[PCA] NEWS: NEWFS Fed Endangered Species Act Event Yesterday (fwd)

Olivia Kwong plant at plantconservation.org
Wed Mar 1 14:54:14 CST 2006


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:55:55 -0500
From: Debra Strick <dstrick at newfs.org>
To: "[Native Plant lISTSERVE]" <native-plants-owner at lists.plantconservation.org>
Subject: Fed Endangered Species Act Event Yesterday

Dear ,

Thanks so much for your support of the environment and your interest in New England Wild Flower Society and the Federal Endangered Species Act.  Please share the information from this report by the Center for Biological Diversity and do get in touch if you need more details.  I'll be in the office all day today.

Contact:  Debra Strick at dstrick at newfs.org

Marketing and PR Director, New England Wild Flower Society

508-877-7630 x 3501 dstrick at newfs.org

For interviews with Bill Brumback at x3201

For Images and Interviews Contact:

Bryan O'Neal, Center for Biological Diversity

520-623-5252 x 309 or boneal at biologicaldiversity.org

--------------------

Federal Endangered Species Act - Measuring Success

Framingham, Massachusetts - Is the Federal Endangered Species Act at 
risk?    On Feb 28 New England Wild Flower Society, America's oldest 
plant conservation organization hosted an important event at Garden in 
the Woods in Framingham, MA.

Peter Galvin, Conservation Director of The Center for Biological 
Diversity, headquartered in Tucson, presented his organization's 
comprehensive study of the results of the Act in the northeastern United 
States.

Find the link to the full report at  <http://www.newfs.org/fesa.htm> 
http://www.newfs.org/fesa.htm highlighting humpback whales, bald eagles, 
Atlantic green sea turtles, Karner blue butterflies, and more.

This first section demonstrates 93% of the species improved or remained 
stable under the Act.  This is the first part of a yearlong rollout of 
the compilation, covering every species under the Act since it began. 
"The Federal Endangered Species Act offers the strongest protection for 
plants and wildlife in the world," said Galvin. "It is a marvelous 
testament to future generations. Massachusetts is a leader in this work. 
The success of the recovery work on the Bald Eagle population at the 
Quabbin Reservoir, for example, is a combination of both habitat 
protection and intensive management."

The success of the Federal Endangered Species Act at achieving recovery 
of protected species is a focal point in political discussions of 
legislative changes to the Act.  Peter Galvin emphasized, " The next 
three months is a critical time. Although all laws need occasional 
review, the proposed revisions in the recently-introduced Crapo bill 
(Republican Senator from Idaho) would be a huge step backwards and a 
major weakening of the Act."

The study produced by the Center for Biological Diversity is the FIRST 
comprehensive assessment of the overall success of conservation efforts 
to recover threatened and endangered species. The first section 
summarizes the status of 54 endangered plants and animals that currently 
or historically bred or migrated in the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, 
CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, and Maine) to determine if those species have 
improved, declined or remained stable since being listed under the 
Endangered Species Act.

At the presentation today, New England conservationists presented a 
powerful snapshot of their work.   Bill Brumback, New England Wild Flower 
Society Conservation Director, and Doug Weihrauch, Alpine Ecologist of 
the Appalachian Mountain Club spoke about the Potentilla robbinsiana, 
(Robbins' cinquefoil), the first plant to be removed from the list due to 
successful recovery in the wild.  It is a small plant native to one of 
the harshest and most rare habitats in New England: the treeless alpine 
zone of the White Mountain National OVER Forest in New Hampshire. Before 
receiving Endangered Species Act protection in 1980, this plant was on 
the brink of extinction, with only 3,700 known plants. Today there are 
more than 14,000.

Robbins' cinquefoil's recovery is the result of a conservation 
partnership between the New England Wild Flower Society, the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Appalachian Mountain Club, 
and Center for Plant Conservation.  Starting in 1983, the White Mountain 
National Forest and the Appalachian Mountain Cub rerouted the trail away 
from the species' critical habitat and built an enclosure to protect the 
primary population. NEWFS began propagating the plant in its nursery and 
reintroduced plants to the primary population as well as two additional 
sites with suitable habitat within the National Forest. Partners continue 
to monitor the health of these populations.

"The Federal Endangered Species Act along with the collaboration between 
the organizations was the real key to the success of this project," said 
Brumback, "The techniques learned during the project will be highly 
applicable for other recovery efforts."   Jamie Bogart, Researcher at the 
Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth, Massachusetts spoke about 
the piping plover saying, "Massachusetts is the most intensively managed 
state for the protection of this species. We celebrate that we still have 
plovers amidst all the demands for the coast.  Plovers are precarious and 
make us realize how precious life is. "

"Migrating fish have too many dead-beat dams acting as barriers to 
successful spawning, " said Chelsea Reiff Gwyther of the Connecticut 
River Watershed Council, during her presentation on the protection of the 
short nosed sturgeon, one of the featured fish.  Still, the species has 
improved under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

When a plant or animal is observed to be in trouble, like Robbins' 
cinquefoil, piping plovers, or short nosed sturgeon, a group or 
individual can petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put it on 
the Federal Endangered Species list.  Scientific evidence must be 
provided, and the species must be in danger of extinction in all or a 
significant part of its range in the US. Once it is on the List, special 
protections apply.  The species becomes eligible to receive funding to 
help plan its recovery and management.

Some people ask, why all the fuss over one tiny creature, or why let one 
species stop "human progress" or development?   For those who dedicate 
themselves to conservation every day, this answer is very clear: In 
addition to ethical and philosophical concerns, we simply do not know 
which seemingly small and insignificant members of our ecosystem could be 
eliminated without dire effect, and how many can disappear before the 
whole system falls apart.    If we think of our ecosystem as an airplane 
with wings held on by rivets, how many rivets can we let fall off before 
the plane goes down?  And which of these rivets is expendable?

Environmentalists feel that we are responsible for keeping the 
biodiversity inherent in our ecosystem intact.  This is the mission 
behind the organizations that are dedicated to preserving and protecting 
our native plant and animal species.  With an estimated 25% of America's 
native plant species in decline or at risk of extinction, this is not a 
short-term issue with a quick fix.  But there are wonderful and 
achievable lessons to be learned from success stories like that of this 
small cinquefoil.

For more visit the New England Wild Flower Society website at 
<http://www.newfs.org/> www.newfs.org or 508-877-7630 or the Center for 
Biological Diversity at www.biologicaldiversity.org 
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/>  or 520-623-5252.

END











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