Monthly Archives: July 2011

New Mexico Withdraws From Wolf Recovery Program

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New Mexico recently pulled out of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program, an experimental program that began releasing wolves into the wild in 1998. Read the latest on the wolves, and the New Mexico decision in this article in the El Paso Times.

For more on the program, visit the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Web site. For an eye-opening look at the twisted path this program has taken, be sure to check out the chronology. It would have made a great reality TV show.

Photo: Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service

US Endangered Species Listing Round-up

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June saw a flurry of federal Endangered Species Act announcements.
Not Endangered:
Ozark chinquapin
(it’s a tree)

News story (KOTV Oklahoma)
Another news story (Springfield [Mo.] News-Leader)
Press release
Federal Register

Fisher, in the northern Rocky Mountains

News story (Reuters)
Another news story (Daily Journal [Indiana])
Press release
Federal Register

Considered for listing:
Golden-winged warbler
Two bat species

News story (LA Times)
Another news story (NY Times)
Press release
Federal Register

Confirmed as threatened:
Polar bear

News story (Reuters)
Another news story (NY Times)
The court’s opinion (links to PDF)

Photo: Golden-winged warbler, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Need to Prove That Mist Nets Are Safe?

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Her pain is your gain. When Erica Spotswood of the University of California at Berkeley applied to use a mist net in French Polynesia, officials asked for proof that the technique is safe. Despite the fact that the technique has been the research standard in ornithology for decades, Spotswood couldn’t find much data. So, she collected her own.

She found that mist netting is indeed safe, with injuries or deaths occurring in only a fraction of a percent of the birds captured. Best of all, the paper, in Methods of in Ecology and Evolution is open access. You can’t ask for more than that.

Read the paper here.

Some background on the study from ScienceDaily.

Photo: Not a bird in exotic French Polynesia, but a yellow warbler in the good old US of A. Photo Credit: Kristine Sowle, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Need to Prove That Mist Nets Are Safe?

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Her pain is your gain. When Erica Spotswood of the University of California at Berkeley applied to use a mist net in French Polynesia, officials asked for proof that the technique is safe. Despite the fact that the technique has been the research standard in ornithology for decades, Spotswood couldn’t find much data. So, she collected her own.

She found that mist netting is indeed safe, with injuries or deaths occurring in only a fraction of a percent of the birds captured. Best of all, the paper, in Methods of in Ecology and Evolution is open access. You can’t ask for more than that.

Read the paper here.

Some background on the study from ScienceDaily.

Photo: Not a bird in exotic French Polynesia, but a yellow warbler in the good old US of A. Photo Credit: Kristine Sowle, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Ashe Confirmed as USFWS Director

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Yesterday (6/30/11) Daniel M. Ashe was confirmed the 16th Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He was formally nominated to lead the agency back on Dec. 3, 2010. Those with long careers and long memories may remember his stint as the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Assistant Director for External Affairs, where from 1995 to 1998, he coordinated research and directed states grants-in-aid. He is a second-generation employee of the USFWS.

Environmental News Service has the story. Read it here.

Also, read Ashe’s bio on the USFWS Web site. Here.

Photo: Tami Heilemann, courtesy of USFWS

Highway Crossing Success Story — Part 3 — The Results

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A mule-deer’s eye view of the project.

Four years after the electricity first flowed through the fences and shock-mats of the Tijeras Canyon wildlife collision mitigation project, it’s safe to say the project is a success. Collisions between vehicles and wildlife in the canyon have been drastically reduced. Still, you can learn not only what to do from the project, but gather some tips on what to avoid when putting together your own project too.

Read about this project’s successes in the last installment of this exclusive report, here.