90 Percent of Species are Recovering at the Rate Specified by their Federal Recovery Plan

A new Center for Biological Diversity analysis of 110 endangered species finds that 90 percent are on track to meet recovery goals set by federal scientists. The review examined population trends of plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act in all 50 states, including gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, Florida panthers, Aleutian Canada geese and California condors. Again and again, the analysis finds species on a positive trajectory toward recovery — and in some cases exceeding expectations.

“There are Endangered Species Act success stories in every state in America. No other law in the world has done so much to rescue species from the brink of extinction and put them on a path to recovery. Simply put, the Act has been remarkably successful.”

~ Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity

Critics of the Endangered Species Act contend it is a failure because only 1 percent of the species under its protection have recovered and been delisted. The critique, however, is undermined by its failure to explain how many species should have recovered by now. The report finds that 80 percent of species haven’t been listed long enough to reach their projected delisting date: On average, species have been protected for 32 years and have a typical expected recovery period of 46 years. Relying on data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and independent scientists, this report is a science-based rebuttal to attacks on the Act.

To objectively test whether the Endangered Species Act is recovering species at a sufficient rate, the Center for Biological Diversity compared the actual recovery rate of 110 species with the projected recovery rate in their federal recovery plans. The species range over all 50 states, include all major taxonomic groups, and have a diversity of listing lengths. 80 percent of species have not yet reached their expected recovery year.

The study’s findings are similar to a 2006 analysis of all federally protected species in the Northeast, which found 93 percent were stabilized or improving since being put on the endangered species list and 82 percent were on pace to meet recovery goals.

When judged in the light of meeting recovery plan timelines for recovery, the Endangered Species Act is remarkably successful. Few laws of any kind can boast a 90 percent success rate.

Success Highlights

Aleutian Canada Goose

Once nearly driven extinct by foxes introduced to their nesting islands in Alaska and by habitat destruction and hunting in California and Oregon, Aleutian Canada geese are today a clear success story. After a small population was found on a remote Alaskan island in the Aleutian chain, the goose was listed as an endangered species in 1967. Nonnative fox populations were controlled, nesting habitat was protected with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge’s creation in 1980, and wintering and migration habitat was protected in California and Oregon. The Aleutian Canada goose population grew from 790 birds in 1975 to more than 60,000 in 2005. It was downlisted to “threatened” in 1990, declared recovered and removed from the endangered list in 2001, seven years earlier than projected by its recovery plan.

Black-Footed Ferret

This 2-foot-long, black-masked member of the weasel family once lived in central grasslands and basins from southern Canada to Texas, but is now one of the most endangered mammals in North America. In the early 1900s, the U.S. ferret population was likely more than 5 million. But ferrets were almost wiped out in the 20th century after agricultural development and rodent poisons devastated their primary food source, the prairie dog. Thirteen years after they were listed as endangered in 1967, the last captive ferret died, and the animals were thought to be extinct in North America. Then in 1981 a small relic population was discovered in Wyoming. Between 1991 and 1999, about 1,200 ferrets from that population were released in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona and along the Utah/Colorado border. At least two of those populations are established. Biologists estimate there are now a total of about 1,410 black-footed ferrets in the wild.

American Peregrine Falcon

The use of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides thinned American peregrine falcon eggshells, causing reproductive failure and population declines. In 1970, the American peregrine was listed as endangered and efforts to recover the species began. The use of DDT was banned in Canada in 1970 and in the United States in 1972. In the late 1970s, Alaska became the first place American peregrine falcon population growth was documented and, by 1980, populations began to grow in other areas. Efforts to reestablish peregrine falcons in the East and Midwest proved largely successful, leading to downlisting of the species in 1984. The banning of DDT, captive-breeding efforts and nest protections allowed falcons to increase from 324 breeding pairs in 1975 to 3,005 pairs as of 2006. The species was delisted in 1999.

