Audubon New Mexico Summer 2006
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
IS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ENDANGERED?
FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK - NEW DIRECTIONS
CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY
EDUCATION, REACHING OUT EAST
IS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ENDANGERED?
Liz Godfrey, Program Director, Endangered Species Coalition
For over thirty years, the Endangered Species Act has been a safety net for our nation’s fish, plants and wildlife on the brink of extinction. Because of its protections, majestic bald eagles still soar over our mountains, wild salmon still return in our rivers, wolves once again roam in Yellowstone and humpback whales travel our coasts. In addition, the law protects the ecosystems which endangered species depend upon, providing important safeguards to America’s mountains, forests, and rivers.
But today America’s natural heritage is threatened by politicians and special interests in Washington D.C. that seek to eliminate the checks and balances that the Endangered Species Act provides. House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) is leading the charge to aggressively strip the ESA of its strongest protections. Last September, the House of Representatives narrowly passed Pombo’s Extinction bill that would dismantle protections for endangered species and habitat. If this bill becomes law, it would eliminate habitat protection, abandon the commitment to recovering species on the brink of extinction, repeal protections against hazardous pesticides, and politicize the scientific decision-making process. In addition, it would set up an unprecedented entitlement program requiring the federal government to use taxpayers dollars to pay developers to not violate the ESA’s prohibition against killing or injuring endangered species. Rep. Pombo’s bill would cut large holes in this safety net, with dire consequences for America’s natural heritage.
In December, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced a bill that would significantly weaken protections for endangered and threatened species. Although the bill purports to provide greater incentives for private landowner conservation, the legislative language does not carry out the bill’s stated goals. Instead, the bill would waive fundamental habitat protections, indefinitely delay listing and protection of endangered species, and force taxpayers to pay developers and other landowners to comply with the law. These bills represent some of the most serious threats to the Endangered Species Act in its 30 year history.
In addition, former Senator and Idaho Governor, Dirk Kempthorne, just took over as the Secretary of the Interior. As a U.S. Senator, Kempthorne had a lifetime score of one percent in the League of Conservation Voters Annual Environmental Scorecard. As governor, Kempthorne used his office to thwart protection and recovery of Idaho’s endangered species. He opposed recovery of threatened grizzly bears and wolves, and tried to suppress scientific information that showed the negative impact of hydroelectric dams on salmon populations in Northwest rivers. Sadly, during his confirmation hearings, Mr. Kempthorne publicly stated his support of efforts to ‘reform and update’ the Endangered Species Act-- the very same ‘code phrases’ now used by industry in its long campaign to weaken this landmark law.
We have a responsibility to stop Congress and the administration from weakening the ES. We owe it to err children and grandchildren to be good stewards of the environment and to pass on a legacy of protecting wildlife and habitats.
In its juniper-clad mesas, ponderosa and fir forests, and tangled bosques of willow and cottonwood at the bottom of its precipitous canyons, the story of New Mexico’s Gila ecosystem is one of the Endangered Species Act’s great successes. In the 1980s, U.S. Forest Service management plans called for aggressive road-construction to facilitate logging of the centuries-old trees in much of the Gila’s back- country — despite costs to taxpayers amounting to millions of dollars. Mexican Spotted Owls were declining precipitously.
Hundreds of cattle grazed the Gila and San Francisco river corridors down to dirt. The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, a songbird that requires healthy stream- side vegetation, had fewer large nesting trees and almost no new ones springing up. The side river channels favored by two fish — the loach minnow and spikedace — were increasingly scoured by unchecked floods. The howl of the wolf had not been heard in the Gila since the early 1930S due to government poison and traps, and the secretive jaguar had been eliminated as well.
Today, the Gila’s big trees have largely been spared. Cattle have been removed from the river banks. The spotted owl, the flycatcher and the fish are making progress toward recovery. Mexican gray wolves have been reintroduced, and jaguars have been sighted in recent years.
Beyond recovery of individual species, the Endangered Species Act’s promise to conserve ecosystems — the entire web of life -- is also being fulfilled. With the resurgence of riparian vegetation, beavers have come back in force. Their ponds have expanded habitat for waterfowl and elk. But the free-flowing Gila and San Francisco Rivers are now threatened by a dam and water development. The ESA, if it survives, will ensure that habitat for imperiled wildlife is not destroyed.
