Category Archives: Fermata

The Cuts Continue

Conservation, ,

Here is a note from the Bird Conservation Alliance about two conservation programs facing cuts.

Joint Ventures

Joint Ventures (JVs) exemplify a highly successful, cost-effective approach to conservation. By applying science and bringing diverse constituents together, JVs across the United States have created a model for solving wildlife management problems and restoring habitats critical to conserving declining species. Nationally, JVs have protected, restored, or enhanced more than 13 million acres of important habitat for migratory bird species. There are currently 21 JVs in the United States that provide coordination for conservation planning and implementation of projects that benefit all migratory bird populations and other species.

Joint Ventures also have a long history of success in implementing bird conservation initiatives mandated by Congress and by international treaties. Projects are developed at the local level and implemented through diverse public/private partnerships. These projects reflect local values and needs, while addressing regional and national conservation priorities. The projects benefit not only birds, but many wildlife species, and have a positive impact on the health of watersheds and local economies.

Joint Ventures were funded at $14,000,000 in FY2010. Every dollar invested in JVs leverages more than $44 in non-federal partner funds (1999-2004) for on-the-ground habitat conservation and restoration projects, biological planning, and outreach. The President’s FY 2011 budget requests only $13,000,000 for JVs, a one million dollar cut from last year’s level, however, we believe JVs should be funded at $18,000,000 to allow them to meet their increased responsibilities.  This increase in funding would help strengthen the public/private partnerships that leverage increasingly scarce public funds for on-the-ground habitat restoration and acquisition projects; continue to incorporate recent scientific advances in the development of landscape-conservation plans; and build capacity within the newer Joint Ventures, while maintaining expertise within established ones.

Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA)

The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) supports partnership programs to conserve birds in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean, where approximately five billion birds of over 500 species, including some of the most endangered birds in North America, spend their winters. Projects include activities that benefit bird populations such as habitat restoration, research and monitoring, law enforcement, and outreach and education.

Between 2002 and 2008, the program supported 260 projects, coordinated by partners in 44 U.S. states/territories and 34 countries. More than $25 million in federally appropriated dollars have leveraged over $116 million in partner contributions. Projects involving land conservation have affected about 3 million acres of bird habitat. However, demand for funding of high-quality conservation projects far outstrips current appropriations, and in 2008, 63 projects requesting nearly $10,000,000 were not funded. From these numbers, it is clear that conservation that would benefit our migrant songbirds is not able to take place due to a lack of funding for this program.

Of the 341 songbird and other neotropical migratory species that breed in the United States, 127 are known to be in decline, 60 of which have suffered population losses of more than 45% in the past 40 years.  Deforestation, especially in Latin America where many of these birds winter, is accelerating at an alarming rate, driven by the needs of a human population that has tripled in the last fifty years.  Estimates of the percentage of remaining forests that are lost each year in the Neotropics are between 1-2%.

Last year Congress funded the program at $5 million. The President’s budget only requests $4 million which translates into fewer grants approved and fewer conservation projects which would benefit hundreds of migratory birds which are known to be in decline.  We request that Congress fund NMBCA at $6.5 million.  This small investment will go a long way towards saving birds that generate millions of dollars for our economy and bring so much enjoyment to our lives.

Thanks to Steve Holmer for the information. You can contact Steve as follows:

Steve Holmer

Director of the Bird Conservation Alliance &

Senior Policy Advisor

American Bird Conservancy

202/234-7181 ext. 216

sholmer@abcbirds.org

www.birdconservationalliance.org

www.abcbirds.org

Man-Made Lighting Conference in Illinois

Conservation, Sustain, Uncategorized, ,

The Illinois Coalition for Responsible Outdoor Lighting and Lewis University are sponsoring a day-long conference on outdoor lighting March 11. Information about the conference is available online. I will be in Japan, but I would love to be able to attend this event. Light and noise are among the most pervasive forms of pollution that degrade our quality of life, in my opinion. Try living next door to a yapping dog, for example. Good luck to those who will be in attendance.