American Crocodile

In pre-Columbian days, the coastal tip of South Florida was literally crawling with thousands of American crocodiles. By the time they were listed as endangered in 1975, hunting for sport and skins as well as overcollection for zoos and museums had reduced their numbers to as few as 200. With the entire population, including only 10 to 20 breeding females, living in one small area of northeastern Florida Bay, American crocodiles were in stark danger of becoming little more than a memory. But only eight years after gaining Endangered Species Act protection, populations had grown to about 1,000, and crocodiles had already returned to much of their historic range, from Biscayne Bay and Key Largo to Florida’s southwestern coast. In 2005 the crocodiles’ numbers reached 2,085, and two years later the species was downlisted to threatened.

Bald Eagle

The bald eagle first declined in the 1800s at the hands of trophy hunters, feather collectors, and wanton killing. It was already extirpated or at low numbers in most states by the 1940s when DDT and other organochlorines became widely used. DDT caused eagle numbers plummet further, and in 1967 the species was listed as endangered in the lower 48 states. The eagle was joined on the list by the American peregrine falcon, Arctic peregrine falcon and brown pelican in 1970. The listing of these large, charismatic birds rallied the nation to band the production and sale of DDT in 1972.

The banning of DDT, increased wetland protection and restoration, and an aggressive, mostly state-based reintroduction program caused eagle pairs to soar from 416 in 1963 to 11,052 in 2007 when the eagle was removed from the endangered list.

Gray Wolf

Wolves were listed as endangered in 1967, after decades of bounty hunting decimated their population in the lower 48 states. Successful recolonization of the Rocky Mountain region began in the early 1980s. Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. By 2009 the population of wolves in the No. Rockies was about 1,679, up from 1,300 in 2006. The population expanded beyond the Rockies, returning to Oregon in 1999, and Washington in 2005. The U.S. FWS delisted the northern Rockies gray wolf in 2008, but the decision was overturned after conservationists argued that the recovery goal was insufficient to remove the threat of extinction. In 2011, for the first time in the history of the Endangered Species Act, Congress overruled the courts and ordered the delisting of northern Rockies gray wolves, and those in parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah. Wolf populations in Idaho and Montana are now subject to hunting and trapping seasons designed to severely reduce populations.

For more success stories, and further details on those above, visit On Time, On Target – How the Endangered Species Act is Saving America’s Wildlife, a project of the Center for Biological Diversity.

See a Regional Map of Species Recovery around the country.

Read the Full Report

Take action to help Defend the Endangered Species Act

Discovering a whole tiny world in my father’s small garden. There is a small pond with small falls, some stones, some plants, and plenty of life!

~ Mirko Faienza

Shot on Panasonic HPX 500- Fujinon 17×7.6 HD lens

The beautiful and rare Mission Blue butterfly (icaricia icarioides missionensis) is native to California’s San Francisco and Marin peninsulas. Today, they survive only in parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco’s Twin Peaks area, and San Bruno Mountain.

These discriminating butterflies rely on the presence of one of three specific native lupine plants: Varied Lupine, Summer Lupine, or their favorite, Silver Lupine. These lupines are the only plants on which the adults will lay eggs, and the only plants their caterpillars will eat. Without the presence of at least one of these lupines, the Mission Blue will not reproduce. Habitat loss, caused by urbanization and invasive plant species, caused the Mission Blue butterfly population to diminish.

Mission Blue Butterfly photos by Patrick Kobermus, US Fish and Wildlife Service

The male Mission Blue has striking iridescent silver-blue to violet-blue wings with border stripes, while the females are brown with blue traces. An adult Mission Blue only lives for 6 to 10 days.

Fortunately the tiny Mission Blue’s demise did not go unnoticed. The Mission Blue was one of the first insects added to the federal endangered species list, in 1976. California does not recognize Insects as entitled to state endangered species status, so these creatures are not protected at the state level. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drew up a recovery plan for the butterfly in 1984, which called for habitat repair and protection of remaining habitat. Through the years, in collaboration with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, non-native trees and plants have been removed and native coastal scrub and grassland plants, including the favored lupines have been reintroduced in key areas.

