Conservation Activities

In this political season, we hear a lot about jobs and a lot about energy production.

How about a country that plans to “leave untapped more than 900 million barrels of crude oil.” That is Ecuador’s plan for the Yasuni area—one of the most biodiverse locations in the world. To keep the initiative on track, $100 million was needed this year. Germany came through with $50M to ensure the goal was satisfied. (The US has contributed $100 million during the life of the project but the UK has done almost twice as much.) This effort is probably the most amazing and important conservation initiative in the world.

Go to http://mdtf.undp.org/ yasuni to learn more. Unfortunately, to keep the initiative going, nearly $300 million must be raised each of the next two years. Hopefully, we in the US can maintain political leadership that is sympathetic to this project. Let your Senators & Congressmen know.

Sustainable Use: The Yasuni initiative put me in mind of the sighting of a black-crowned antpitta in Costa Rica on our recent GVAS trip. Antpittas are very difficult to see besides requiring a very specialized habitat niche. I did some research using ebird.org and some other websites and learned that a visitor to Costa Rica, hoping to see this bird, would probably zero in on the location where we had success—a specific trail in one of Costa Rica’s National Parks. Both GVAS trips hiked this trail. Both had lunch at the same nearby restaurant. If, 50 years from now, my grand-daughter decides to look for a black- crowned antpitta in Costa Rica, she will probably come to the same location—and eat at the same restaurant.

Famous Last Words—Trips to the tropics always put me in mind of the great ornithologist Alexander F. Skutch. He lived to be just a few days short of 100. His last book, published when he was 96, ended with an epilogue entitled “Birds I Love,” and these final words: "In childhood I was strongly attracted to feathered creatures. This has continued into my life's tenth decade. As I review my seventy years of bird study, nearly all in the Neotropics, I am comforted by remembering that I have never intentionally harmed, for science or otherwise, an adult bird or its young, although I was responsible for the deaths of two or three raptors preying upon birds I was studying and/or trying to protect. In the evening of life, I am distressed by the thought that humankind, as a whole, lacks the generosity to freely share an exceptionally favored planet with even the more compatible of the free creatures that surround us. Earth did not become habitable for the benefit of a single species."

The Yasuni initiative and thinking of generations of black-crowned antpittas still being present 50 years from now gives me hope. On the other hand, Skutch’s concern about whether “humankind as a whole” has sufficient generosity also concerns me. Audubon’s role in educating “humankind as a whole” about our “exceptionally favored planet” is more important than ever. We need more helpers to keep GVAS strong. Please consider whether you can offer some time to assist with our many activities, whether administrative, educational or scientific. Ask one of the board members what you can do.

US Representative

US Rep Scott Tipton (R) District 3
(202) 225-4761 | (970) 241-2499
scott.tipton@mail.house.gov

US Senators

US Sen Mark Udall (D)
(202) 224-5941 | (970) 245-9553
http://markudall.senate.gov

US Sen Michael Bennet (D)
(202) 224-5852 | (970) 241-6631
http://bennet.senate.gov

How Does Noise Affect Birds?

Reported recently in Science is that University of CO researchers studied whether noise alone can affect bird nesting and reproduction.

Birds were observed for three summers in the pinyon-juniper woodlands of NW New Mexico. Nests were located on 18 wooded plots adjacent to natural gas extraction wells. The study plots were nearly identical except half of the sites had compressors so loud the researchers had to shout to be heard. The other half were quiet. Noisy sites contained as many nests as quiet sites BUT, quiet sites had 32 bird species nesting on them compared with 21 species at noisy sites. Mourning doves and black-headed grosbeaks tended to nest on quiet sites, while black-chinned hummingbirds and house finches seemed to actually prefer noisy sites.  The most important point, however, is that noise causes habitat fragmentation and loss of biopersity just as does road building, road usage and other development.

Problems of Titanic Proportions: Remember these old slogans?  “Nuclear power will be too cheap to meter.” “The oceans are so vast we’ll never exhaust the resources.” A study in the Pacific Ocean, presented in the journal Science notes that fish larger than 5-6 ft have decreased from 5% of the ocean’s biomass to approximately 1%.  This is probably akin to the terrestrial ecosystem effects we have seen of removing wolves and bears.

Similarly, Discover magazine reported a review of inflation-adjusted prices for sea food over the past 150 years.  The now rare Abalone costs about ten times as much and “popular wild fish have become so rare that they have just vanished from menus.”  For example, “halibut gave way to codfish, then haddock, and now scrod.”  “They’re fishing their way through the food chain,” says the report’s author.  See www.Audubon.org for a list of fish that are sustainably harvested and write our political leaders to insist on US participation in international treaties that promote sustainable harvest.

Consumerism Is the Problem (AND THE ANSWER): The lack of political leadership on energy issues is often scandalous.  According to an article in Discover, alternative energy production would be much more viable in the US if subsidies were the same no matter “what technology it uses, how big it is, or who owns it.”  Or, better yet, instead of the massive subsidies to gas and oil production, what if most subsidies were for alternative energy? This was the route taken by Germany and Japan; where both countries are already phasing out their subsidies because the goal of solar energy utilization and development of a world class solar industry has occurred.  Now Spain is requiring all new construction to use solar cells.

