STAFFORD, Kan. (AP) - Whooping cranes have waged a valiant fight against extinction, but federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered birds: wind farms.
Down to about 15 in 1941, the gargantuan birds that migrate each fall from Canada to Texas now number 266, thanks to conservation efforts.
But because wind energy has gained such traction, whooping cranes could again be at risk - either from crashing into the towering wind turbines and transmission lines or because of habitat lost to the wind farms.
“Basically you can overlay the strongest, best areas for wind turbine development with the whooping crane migration corridor,” said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The service estimates as many as 40,000 turbines will be erected in the U.S. section of the whooping cranes’ 200-mile wide migration corridor.
“Even if they avoid killing the cranes, the wind farms would be taking hundreds of square miles of migration stopover habitat away from the cranes,” Stehn said. … [more]
March 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
By EVE BYRON - Independent Record - 02/21/08 [here]
For the first time ever, Montana has a wolf hunting season.
The season’s commencement is contingent on wolves being taken off of the list of endangered species, which is expected to be announced by the federal government today.
That decision to delist also is expected to be litigated, which could tie up the matter in court, meaning that wolves might not actually be hunted for years.
Still, Wednesday’s decision by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to set the dates for the 2008 hunting season — Oct. 26 through Dec. 31 — is momentous.
The backcountry hunting season opener of Sept. 15 also will coincide with wolf hunting in those areas.
The 2009 season is similar, although opening day is Oct. 29. The seasons will be revisited in two years as part of the commission’s biannual setting of seasons.
Hunters will not be allowed to use dogs to hunt wolves, bait the animals or use artificial scents or lures.
Aerial spotting and hunting won’t be allowed, along with spotlights and other artificial lights, two-way communications devices, electronic calls or night-vision equipment.
Although trapping wolves was included in the two-season authorization, no permits will be issued. So in effect, trapping wolves won’t be allowed for at least the next two years. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
BY KATY MOELLER - Idaho Statesman, 02/26/08 [here]
Idaho Fish and Game officials confirmed Monday that wolves fatally mauled a dog last week in a rural Boise County subdivision northwest of Idaho City.
The family pet was a 104-pound German Shepherd mix named Dawg. The attack occurred sometime between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday near Centerville, and the dog died the next morning.
No one witnessed the attack. It is unclear how many wolves attacked the dog, though tracks in the snow indicate it was probably three or four, said Steve Wilkins, one of Dawg’s owners.
“He was a good neighborhood protector. He turned out everybody who didn’t belong,” said Wilkins, whose family took in the dog when it showed up about four years ago. “But there was more of them than him.”
In 2007, there were eight confirmed killings of dogs by wolves in Idaho, and another six probable killings, said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore manager for Idaho Fish & Game.
“It’s primarily herding or guarding animals or hunting hounds,” Nadeau said. “This is kind of a rarity.”
The federal government recently approved a plan to remove Endangered Species Act protection from wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of nearby states.
Wolves are territorial, particularly at this time of year, when they are breeding. Garbage left outside will attract the animals as well.
Nadeau said there are four to five wolf packs that live between Boise and Lowman - around 28 to 40 wolves. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
Australian Ski Resorts See Summer SNOW
‘We have barely had a summer this year’
Posted by ICECAP [here]
Done and dusted … summer ends with snow at NSW ski resort Perisher Blue. Forecasters predict a bumper ski season for 2008. The final day of summer in the Snowy Mountains has taken on a wintry chill after snow fell last night at the ski resorts of Perisher Blue and Thredbo. A light dusting of snow blanketed the NSW ski resorts overnight as temperatures dropped to a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celcius at Perisher and minus 3 degrees at Thredbo. Intermittent light snow flurries continued to fall into the morning on Mount Perisher.
Weather forecasters are already predicting a bumper snow season for 2008, according to resort management. Temperatures are expected to remain low with persistent precipitation throughout winter. “We have barely had a summer this year,” said Gary Grant, Perisher Blue’s general manager of marketing. “It’s felt as though it’s remained cold since the end of the 2007 season, apart from a few warm days, there air has always had a nip in it.”
Icecap Note: Last Year, Australian ski areas had the best ski season in 17 years.
