ORLANDO – Officials with the
Bush administration are in Orlando
to hear from citizens concerning “cooperative conservation” efforts as part of
the multi-state “cooperative conservation tour”. Interior Secretary Kempthorne and other
administration officials are ostensibly here to discuss better ways to engage
landowners in conservation efforts.
Unfortunately, previous listening sessions have been stacked in advance
with hand-picked opponents of environmental laws such as the Endangered Species
Act, making the goals of these sessions suspect.
“There are many examples of cooperative conservation here in
Florida,”
said Laurie Macdonald, Florida Director of Defenders of Wildlife. “From manatees to sea turtles and scrub jays,
cooperative conservation is critical to successful conservation of our
wildlife. But it is not a substitute for
our nation’s environmental laws.”
America’s
conservation laws, like the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act, already
include opportunities for cooperative partner programs and have paved the way
by setting goals for recovering endangered species and cleaning up the nation’s
rivers and waterways. The Bush
administration wants to dismantle these very laws that have brought people and
communities together to address local conservation needs. By moving to weaken the Endangered Species
Act and Clean Water Act, the administration is undermining cooperative
conservation.
“With Florida
panthers, manatees, black bears and sea turtles facing pressure from runaway
development, we need to keep strong protections intact – not weaken them,” said
Holly Binns, Field Director with
Environment Florida.
Cooperative Conservation and landowner partnerships are
vital tools for preventing extinction and helping to recover endangered
species. Indeed, Florida’s wildlife depends on cooperative
conservation and strong environmental protections. Today, while federal officials visit Orlando to talk about weakening protections, Florida’s imperiled
species are suffering.
This year alone, eight Florida panthers have been killed on
roadways. That’s a significant toll,
since only an estimated 100 Florida
panthers remain alive in the world.
Last year, 396 manatees were found dead in Florida waters, the second-highest mortality
rate since the state began documenting manatee deaths in 1974. Ninety-four of the manatees died from
human-related causes – they were hit by boats, caught in fishing gear, or
crushed in dams and locks. Another 80
manatees succumbed to red tide.
Florida hosts 90% of all
sea turtle nesting in the continental United
States, and the three species that nest in Florida – green,
loggerhead, and Kemp’s ridley – are either endangered or threatened. The state’s mid and south Atlantic beaches host
some of the largest aggregations of nesting loggerheads in the world.
Every year, the fate of Florida’s nesting sea turtles is threatened
by increased coastal armoring – or “beach renourishment” projects – that
attempt to protect risky shoreline development.
The Endangered Species Act clearly hasn’t slowed development
in Florida,
but it has protected species that would otherwise be lost.
Florida’s
conservation groups – as well as the American public – believe that the
Endangered Species Act works and should remain strong. A recent poll illustrated that 86% of
American voters support it. Over 5,000
scientists from across the country sent a letter to the U.S. Senate asking them
to support a strong Endangered Species Act.
In Florida,
four of the five top specialty license tags that people buy feature wildlife
and endangered species. The irony is
that there are hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, panthers and manatees on Florida’s car bumpers,
while wild populations dwindle.
This is no time to step backwards. Thanks to the Act’s protections, 98% of the
nearly 1,300 listed species nationwide are still with us today, including the
grizzly beat, bull trout and humpback whale.
Here in Florida,
the Endangered Species Act is helping to recover bald eagles, red-cockaded
woodpeckers and peregrine falcons, and the Act has successfully recovered the
American alligator and brown pelican.
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