In 2007 an adult Mission Blue was found in the restored Hawk Hill habitat for the first time. The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department has been releasing Mission Blues, brought from San Bruno Mountain where the largest population remains, into restored habitat areas since 2009. Due to extraordinary efforts on behalf of the Mission Blue, its survival has been secured.
 

For More Information:

The Butterfly Conservation Initiative

Biogeography of the Mission Blue Butterfly

On the third Friday of May every year, thousands of people celebrate Endangered Species Day by visiting parks, wildlife refuges and zoos and attending events in support of nationwide conservation efforts underway protecting America’s threatened, endangered and at-risk species. The Endangered Species list, co-administered by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has prevented hundreds of listed species from becoming extinct.

“Endangered Species Day provides an opportunity to celebrate our successes and strengthen our partnership with the American public to conserve our shared natural resources,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “By taking action to help our threatened and endangered plants and animals, we can ensure a healthy future for our country and protect treasured landscapes for future generations.”

The FWS and the Endangered Species Coalition are cosponsoring events around the country. Events are as varied as educational programs at the local libraries to the Youth Art Contest and week-long events that include International Migratory Bird Day. Go to your Facebook page and support the cause by changing your profile picture or cover photo to an Endangered Species to promote awareness.

“Endangered Species Day celebrates America’s natural heritage and our country’s successful efforts to protect imperiled species,” said Leda Huta, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “As Americans, we can be proud that we have one of the strongest endangered species programs in the world. Americans have established a legacy of protecting endangered species for our children and grandchildren.”

Endangered Species need protection all year round, not on just one day. Here are 10 things you can do all year to help the cause.

Source: Endangered Species Coalition and U.S Fish & Wildlife Service

As a filmmaker and photographer, Karen Bass has traveled from one end of the earth to the other to film and photograph the earth, its creatures and people. Bass proceeds to show some of her truly jaw-dropping footage, much of it shot with the BBC or for National Geographic, often with veteran natural world commentator, David Attenborough.

See a clip of grizzly bears shot from a helicopter with a gyro-stabilized camera, like a “flying tripod crane and dolly in one.” And watch the amazing sneak preview of new footage of the tube-lipped nectar bat she’s taken for Untamed Americas, a new series shot for the National Geographic Channel. The bat is a 2.5-inches long with a 3.5-inch tongue and was just recently discovered. Bass’s images are breathtaking.

And visit the Altiplano region of the High Andes where the air is crystal clear, providing the ideal environment for shots of nature and the heavens.

There is the hummingbird webcam, the Decorah eagle cam and a web cam in the Kalahari, to keep watch on the meerkats. Now you can watch a movie made from images produced by 16 cameras planted around Antarctica, recording the hidden lives of penguins during the harsh winter months, when the weather is too severe for humans to survive.

The time-lapse cameras were placed by researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Weighted down with rocks, the cameras recorded the penguins from a variety of positions overlooking king penguins on South Georgia Island and the gentoo penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Each camera captured several images per day, revealing the penguins’ movements, breeding activity and the arrival of a new generation of fuzzy young chicks.

“Antarctica is one of the world’s least explored regions, making it all the more important for us to collect worthwhile data on wildlife,” ZSL researcher Ben Collen said in a statement. “New information is vital for making informed conservation decisions, so we are able to best manage species under pressure and deal with the wider global implications of climate change.

Satellite image of newly-discovered Emperor Penguin colony. Courtesy DigitalGlobe

With the help of cameras traveling aboard satellites, British researchers recently uncovered several undiscovered colonies of emperor penguins in Antarctica, roughly doubling the population estimate for the iconic birds.