Global Climate Changes Have Natural Causes [here]
By Dr. Lance Endersbee
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the climate in Europe was cold and unpredictable. Crops failed. Famine followed famine, bringing epidemics. There was a belief that crop failures must be due to human wickedness. But who were the wicked ones? It was believed that there must be some witches who are in the grip of the devil. Witches were named, Inquisitors tested their faith, and a large number of poor souls were condemned and burnt at the stake. For decade after decade, fires burned in most towns in Europe. It is an example of a public delusion. In 1841, Charles MacKay wrote a book, Extraordinary Public Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. It has been reprinted. MacKay describes several popular delusions such as The South-Sea Bubble, The Tulipmania, The Crusades, and The Witch Mania. We read it today with a detached amusement, but there have been many other popular delusions since MacKay wrote his book. We are not immune to the madness of crowds.
Today, there is global warming. The droughts and warm weather are regarded as punishment for the environmental sins of mankind. The particular cause is claimed to be the use of carbon fuels. Over the past two decades the concepts of man-made global warming and man-made climate change have come to be accepted as reality. It is repeated every day, in the papers, on TV, in schools and universities. Many governments, and the United Nations, have declared their faith that Man is causing global climate change. But is it true, or is it just another extraordinary popular delusion? …
In Australia, the newly elected government won support on the popular understanding that they would stop climate change. Such a claim is arrogant, and scientifically impossible. But there was no demur. …
An early action of the newly elected government in Australia was to attend the recent Bali Conference on Climate Change and to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The protocol is designed to reduce carbon emissions. The scientific basis is the assumption that carbon dioxide is a pollutant. It is merely an assumption. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | 1 Comment | Topic: Latest Climate News
From ICECAP — The Blogosphere (Joe’s Blog) [here]
By William F. McClenney, P.G. R.E.A.
When I first heard it, I believed it. It made sense. I could see it easily and clearly. And that was a long, long time ago. It seemed counterintuitive that anyone could or would not believe it. It was that seminal. Homo Sapiens would cause the earth to warm, we now call it the Greenhouse Gas theory, and it is now a law (at least in California). But it was just a few years ago as the real hype got going that I had my first cause to question the legality of what would soon be a law. And it happened in the oddest of ways. That occasioned a journey that took me from realization to epiphany to more realizations until I finally got it. I will take you on that journey, if you think you can handle it. But be well advised that due to the Nine Times Rule there is only an 11.1% chance you will be able to follow me.
In an advanced course in Psychology taken some 30 years ago I learned that the human being is nine times more susceptible to rumor than it is to fact. That simple rule explains a dramatic amount of human behavior. To prove this rule all one needs to do is accurately answer this simple question: Which religion is the correct one? That’s what I thought.
So if you want to take the journey I did, brace yourself well. My religion is geology, and this journey is the ultimate heresy. If you make it all the way to the end, and understand it all, you will be amongst a very rare breed, those that made the cut on the Nine Times Rule. And you will know how this fundamental rule has been revised, may possibly be revised again downwards, and why. Because this journey I took, and that you may take, started out about climate change and ended up somewhere else entirely. It ended up as part of the theory of everything. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Climate News
Some links and extracts:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [here]
Tre Arrow, (born Michael James Scarpitti in 1974), a Florida native, is an environmental activist and politician who gained prominence in the U.S. state of Oregon in the late 1990s.
Arrow was extradited from Canada to Portland Oregon in the United States Government on February 29, 2008 to face charges of arson and conspiracy claimed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
Arrow is wanted by the FBI in connection with the April 15, 2001 arson at Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland. Three trucks were damaged in the amount of $200,000. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed this fire via a written communique. The U.S. Department of Justice says it considers ELF to be the worst “domestic terrorism group.”
Another arson occurred a month later at Ray Schoppert Logging Company in Estacada, Oregon, on June 1, 2001. Two logging trucks and a front loader were damaged, resulting in $50,000 worth of damage. The ELF did not claim responsibility, but the explosions were similarly created by milk jugs filled with gasoline, and a fuse made from incense and a pack of matches.
More links and extracts: Read more
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Fire News