All For Naught?

Conservation, Politics

Karla Klay alerted me to this article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. This is one in a series that the paper has been publishing on the loss of coastal wetlands in Louisiana. For a gist of the story, here is the opening paragraph:

Even under best-case scenarios for building massive engineering projects to restore Louisiana’s dying coastline, the Mississippi River can’t possibly feed enough sediment into the marshes to prevent ongoing catastraphic catastrophic land loss, two Louisiana State University geologists conclude in a scientific paper being published today.

The result: The state will lose another 4,054 to 5,212 square miles of coastline by 2100 — an area roughly the size of Connecticut.

Ike offered Galveston a peak into the future, I believe. Our sand-starved island (victimized by a variety of engineering projects both local and inland) is simply not prepared for the additional blow of sea level rise. With the passage last week of legislation in the House to finally move the U.S. off of dead center, perhaps at last we can begin to develop the strategy necessary to moderate the impacts of global warming. I find it hard to imagine anyone opposing such a tiny first step (the battle in the Senate will be tough), but, as usual, Texas finds a way to put its best foot forward. Rep John Culberson of Texas, a Republican, said the bill “is the equivalent to a light switch tax – if this bill becomes law, Americans will pay higher taxes every time we turn on our lights.”

Brilliant.

Sierra Club Press Release on Border Wall

Conservation, Politics,

Today, 27 members of Congress urged Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to comply with all laws if she proceeds with the final approximately 40 miles of border wall construction still slated for environmentally sensitive areas in California and Texas.

The REAL ID Act of 2005 gave the Secretary of Homeland Security — an unelected official – the authority to waive any law in order to fast-track construction of infrastructure along our shared international border with Mexico. Bush administration Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff used this unprecedented authority five times, waiving more than three dozen cultural protection, religious freedom, public safety, and environmental laws.

“Ignoring laws to build walls has caused needless harm to families, communities, and wildlife,” said Michael Degnan, Sierra Club’s public lands representative. “We are heartened to hear members of Congress call on the administration to reinstate the rule of law to the borderlands, a simple act that would go a long way toward restoring responsibility to our border policy.”

In today’s letter, the 27 Representatives recognized the impacts of waiving laws at the federal, state and local levels, writing: “We believe damage that has occurred to community relationships and public lands is attributable, at least in part, to the haste with which construction has proceeded, the lack of compliance with laws and regulations, and the lack of consultation with property owners and land managers.”

In asking that the Secretary comply with all laws if additional border wall construction takes place, the members of Congress note that more “careful consideration now could save mitigation dollars later, as well as avoiding the type of impacts that will be difficult to mitigate at any cost.”

A diverse group of organizations have applauded Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) and his colleagues for taking a stand and urging action on this critical issue.

“I’ve seen nothing that even comes close to justify waiving laws in order to fast track border wall construction,” said Congressman Bob Filner. “It concerns me that this has taken place in the past and I urge Secretary Napolitano to prevent further damage to our border communities, natural resources, and fragile wildlife habitat.”

“We should not sacrifice bedrock democratic principles like ‘consent of the governed’ and ‘representative democracy’ at the altar of the border wall,” said Reverend John Fanestil of the United Methodist Church. “Kudos to legislators working to restore due process and the rule of law on the U.S.-Mexico border.”

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr., founder and president of Border Ambassadors and executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center, Laredo Community College, said: “For those of us who live here on the border, we feel like our part of the United States is not recognized as equal to the rest of the country. When over three dozen Congressional acts were waived, we lost the legal protections that the rest of the United States enjoys. Some call our borderlands the ‘deconstitutionalized zone.'”

“The controversy over walls and waivers is far from over, despite hundreds of damaging miles of walls already built in disregard of laws meant to safeguard our lands and resources,” said Matt Clark, southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “This is the time for President Obama and Secretary Napolitano to make a clear departure from the mistakes of the last administration and comply with the important laws enacted to prevent or minimize negative impacts to our wildlife and environment.”

For more information, visit http://arizona.sierraclub.org/border