How have the activities of these countries affected the US? Half of the solar cells sold in the US a decade ago were domestically made. Now with US solar installations slowly growing (primarily because of inpidual consumer decisions), only 8% of the cells sold here are made here.

Apparently, the US will only rely less on fossil fuels when consumers themselves insist on it. The oil and gas development which so vexes those of us who enjoy public lands for recreation and clean water will slow if we switch to solar cells and heat pumps for our homes.

Cars are another issue. Oil for gasoline mostly comes from overseas. A recent Daily Sentinel gave most of the front page to oil shale development. Do we consumers prefer continued dependence on fossil fuel with all of its impacts, or do we desire another route? A provocative view is provided by the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” What was the problem? Basically it had too few parts (not enough after-market profits), too few repairs, and was incompatible with the marketing campaigns used for the other offerings from the car manufacturers.

Ask Congress to show some leadership that benefits the consumer and not a few large industries.

US Representative

US Rep Scott Tipton (R) District 3
(202) 225-4761 | (970) 241-2499
scott.tipton@mail.house.gov

US Senators

US Sen Mark Udall (D)
(202) 224-5941 | (970) 245-9553
http://markudall.senate.gov

US Sen Michael Bennet (D)
(202) 224-5852 | (970) 241-6631
http://bennet.senate.gov

Trails

• Expand Tabeguache-Lunch Loop Trail System
• Add 130 acres to Lunch Loop (instead of a previously approved high density subdivision)
• Help connect Riverfront Trail System to Monument Road and Tabeguache
• Improve access from town

Kids & Family

• Build family friendly hiking and biking trails
• Provide more trails for youth biking and funning clubs
• Add moderate trails to make tails enjoyable for more people
• Create a natural learning for site for educational groups, families, visitors

Preservation

• Preserve the viewshed along Monument Road
• Preserve the viewshed for Lunch Loop/Tabeguache users
• Protect habitat, endangered plants, fossil and archeological sites

Revenue

• Enhance the recreational experience of thousands of trail users from around the world
• Promote tourism for Grand Junction and Mesa County
• Further promote area as premier outdoor recreation destination

We Need Your Help!
DONATE TODAY -

Mesa Land Trust

1006 Main Street

Grand Junction CO 81501

www.mesalandtrust.org

Trouble reading this e-mail? View it online. Dear Friends of Audubon, We need people from all over the country to voice their support for restoring the Gulf Coast” for the wildlife like this Brown Pelican and the communities affected by last year's disaster. Email your Senators today. Photo: Mozart Mark Dedeaux I am asking for your help today as Congress considers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore our Gulf Coast. The RESTORE Act would dedicate billions of dollars in penalties paid by BP and other companies responsible for last year's oil disaster to a massive effort to restore the Gulf. BP's damage was done in the Gulf, so BP's fines should be used for Gulf restoration. The Gulf Coast supports migratory birds from all across America, and its natural resources support millions of jobs throughout the nation. If we are going to succeed, your Senators need to hear that Gulf Coast restoration matters to you and your state.  Tell your Senators today to support the RESTORE the Gulf Coast States Act (S. 1400). Billions of birds ”including dozens of colorful songbird species found in backyards and forests, waterfowl from the Prairie Pothole Region, shorebirds from high in the Arctic, raptors, iconic colonial wading birds of the South, and endangered Whooping Cranes and Piping Plovers ”depend on Gulf Coast habitats each year. And millions of American jobs come from the Gulf Coast's natural riches. Your support for Gulf Coast restoration has kept the RESTORE Act moving through Congress. The next few weeks are critical to make sure that it passes. Senators need to know that this issue matters to ALL Americans. So please, ask your Senators to support the RESTORE Act. Because we all depend on a healthy Gulf Coast. Sincerely, David Yarnold President & CEO Trouble with the "Take Action" links in the message? Try cutting-and-pasting this link into your web browser: www.audubonaction.org/site/Advocacy?id=1171 Audubon 1150 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 861-2242 | audubonaction@audubon.org Change your contact information | Manage your communications | Unsubscribe

A Problem of World Views

E.O. Wilson's The Future of Life, notes that the "average amount of productive land and shallow sea appropriated by each person in bits and pieces from around the world for food, water, housing, transportation, commerce and waste absorption" is approximately 2.5 acres for the five billion inhabitants of developing nations but is 24 acres for the average U.S citizen.

Wilson noted that if every person in the world is to attain the status of the average citizen of the U.S, four more planet earths would be required -- all this with the population expected to climb from the present seven billion to more than eight billion by mid-century. Wilson further notes, "The great dilemma of environmental reasoning stems from conflict between short-term and long-term values. To select values for the near future of one's own...country is...easy. To select values for the distant future of the whole planet is...easy -- in theory.... To combine the two visions to create a universal environmental ethic is...very difficult. But combine them we must, because a universal environmental ethic is the only guide by which humanity and the rest of life can be safely conducted through the bottleneck into which our species has foolishly blundered."

Many U.S. policies and the voting records of too many elected representatives encourage resource consumption and immigration while discouraging family planning efforts in the developing world. It is critical that we understand these issues and support candidates and policies that will result in a safe, sound, and productive world for succeeding generations.

Let Them Know- Pass on your feelings on environmental issues to your elected officials. Communication usually takes only a few clicks to find their websites.