Conservation Victories: government steps up to help whales, sharks, and birds

Well, how about some good news for a change?  Conservation and protection of species and the environment got a bit of a boost from the machinations of government today in several areas.  Some of these advances are moving through cyberspace as I write this, while others are more quiet victories.

No Sonic Tests Off California for Utility

The California Coastal Commission today unanimously agreed to deny a permit to Pacific Gas & Electric, who had requested to begin a series of seismic tests using sonic air cannons to determine fault lines in and around the seafloor near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Now checking for faults that could potentially threaten a nuclear power plant isn't a bad idea (nuclear power plants themselves are another controversial subject for another day) and PG&E officials claimed that the multiple sonic blasts would be ramped up in intensity to warm or scare off any marine mammals that could be at risk.

However, those same officials also stated that the tests would induce short-term disruption.  And given the number of beachings and deaths that have been documented regarding whales, porpoises, and dolphins, long-term effects can not be definitively ruled out.

According to the Associated Press, the coastal commission's staff recommended to the coastal regulators to reject the utilityy company's plan. "In a report this month, the staff said sonic blasts would cause 'significant and unavoidable impacts to marine resources.' More than 7,000 sea mammals would be disturbed by the ear-piercing noise, including fin whales, blue whales, humpback whales, and harbor porpoises."

PG&E has not yet said what it plans to do next, but should they appeal, they will find stiff resistance from many of the regulators.

Win one for the cetaceans!

American Samoa Bans Shark Fishing

In the South Pacific, the United States' unincorporated territory of American Samoa has initiated a ban on all shark fishing that will go into effect this week.  The ban will extend three miles from the shoreline and also include three reef fish species.

What is most encouraging with this news is that it was not an island nation like Palau or Kiribati that has imposed these restrictions; it was the U.S. government.  The Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources is the agency that has imposed the ban, recognizing the decline of shark populations throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Dog Fenner, who monitors sharks for the department, claims that these new regulations are the strongest ever imposed by the U.S.  About bloody time.

Win one for the sharks!

Animal Lead Poisoning Amendments

Getting a little less attention are two amendments to S.B. 3525, known as the "Sportsman's Act."  Filed by California's Senator Barbara Boxer, the amendments would 1.) eliminate an NRA-supported provision in the Sportsman's Act that banned the Environmental Protection Agency from doing anything regarding lead poisoning from lead ammunition and fishing tackle (originally supported by, and 2.) require the EPA to conduct a potential threat study of human health, wildlife, and the environment regarding lead ammunition and tackle.

According to the Conservation for Biological Diversity, which has been prodding the EPA regarding this issue for years, "Lead poisons and kills millions of eagles, loons, endangered California condors and other birds and wildlife each year." 

Win one (hopefully) for a lead-free wilderness!

The common thread in all of these encouraging developments is that it represents government, in one form or another, getting of its butt and doing something about the environment.  One can only hope that as the U.S. economy improves, attention will once again be turned toward solving long-term environmental issues with decisive action in the here-and-now. 

Source: Associated Press (Cetacea)
Source: Washington Post (Sharks)
Source: Center for Biological Diversity (Lead)

Birds in Flight: climate change is threatening their range

Many of the discussions regarding climate change revolve around the impacts seen at the opposing polar regions: the Arctic and Antarctic. Loss of animal habitat, encroachment by previously foreign animal and plant species - with these events we often consider what has happened or will happen in these areas as indications of future events in the more populated warmer regions of the earth.

But there are changes taking place right now in "our backyard" that can be documented as was recently done by the National Audubon Society regarding North American bird migrations and changes in their range or territory. The Society tabulated winter migration data over the past 40 years from 2,000 locations nationwide. The data shows that 58% of the 305 most common North American species have shifted their ranges northward and inland by an average of 35 miles. In a few cases, the distance was much greater, as with the purple finch, common in Missouri but now moving 300 miles north towards Canada.

"Too many people hear about melting glaciers and polar bears and conclude that the impacts of global warming are far into the future and far from home," said NAS president, John Flicker. "But the impact of climate change can be seen right now in the birds that are right outside our door - or not," referring to the possibility that many species may be unable to exist in new locations and extinction becomes a real possibility.

While there are those who debate the cause of climate change, man-made or cyclical, one thing is for sure: we must consider the implications of what is happening now and in the near future - before our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases take effect or before the next cyclical change, depending on your favored position. Birds are a crucial part of plant pollination and seed germination by virtue of the plants and insects they feed upon. How will these natural processes be impacted? How will those impacts affect the large agricultural areas we have come to depend on for fruits, vegetables, or grain?

We are faced with many unknowns and there is much to be studied and hypothesized - waiting until we have a definitive result may be too late as changes in nature can move deceptively slow but with tremendous momentum. Time to act. It's not just "for the birds."

Download National Audubon Society report.