volcanic rock. "As far as bird life, it is a dead zone," said Steve Ebbert, a biologist at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Now, state and federal wildlife biologists are gearing up for an all-out assault on the rats of Rat Island, hoping to exterminate them with poison. If successful, it will be the third-largest island in the world to be made rat-free. Rats have been the scourge of islands worldwide. According to the group Island Conservation, rats are to blame for between 40-60% percent of all seabird and reptile extinctions, with 90% of those occurring on islands. "Rats are one of the worst invasive species around," said Gregg Howald, Island Conservation's program manager, which is working with the U.S. government on a plan for Rat Island. "Norway rats typically have four to six litters a year, each containing 6 to 12 babies. One pair can produce a population of more than 5,000 in one year." The state is joining forces with federal wildlife biologists in a multi-pronged attack to drive the rats from Alaska. Regulations went into effect this fall requiring mariners to check for rats and try to eradicate them if found. Violators face a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. Corporations could be fined up to $200,000. The state also is distributing 15,000 "Stop Rats!" pamphlets, instructing mariners to kill every rat found on board, have traps set at all times, keep trash and food in rat-proof containers and use mooring line guards. Sailors are also urged never to throw a live rat over the side, because the mammals are excellent swimmers. The offensive against the rats of Rat Island could begin as early as next October, and involves the use of a blood thinner that will cause the rodents to bleed to death. Once the rats are gone, wildlife biologists expect the return of birds to be dramatic. After black rats were wiped out in 2002 on Anacapa Island off the California coast, murrelets were back in force by the following April, and Cassin's auklets were nesting there for the first time. "Over time, you see an incredible response," Howald said. Tags: alaska, animals, ecology, endangered species, environment, extinction, invasive species
From: Chicago
Now Playing: 'I Want You' - Fiona Apple & Elvis Costello
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At least the bastards got caught (this time)... 
(Hat-tip Cernig)The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior Department official. In a letter to Rep. Nick Rahall, (D-W.VA), the agency acknowledged that the actions had been " inappropriately influenced," and that "revising the seven identified decisions is supported by scientific evidence and the proper legal standards." The reversal affects the protection for species including the white-tailed prairie dog, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and the Canada lynx. The rulings came under scrutiny last spring after an Interior Department inspector general concluded that agency scientists were being pressured to alter their findings on endangered species by Julie MacDonald, then a deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service. MacDonald resigned her position last May. Rahall in a statement said that MacDonald, who was a civil engineer, "should never have been allowed near the endangered species program.'' He called MacDonald's involvement in species protection cases over her three-year tenure as an example of "this administration's penchant for torpedoing science." Tags: animals, bush, bush cronies, bush legacy, disgrace, ecology, endangered species, environment, war on science
From: Chicago
Mood: Determined
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(Hat-tip Nick Squires)Australian authorities fear that the world's only known white humpback whale could be slaughtered as Japan's whaling fleet prepares to embark on its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean. The one-of-a-kind male humpback, named Migaloo (an Aboriginal word for "white fella"), has become a celebrity in Australia since being spotted for the first time in 1991. Each year, he - along with other closely-knit humpback pods - migrates from the icy seas of Antarctica to the warm shallows of the South Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef. A few months later, the females - leading their newly-born calves - return to Antarctica. The arrival of 45 foot-long Migaloo - believed to be the only completely white humpback in the world - is keenly anticipated by whale watchers along Australia's east coast. He has been hailed as modern day Moby Dick, even though the creature in Herman Melville's 1851 classic was a sperm whale.  Marine biologists and conservationists, however, fear that Migaloo (who is accustomed to/comfortable near whale-watching and fishing boats) will be an easy target for Japanese hunters. How he's managed to escape their harpoons up until this point is anyone's guess. With the southern hemisphere summer approaching, the Japanese whaling fleet is preparing to leave port within days, defiantly declaring that it will kill 50 humpbacks, as well as 50 fin whales and hundreds of minke whales. The Japanese argue that - after decades of hunting - fin and humpback whales have recovered to " sufficient levels" that their population can now withstand being "harvested" again.  The Fisheries Agency in Tokyo refused to rule out killing Migaloo, with officials offering a blunt "no comment" to media inquiries. Instead, the agency called on Australia and New Zealand to ensure that the Japanese fleet would be protected from anti-whaling ships operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (which regular readers of this blog will recognize as my all-time favorite environmental group). Last year, Sea Shepherd threatened to ram outlaw Japanese vessels with a ship fitted with a bulldozer-type blade. Even though the group operates under international and regional maritime law, Tokyo has conveniently branded them as " environmental terrorists." "(Australia and New Zealand) maintain the same position as Japan does against the violent action of terrorists," spokesman Hideki Moronuki told ABC Radio. "[We] need support from those two countries in order to secure the safety of our crews and (our ships)." 
