By Mary Stump
February 15, 2006
A letter circulating around the web is urging signatures of biologists and the "scientific community" to Congress to keep the Endangered Species Act, as is. The bill, H.R. 3824, passed in the House on October 18, 2005, but needs Senate approval.
The web letter has plenty of support from professors, botany students, conservation researchers, regional planners, earth sciences, natural resources, and other departments within these universities, as well as, the Union of Concerned Scientists, whom I understand is more of a lobbying organization, not an association of scientists, per se. They brag about scientific integrity of the ESA, which this writer finds highly questionable. Universities get government grant funding (your tax dollars) for assorted environmental projects, studies, and research. If solutions are found from their "research," grants may be severely limited.
Non-paid, general public individuals find common sense solutions, but are ridiculed and mocked.
Incidentally, the "letter" also refers to a report from 1995, whereby The National Academy of Science National Research council stated that the ESA is based on sound scientific principals.
Excuse me. That information is 10 years old. Where's a recent statement by the NAS?
1. The manatee or sea cow: This West Indies mammal has an endangered listing in Florida, but "scientific researchers" can't tell us the numbers of manatee needed before it is taken off the endangered list, five thousand? Ten thousand? Information on the numbers of manatee this area will support is lacking. Full grown mammals eat about 315 pounds of vegetation daily, eating themselves out of unnatural man-created habitats. The expelled fecal matter produces a bacterial stew in these artificially-warmed waters, made to lure manatees in viewing areas for the benefit of touri$t$. The accompanying large amount of methane gas rises to the surface of the water, and becomes airborne. The last count on these sea cows is about 3,000. It is impossible to know for sure. How's that for science?
Permitting for docks was taken from the city by Fish and Wildlife, and once papers and cash were submitted, folks waited a year or more for permission to build. Fish and Wildlife argued that manatee deaths were caused by boat props, so they tried to limit the amount of docks, thus limiting the boats on water.
Common sense, non-paid general public introduced "prop cages" which might bump a manatee, but not cut their body. This is a solution, so it cannot be used.
2. Livestock: Studies were performed on the flatulence expelled by cattle. This methane gas becomes airborne, and depletes the ozone layer – so we are told. The same standards do not apply to sea cows. Why? (Seabed floor of the Bermuda Triangle belches massive amounts of methane gas).
Cow patties are a nuisance for nearby rivers and streams, and create diseased and damaged eco-systems. Cattle farmers are facing a barrage of attacks from an assortment of environmental groups. Sea cow versus land cow instances are nearly identical, yet standards vary, according to enviro job creation and grants.
3. Mountain lions, cougars, panthers, same cat: Mountain lions like pouncing on their prey, running and chasing after the weak in a herd, or sneaking up from behind. Some states allow shooting of these plentiful varmits. Florida enviros decided we need to recoup our supply, and imported these cats from Texas. After crossing the Florida border, the name "endangered panthers" emerged. These mountain lions were released in the flats and swamps of South Florida. Tunnels were built for panther crossing under Alligator Alley, an East/West corridor, lest they become road kill. Claustrophobic cats weren't trained to use the tunnels. "Panther Crossing" signs were erected every quarter of a mile along Treeline Blvd that runs from Ft. Myers to Bonita Springs. Enviros justify 486,600 acres South of the Caloosahatchee River to maintain present populations. Looks like lots of land must be purchased. Got Money? They got eminent domain.
According to Florida PantherNet, these mountain lions like higher drier ground, and depend on uplands for survival. Folks, that's way North of where the experts released these varmints. Scientific Integrity? Your call.
Think about that. Tax paid employees captured, fed, transported, and tagged cougars for eventual release in South Florida. Tunnels were built, signs erected. Researchers keep a close eye on panther whereabouts. Sickness runs through cat communities, forcing a recapture for nursing back to health for future release. Many more Southern acres must be bought for cats, who prefer living far North in "uplands."
Does this make sense? Got more money?
4. Alligators: These reptiles have been down-graded from endangered to "threatened status."
NOW HEAR THIS: Lee County Florida just "harvested" 429 gators in 2005, and statewide, 7,991 were harvested by Florida's Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP).
These amphibians used to be hunted as a food source, and leftovers made fine shoes and matching bags. Today, we pay government employees to do what we did for free. Who, then, gains from the spoils? Hint: I have no gator shoes or purse.
5. Bears: A recent e-mail asked me to sign and send to Tallahassee asking to open season for bear hunting. Curious, I called the state, probing for info. I was told folks are moving into bear habitat, which forces bear confrontations. "How many bears are there?" I asked. After stumbling over an answer, the man admitted we had over 40 bear road kills, and more nuisance calls in the last two years than ever before. Too many bears, he says. Still, no hunting.
Experts claim threatened status for black bears. Scientific integrity, or job creation?
6. Translucent fish: I visited a state owned cave in Missouri, featuring stalactite and stalagmites. Deep inside, we extinguished all lights, to reveal complete blackness. It's eerie. With lights back on, the guide points out a trickle stream, leading to underground water with an entrance so small no one can gain entry. Then, he says there is a critter living in this water that is completely translucent, and only 2 inches long. No one has ever been able to reach the underground stream, but this particular species is endangered.
I asked:
"How is it that a critter you can't see, living in water you cannot reach, in a cave in complete blackness, is on the endangered list? How many of these critters must there be, before they are taken off the list, and who counts them, and how?"
His ten minutes of explanations held no answers.
More ESA scientific integrity, or jobs created by the state for state benefit?
7. Red Tide: Floridians have a floating city in the Gulf made of putrid red algae (Karenia brevis) that can stretch over hundreds, and sometimes thousands of miles. Its presence causes respiratory problems and coughing in humans. Mammals, fish, and plankton get near this garbage, suffer from the effects, die, and wash up on shore. Major stink.
Millions and millions of tax dollars go to Mote Marine Lab in St. Pete for research for a cure.
After all, isn't it the ocean life we are trying to protect?
Fish and Wildlife executive director, Haddad writes, "It's a natural phenomenon." "Why, then, are millions of dollars going for research for a natural occurrence," I asked? I got no response.
Bob Rigby invented a cure for red tide in his garage. He explains that his formula doesn't harm or kill anything but red tide, and has given demonstrations, inviting politicians, bureaucrats, Fish and Wildlife, and others. Haddad admits they are working with Mr. Rigby with input, technical assistance, and equipment. Rigby explains that bureaucrats and politicians have offered him money for his invention, and Mote Marine Lab wants the intellectual property rights attributed to his invention.
Would you think the powers that be might take a very close look at Rigby's cure, and perhaps save the ocean life, including manatee deaths caused by red tide?
There is profit in pollution, and no grant money, after solutions are found.
Incidently, the circulated letter on the web reports science from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Under the IUCN is a commission of panelists called Listing Process Stakeholder Panel, LPSP. These are unelected people appointed to the panel by politicians, and under IUCN guidelines, they determine the status of species – endangered, threatened, whatever. IUCN is partnered with the United Nations.
Who is making the calls on our environmental policies?
Our Constitution was never set up for international interference, or for our government to be creating jobs in a manner to disregard science, which leads this writer to conclude that government has far too much of our money to squander in ridiculous ways. Take a close look at the Fair and Flat Tax, and get active. And, write to your Senators urging the changes in the Endangered Species Act. We've been buffaloed for too long.