Endangered birds at risk in Southwest, biologists say
By Adam Klawonn · October 5, 2008 · Print This Article
TUCSON — A local nonprofit says the southwestern willow flycatcher faces extinction, and it is asking a federal judge to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to set aside more land for the bird population to flourish.
The case stems from a longstanding legal tussle between federal wildlife officials and the Center for Biological Diversity, a 40,000-member nonprofit based in Tucson that is dedicated to preserving and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity.
In this case, the fight involves the southwest willow flycatcher, a small migratory bird barely 15 centimeters long. It travels throughout the Southwest – from west Texas to southern California – to breed between the months of April and September. The flycatcher nests in riparian habitats where there is running water and dense growths of trees.
It was listed as endangered in 1995, and a plan was hatched to protect and preserve it. The nonprofit says Interior officials have shirked this duty.
In its 17-page complaint, the nonprofit claims wildlife officials have:
- failed to designate enough land for the flycatcher population to recover,
- incorrectly interpreted the research for the recovery plan,
- allowed politics to taint the scientific data used,
- and excluded ideal places that previous studies found to be perfect for the flycatcher’s recovery.
The nonprofit sent a letter to Interior officials in August 2007 indicating their intent to sue the department over these issues. They never responded, the complaint states.
It also states that officials left several lands out of the preservation plan that scientists said were necessary for the flycatcher’s successful recovery. Officials cut about 50 percent of the streamside areas away, according to the complaint.
Politics may have played a role. The complaint cites a recent report from the Inspector General’s office, whose investigators found deputy assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald influenced how the flycatcher’s recovery area was decided.
"The reduction of habitat proposed for designation (376,095 acres) to the amount which was included in the final designation (120,824 acres) is partially attributable to this improper political interference," the complaint claims.
If they are correct, it would be another instance of political interference on science under the Bush administration. White House lawyers were recently found to have altered public reports about global warming that were based on scientific data.
Geoff Hickcox, a lawyer at the Western Environmental Law Center in Durango, Colo., is representing the Center for Biological Diversity.
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Biologists Says Birds at a Risk in Southwest…
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Action is needed NOW. Contact experts to capture for breeding (like the successful California Condor project). This takes grassroots enrollment and involvement to push for immediate change.
Not enough stories report the thousands of species on the brink of extinction in the USA. Thanks for reporting.
Lena, I don’t mean to put a damper on your activism, but there is nothing new or particularly urgent about the subject of this lawsuit. It’s about improper administration of the Endangered Species Act and lack of responsiveness to public input, not about any imminent threat to the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.
IMO, lawsuits and attempts at captive breeding are last resorts, when all other efforts (including habitat preservation, the issue behind this lawsuit) have failed. The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher is nowhere near that point yet. For more on the bird’s past and current status, please read this report:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1303/of2008-1303.pdf
For more on the Endangered Species Act, including the *actual* numbers of species, subspecies, and populations of plants and animals currently listed/proposed as Threatened or Endangered, see this page:
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html
Ignoring scientists and environmental organizations and “creatively” interpreting the regulations it’s charged with enforcing are just business as usual for the current administration. It won’t be the immediate change we might hope for, but there’s ample reason to believe that the incoming administration will restore transparency, accountability, and science to management of our natural resources.