The Sea Shepherd ship Robert Hunter (left) and the Japanese
whaler Kaiko Maru collide, February '07But the captain of Sea Shepherd's two vessels, Paul Watson, said he's got the law on his side: "They're targeting endangered species in a whale sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on whaling. If Japan reacts violently to us, causes any injury at all to any of our people, that will backlash very severely on Japan because Japan is the criminal nation here," he said. Japan uses a loophole in International Whaling Commission laws to hunt around 1,000 whales each year in the Southern Hemisphere, ostensibly for the purposes of " scientific research."  This December, Captain Watson & his crew will embark on their fourth expedition to meet the Japanese harpoon fleet head on, in a campaign they've dubbed " Operation Migaloo." As these bastards hunt down and kill the whales, Sea Shepherd will be hunting them. Please give Watson a hand if you can. Even a couple of bucks could make a big difference. Pass it on. Tags: ecology, endangered species, environment, japan, marine life, oceans, paul watson, sea shepherd, whales, whaling
From: Chicago
Mood: Join Me
Now Playing: 'Can't Kill You' - Terra Naomi
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(Hat-tip James Kanter)According to a major report issued by the U.N., the human population is growing/living far beyond its means and inflicting damage on the environment that could pass points of no return. Climate change, the rate of extinction of species and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the threats putting humanity at risk, the UN Environment Program said in its fourth Global Environmental Outlook since 1997. "The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns," Achim Steiner, the executive director of the program, said in a telephone interview. Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are "among the greatest challenges at the beginning of 21st century," he said. ( Read the rest )Tags: climate change, ecology, endangered species, environment, extinction, global warming, overpopulation
From: Chicago
Mood: Idiots
Now Playing: Bears Pre-Game
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 (Hat tip Mother Jones)Two government entities are investigating the Bush administration over the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Christian Science Monitor reports the US Interior Department is reviewing the scientific integrity of decisions made by a political appointee, Julie MacDonald, who recently resigned under fire. Fish and Wildlife Service employees complained that MacDonald bullied, insulted, and harassed the professional staff to alter their biological reporting. The inspector noted that although she has no formal educational background in biology, she nevertheless labored long and hard editing, commenting on, and reshaping the endangered species program's scientific reports from the field. Last week Fish and Wildlife announced that eight decisions MacDonald made under the ESA would be examined for scientific and legal discrepancies. Meanwhile, Congress is investigating evidence that Vice President Dick Cheney interfered with decisions involving water in California and Oregon resulting in a mass kill of Klamath River salmon, including threatened species. As the CSM reports, both episodes illustrate the Bush administration's resistance to the law. Earlier, the Washington Post ran the story of Cheney's personal interference in the water decision that killed the salmon in 2002: In Oregon, a battleground state that the Bush-Cheney ticket had lost by less than half of 1 percent, drought-stricken farmers and ranchers were about to be cut off from the irrigation water that kept their cropland and pastures green. Federal biologists said the Endangered Species Act left the government no choice: The survival of two imperiled species of fish was at stake. Law and science seemed to be on the side of the fish. Then the vice president stepped in.
First Cheney looked for a way around the law, aides said. Next he set in motion a process to challenge the science protecting the fish, according to a former Oregon congressman who lobbied for the farmers. Because of Cheney's intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was no threat to the fish. What followed was the largest fish kill the West had ever seen, with tens of thousands of salmon rotting on the banks of the Klamath River. A video of the devasatation can be seen here. In the words of Bruce Barcott in MoJo's piece, What's A River For?: On the morning of September 19, 2002, the Yurok fishermen who set their gill nets near the mouth of the Klamath River arrived to find the largest salmon run in years fully under way. The fish had returned from the ocean to the Klamath, on the Northern California coast, to begin their long trip upstream to spawn; there were thousands of them, as far as the eye could see. And they were dying. Full-grown 30-pounders lay beached on shore-line rocks. Smaller fish floated in midriver eddies. Day after day they kept washing up; by the third day, biologists were estimating that 33,000 fish had been killed [since revised upward to 70,000] in one of the largest salmon die-offs in U.S. history. The Yurok knew immediately what had happened. For months they, along with state experts and commercial fishermen, had been pleading with the federal government to stop diverting most of the river's water into the potato and alfalfa fields of Oregon's upper Klamath Basin. But the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency in charge of federal irrigation projects, refused to intervene. The CSM reports the House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing next week to investigate political influence on agency science and decisionmaking. As reported in the Blue Marble, scientists are aware of the persistent unsciencing of their work. Thirty-eight prominent wildlife biologists and environmental ethics specialists