The Idaho Statesman isn’t sure if the federal stimulus plan helped the nation recover from the recession, but in an editorial today it says that it was a good thing for wildlife because allowed a local partnership, including Idaho Fish and Game, built a wildlife underpass on Idaho 21. The underpass is a success.
Read the very brief editorial, here.
Read more about the underpass, and its success, also in the Idaho Statesman, here.
The fifth annual symposium on white nose syndrome in bats is taking place in Madison, Wisconsin this week. The sessions have been closed to the public, so this sneak peek comes to you through yesterday’s media conference call and some research on the internet.
The purpose of the conference is to present current white nose syndrome research, particularly epidemiological research, the ecology of Geomyces destructans and insights from Europe, said Ann Froschauer, white nose syndrome communications and outreach coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and to discuss cave closure policies and other preventive measures.
Today’s the day for state and management issues. There will be presentations on bat hibernacula management by Greg Turner (Pennsylvania Game Commission), Dave Redell (Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources) and Rita Dixon (Idaho Dept. Fish & Game).
This evening there will be breakout sessions for states to discuss bat management issues by region.
No press to link to yet, but we’ll keep an eye out.
Photo of afflicted bat in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service
In the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles, migrating birds flow through a canyon “like a living river of birds,” the Los Angeles Times says. These locations are not only attractive to birds, but to wind power developers as well.
These developers are thinking about using radar units and experimental telemetry systems to avoid killing birds, the article says.
The radar systems cost about $500,000, the article reports, and work best in flat, treeless places. (The radar company mentioned in the article, DeTect, Inc. appears to work mostly with airports, which are definitely flat, treeless places.) Several radar units would be needed in a place like the Tehachapi mountain canyon.
The article also mentions linking the telemetry units on individual condors to cut-offs at wind power facilities. If a tagged condor flies too near a wind farm, the rotors stop spinning.
Read the article in the Los Angeles Times, here.
Info on the bird and bat radar systems from DeTect, mentioned in the article, here.
In the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles, migrating birds flow through a canyon “like a living river of birds,” the Los Angeles Times says. These locations are not only attractive to birds, but to wind power developers as well.
These developers are thinking about using radar units and experimental telemetry systems to avoid killing birds, the article says.
The radar systems cost about $500,000, the article reports, and work best in flat, treeless places. (The radar company mentioned in the article, DeTect, Inc. appears to work mostly with airports, which are definitely flat, treeless places.) Several radar units would be needed in a place like the Tehachapi mountain canyon.
The article also mentions linking the telemetry units on individual condors to cut-offs at wind power facilities. If a tagged condor flies too near a wind farm, the rotors stop spinning.
Read the article in the Los Angeles Times, here.
Info on the bird and bat radar systems from DeTect, mentioned in the article, here.
Face to face with an eastern rattlesnake or a grizzly bear, you might not feel that it was the animal that was endangered. However, the eastern rattlesnake came closer to a possible Endangered Species Act listing earlier this month when the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a 12-month review of the species’ status.
Read more in the Chicago Tribune.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada found no solid evidence of decline in the nation’s grizzly bear population overall, so it denied the species endangered species status, instead designating the western population a species of “special concern.”
Face to face with an eastern rattlesnake or a grizzly bear, you might not feel that it was the animal that was endangered. However, the eastern rattlesnake came closer to a possible Endangered Species Act listing earlier this month when the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a 12-month review of the species’ status.
Read more in the Chicago Tribune.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada found no solid evidence of decline in the nation’s grizzly bear population overall, so it denied the species endangered species status, instead designating the western population a species of “special concern.”
Even if it runs on a Saturday, the least-read newspaper of the week, an op-ed in The New York Times can raise awareness and spur debate. For that reason, you should know about an op-ed that ran last week that makes the case for white-tailed deer overpopulation in the Northeast.
The solution, says the author, Daniel Cristol, a professor of biology at the College of William and Mary, is to stop managing forests for deer.
The focus of the piece is mostly on making the case for deer overpopulation, there is absolutely no information in the piece of the many things that we, as a society, and as state wildlife departments do to manage for the benefit of deer. But the piece is worth knowing about.
Bats in Vermont are not wearing haute couture gowns, and they are not perusing fine art in Philly, but they are still benefiting from a fashion show and an art show in those locations.
In Vermont, the state Fish and Wildlife Department is the beneficiary of a bat-themed fashion show featuring six local designers. Scott Darling, Vermont’s bat biologist, will be on hand to explain the impact of white nose syndrome on the state’s bats.
Read this Associated Press article in the Bennington Banner. You have to scroll to the bottom of a bunch of jumbled-together stories.
In Philadelphia, a show of bat-themed art is benefiting Bat Conservation International. The show, called “Empty Night Skies,” has already raised thousands of dollars for the organization, according to Philadelphia Weekly, and runs through June 13.
Read the article in Philadelphia Weekly for the details, but be prepared to hold your nose through the first few paragraphs. (Does this guy even know any kids? Today’s generation was brought up with Stellaluna, and in general, thinks bats are cool even — or especially — if they think bats are creepy.)
Photo: Our own bat art, made from a photo of a gray bat from the US Fish and Wildlife Service
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) announced last week that it had sued the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).
DFG claimed in its lawsuit that the Corps failed to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and federal Administrative Procedure Act when it adopted a national policy requiring the removal of virtually all trees and shrubs on federal levees. The Corps developed its national levee vegetation removal policy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The department says that the levees provide the last available riparian habitat for several endangered species including Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Valley elderberry longhorn beetle, riparian brush rabbit, Western yellow-billed cuckoo and Swainson’s hawk.
Read the California Department of Fish and Game press release here.
Local media has not added anything to the story so far. Try this piece from Fox40 TV Sacremento.
Photo: Riparian brush rabbit, by Lee Eastman, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) announced last week that it had sued the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).
DFG claimed in its lawsuit that the Corps failed to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and federal Administrative Procedure Act when it adopted a national policy requiring the removal of virtually all trees and shrubs on federal levees. The Corps developed its national levee vegetation removal policy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The department says that the levees provide the last available riparian habitat for several endangered species including Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Valley elderberry longhorn beetle, riparian brush rabbit, Western yellow-billed cuckoo and Swainson’s hawk.
Read the California Department of Fish and Game press release here.
Local media has not added anything to the story so far. Try this piece from Fox40 TV Sacremento.
Photo: Riparian brush rabbit, by Lee Eastman, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service