“It surprised us that we approximately doubled the population estimate,” said Peter Fretwell, a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey and lead author of a paper published recently in the journal PLoS One.

Fretwell said that in contrast to previous estimates, which put emperor penguin numbers somewhere between 270,000 and 350,000 birds, the new research counted 595,000 birds.

Source: Our Amazing Planet

Those willing to rise before first light and find their way to the woods, a garden, or other natural place will be rewarded by the glory of one of nature’s everyday miracles – the dawn chorus of birdsong which greets the break of day.

If you’ve never experienced this simple delight, consider participating in International Dawn Chorus Day this year, on May 6^th. You can enjoy the natural symphony in private, or join one of the many events sponsored by wildlife organizations across the globe – many with an expert on hand to identify the singers.

Beyond the sheer richness of the moment there is a serious message to take away from Dawn Chorus Day. The world’s songbirds are in decline due to habitat loss, pesticides and climate change, as Rachel Carson warned in her seminal 1962 work Silent Spring. Dawn Chorus Day is an opportunity to show up for the world’s birds, and contribute to their protection. Those moved to take action can create a natural wildlife habitats in their own yards and gardens or join or donate to a local wildlife organization, such as the Audubon Society or the American Bird Conservancy.

For a Dawn Chorus sample, enjoy these videos.

For an insightful look at the state of the world’s birds, see Quiet Spring: Fifty Years Since Rachel Carson.

Through this very short video from the World Wildlife Fund of South Africa, see how closely we are connected to everything in our magnificent world.

They look pretty, but the buttercup fig is considered an invasive alien.

Plants have been “immigrating” to North America ever since the first Europeans arrived and earlier, depending on how you define non-native. Many of our main agricultural crops, such as corn and wheat, are not native to the United States. These, along with over 50,000 other non-native species, currently live within our borders. Fortunately, most of these immigrants are not invasive and many contribute to various industries, sport and ironically, even pest control.

It’s the 1400 exotic plants defined as “pests” that cause lots of trouble and even more so, the 94 of those that are considered “Federal Noxious Weeds” by the Federal Interagency Committee on Noxious and Exotic Weeds. Exotic, invasive plants infest an estimated 4,600 acres per day throughout the U.S. and are a major reason that nearly half the native threatened and endangered species are imperiled. (TNC, 1996; Wilcove et al. 1998). If the basic ecology of this situation isn’t compelling enough, perhaps what hits your wallet is.

Invasive Pests

It is estimated that invasive pests, these illegal immigrants, account for $137 billion in damages, loss and control each year in the U.S. (Pimentel, D. et.al. 2000) In Virginia alone, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (the Commonwealth’s lead agency regarding invasive pests) estimates we spend $1 billion a year. Even if you don’t consider yourself an environmentally-oriented person, this issue touches us all, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, to the wood our houses are made from.

Kudzu completely covers native plants and starves them of nutrients.

It’s a huge problem and some would argue for throwing in the wrench and letting “nature take its course.” This logic is flawed, however, because the reason we are discussing this at all is because the “nature” of North America, in this case, is not very natural anymore. Putting aside any arguments about the role of people in the natural environment and what brought us to this point, the fact is, we have an ecosystem struggling against the aggressive nature of invasive species. Doing nothing, in the mind of most land managers, biologists and scientists I have discussed this with, would be irresponsible.

But what can we do? As a nation, we already “do” something in the form of shipping restrictions and inspections at ports of entry. This first line of defense is important and perhaps could benefit from additional resources.

As individuals, we can educate ourselves.

There are things we can do ranging from what kinds of plants we buy for our landscapes to knowing an invasive plant when we see one and what to do about it. We can also band together as neighbors, volunteers or otherwise to combat invasive plants on public properties we enjoy. Check with local and state environmentally oriented entities in your area for opportunities to get involved in on-the-ground eradication efforts. It’s great exercise for you and helps get our earth “in-shape” at the same time.