recently signed a letter protesting a new Bush administration interpretation of the Endangered Species Act. They're concerned for the future of animals such as wolves and grizzly bears. If Interior Department Solicitor David Bernhardt has his way, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will have to protect animals and plants only where they're actually battling for survival, not where they're in good shape. That means, for instance, that Bald Eagles would never have been protected decades ago since they were doing fine in Alaska, although practically extinct in the lower 48. During Bush/Cheney, the listing of endangered and threatened species has slowed to a fraction the number the Bush senior made in only four years (58 new listings compared with 231), and most of those were court-ordered, according to the CSM. New funding has been cut as well, and only 278 candidate species are waiting to join the list of 1,352. Mother Jones' recent piece, Gone, detailed why the presence of many kinds of life on earth is important to the survival of life itself. Seven of 10 biologists believe the sixth great extinction currently underway is a greater threat to life on earth than even global climate change. It's ephemerally comforting to think that Bush will go down in history as the worst of all U.S. presidents. More realistically, Cheney should get the honor. Tags: cheney, disgrace, endangered species, environment, esa, extinction, klamath river salmon
From: Chicago
Mood: Assholes
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 (Via National Geographic News) Three female mountain gorillas were found shot dead this morning in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park. Another three gorillas are missing, and park rangers fear they may have also been killed. The slaughter, thought to be carried out by rebel militias, deeply shocked the rangers and conservationists who work to protect the endangered gorillas in a park that has been ravaged by civil strife for years. "This is a disaster," said Emmanuel de Merode, director of WildlifeDirect, a conservation group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya that supports the rangers working in Virunga. Park staff and WildlifeDirect officials stationed in Virunga's Bukima camp said they heard gunshots coming from inside the dense forest around 8 p.m. on Saturday night. "We conducted a search this morning," de Merode said. "The rangers went up first and located the gorillas... they were all quite close together... all been shot," he said. One of the dead females was the mother of a three-month-old baby gorilla, while another victim was the mother of a two-year-old animal. The third gorilla killed was pregnant. The gorillas killed all came from the so-called Rugendo family of 12 individuals, headed by a silverback gorilla named Rugendo. The family is one of several groups of gorillas that live on the Congo side of the sprawling Virunga , which straddles the border of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, and are visited from the Bukima camp. More than half of the gorillas' population, estimated at about 700, is found in Virunga. The rest live in forests in Rwanda and Uganda. The DRC is struggling to emerge from a civil war that has left an estimated 4 million people dead and dates back to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Today the area is home to a vast array of rebel militias, government soldiers, foreign troops, and villagers who are unsympathetic to the rangers protecting the park. Poaching remains a major problem. Early this year two silverback gorillas were killed within the span of two days in the same area as where the latest killings occurred. The incident sparked an international outcry of support for the embattled gorillas. Those apes appeared to have been butchered for their meat. One of them had had his dismembered body dumped in a latrine. Last month a female gorilla from the Kabirizi family was found shot to death in the park. Another female from that family has been missing ever since and is presumed to have been killed too. The execution-style killing of the gorillas last night was identical to the killing last month, said de Merode, who believes the slaughter was meant to send a chilling message to the rangers to get out of the park. "We don't think it was the villagers who did it," he said. "This was deliberate … an act of sabotage." De Merode said there is evidence from the site of the killings linking the incident to the area's lucrative charcoal trade. Virtually all of the charcoal that is supplied to the nearby city of Goma — worth an estimated U.S. $30 million a year — is made from wood harvested illegally inside Virunga National Park. "Last year Rwanda put a ban on any charcoal production within Rwanda," de Merode said. "This means that whole country's charcoal is largely supplied from Congo," he added. "This has put a lot of pressure on the park." P.S. You can help save the DRC's last remaining mountain gorillas here, and/or by contacting Serge Mombouli, Congolese Ambassador to the U.S., at Embassy of the Republic of Congo, 4891 Colorado Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011, (202) 726-5500, info@embassyofcongo.org. Tags: animals, endangered species, extinction, gorillas, poaching
From: Chicago
Mood:  Violent
Now Playing: 'Keepin' Your Poop In A Jar' - Hayseed Dixie
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 The delisting of America's symbol, the bald eagle, from the Endangered Species list, was trumpeted by that oil-slick of a Bush mouthpiece, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne this week. That's about all the good news that can be found when it comes to the ESA, as Jeremy Jacquot details: Due in large part to legal and political meddling, the Bush administration has earned the dubious merit of adding the fewest number of species to the endangered list in the past six years than any other administration since 1973.
As a result, there is now a waiting list of 279 species on the edge of extinction and, out of the 1,326 already officially listed species, approximately 200 are close to total extinction. Furthermore, the Bush administration has removed 15 species from the list to date, a higher number than any previous administration.
"It's wonderful the bald eagle is recovering — one of the most charismatic and best funded species ever," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who now works for Defenders of Wildlife. "But what's happening with the other species? This administration has starved the endangered species' budget. It has dismantled and demoralized its staff." Jeremy also points out that of the 58 species added to the list in the Bush administration, 54 were added only in response to litigation. Go figure. We need to put Bush on the Endangered Species List. Tags: bush, disgrace, endangered species, environment, esa, extinction
From: Chicago
Mood: Assholes
Now Playing: 'Let the Eagle Soar' - John Ashcroft
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 Extinction... one well-manicured acre at a timeFor years, the golf course at Raintree Golf Resort in Pembroke Pines, Florida, has been home to the endangered burrowing owl, but preparations for a housing development on the land by owner Dennis Amtangello has apparently become the latest threat to these rare, diurnal birds. Burrowing owls are protected by law in Florida, which is why at least one area resident is expressing concern after reportedly witnessing workers clubbing the owls to death with shovels. And when she confronted them about it, she says one of the workers threatened her. "He's yelling and screaming at me that they're digging up sprinkler heads... with no bucket, no bag, no truck," said the woman, adding, "Where are they putting the sprinkler heads? In their pockets?" In the environmentally-conscious style that corporate land developers have become so well known for when unexpectedly thrust into the public spotlight, Amtangello responded to the witness's complaint by telling Local 10 News that he does, indeed, know the owls are there, and that he promises to protect them and their burrows. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials were called to the scene earlier today, reassuring area residents that - this being the the owls' mating season - no "disturbance" of the site (presumably including death by shovel(?) will be allowed as long as the birds are there, and that construction will have to wait until the owls are ultimately relocated. Letters of thanks and support for his dedication to the owls' welfare can be sent to Mr. Amtangello at info@raintreegolf.com, or you could even give him a jingle at (704) 542-8150. Tags: endangered species, greed, owls
From: Chicago
Mood: Cynical
Now Playing: 'Little Things Mean A Lot' - Kitty Kallen
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 "It's the end of the world as we know it..."- Thousands face starvation in Zimbabwe - U.N. climate report will "shock the world"- Iraq crumbles into "utter chaos"- Libby trial witness leaves White House reeling- Violence re-erupts in Gaza- World shark populations plummet- U.S. prepares for war with Iran- Fish-killing virus spreads to Lake Huron - Suicide blast rips Islamabad hotel - Chinese river dolphins declared extinct- Global food supply nears the "breaking point"- U.S. soldier gets 18 years for Iraqi detainee's murder- Only six breeding pairs of Mexican gray wolves left in the wild - Ethnic violence spreads in Nepal- Four dead, dozens injured in Beirut unrest- Malawi braces for malnutrition crisis- Bloodshed in Haiti continues - Toxic waste disaster in Uganda - Sri Lanka continues bloody battle against rebel movement- Mercury levels high in commonly-eaten fish- U.S. military misleads public on troop deaths- Deadly new strain of tuberculosis in South Africa - Asian fish populations crash- Hundreds of wolves slated to die in Idaho - 774,000 homeless in the U.S. - Slavery flourishes worldwide - Oil spill ravages English coastline- Terrorist attacks on sporting events: "Just a matter of time"- World prison populations at an all-time high- Global AIDS crisis rages on - Genocide in Darfur continues practically unabated - Sea rise could wreak environmental havoc on German nuclear dumps- Bluefin tuna headed for extinction- Child sex abuse a "worldwide crisis" - Brazilian Amazon loses 13% of its virgin forests in three-year span - Effects of depleted uranium: "Eternal Disaster"- Bush administration record assailed as "catastrophic"- 16,000+ species endangered worldwide - Social Security's methodical meltdown- Whale meat used for Japanese dog food- Arms dealers profit from the "War on Terror" North Korean nukes foretell grim consequences And finally - - World population continues to explode... ... "...and I feel fine."Tags: arms trade, bluefin tuna extinction, climate change, deforestation, depleted uranium, endangered species, extinction, fish populations crash, fish-killing virus, gaza, global warming, haiti violence, iran, malawi, malnutrition, north korea, nuclear dumps, oil spill, overfishing, overpopulation, prison, republican scandals, sharks, slavery, social security, starvation, suicide, toxic waste, tuberculosis, uganda, whaling, wolves, zimbabwe
From: Apocalypse Now
Mood:  Let Me Entertain You
Now Playing: 'The End Of The World As We Know It' - REM
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