This single New Mexican example demonstrates that the ESA works. It is critical that citizens and members of Congress stand up for America’s natural heritage and oppose any scheme to repeal the protections that the Endangered Species Act provides. Please call New Mexico Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman and ask them to support the Endangered Species Act and oppose any bill that would weaken protections for fish, plants and wildlife on the brink of extinction. Thank you!
You can find more information on the ESA at www.stopextinction.org.
FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK - NEW DIRECTIONS
David Henderson
After 25 years of service to the environment through my work at Audubon, 21 years here in New Mexico, I have decided to retire. These have been the best years of my life but it is time for new opportunities and challenges, no doubt in the area I know best, safeguarding our environment. I am so grateful for the friendship and support from all of you who share this passion.
I have been privileged to do what I love to do in some of the most wonderful settings imaginable. I started with Audubon managing some of the most wild and diverse 4,000 acres left in Southern California, Starr Ranch. After a year and a half I went to graduate school, only to be drawn back to Audubon a couple of years later to be the Western Regional Environmental Educator. Though I worked with chapters and members up and down the West Coast I was stationed at Richardson Bay Audubon Center in Mann County. Not bad duty. And then in 1983, when the New Mexico State Director’s position was announced, I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to make a difference.
It didn’t take long after my arrival to discover the array of environmental concerns that needed a voice. Our chapters had already been active. The Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society had successfully defeated yet another attempt to dam the Gila River. A chapter that no longer exists in the Gallup area worked successfully to have the Bisti designated as wilderness. Members up and down the Rio Grande were working to make the reintroduction of Whooping Cranes a success. But as I looked around the state and talked with members I concluded that Audubon could make an additional contribution through efforts to restore the Mexican Wolf to its native homeland. After over 10 years of work by a coalition of advocates wolves are now back in the wild, tenuously, but they are back. I was rewarded for my involvement by being asked by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to be one of the few people to carry the first wolves to their release site in the forests of eastern Arizona.
Reflecting on my 21 years of conservation in New Mexico I am amazed at what has been accomplished by Audubon New Mexico, our members, and all the dedicated people who have rallied around various causes. Together we provided greater protection for the Mexican Spotted Owl, Northern Goshawk, Lesser Prairie Chicken and Peregrine Falcon, to name a few, while also protecting habitat. I was given opportunities I could not have dreamed possible. I helped form the Southwest Forest Alliance to protect our remaining old growth forests and the coalition that worked to save one of New Mexico’s crown jewels, the Valles Caldera. I served on a Presidential working group to reform the national grazing fee program, and on a committee asked to develop ideas to strengthen our Endangered Species Act. I worked closely with then Congressman Richardson for the designation of the Rio Chama as a Wild and Scenic River.
Successes for wildlife in the field led to action in the halls of the Roundhouse and Congress. In Congress lobbying never ends to ensure adequate funding for protection of our non-game wildlife and strengthening of perhaps the most visionary wildlife legislation ever enacted, the Endangered Species Act. That work will continue. I’ve worked our Legislature for all my 21 years many challenges and some success. We “enviros” are nothing if not persistent. Of all those years at the Roundhouse working to kill bad bills and to pass good ones, my greatest memory was the final vote on legislation we developed – the Reptile and Amphibian Protection Act, a law that for the first time protects our reptiles and amphibians from unregulated take throughout New Mexico. I believe that it was this history of environmental commitment and doggedness that led to the highest honor I have been given, an appointment by Governor Richardson to the state Game Commission. After years of trying to influence wildlife management practices as an activist I now find myself in the decision-maker’s seat. Times do change. While I was busy being an activist, a most exciting and dynamic environmental education program evolved within Audubon New Mexico. The gift of the Randall Davey Audubon Center gave us tremendous opportunities to reach out to the public with an important message of stewardship. Early programs were Center-based and quickly became oversubscribed. We then began outreach into Santa Fe schools. The requests for our programs outstripped our resources and staff, so we had no choice but to think bigger and bolder. We initiated a capital campaign to raise funds needed to build a true educational facility at the Center and to hire a second educator. We also decided to expand our environmental education efforts throughout the state. Roswell, Las Cruces, Belen, Maxwell and many of the pueblo schools along the Rio were destinations for our expanding outreach. With the education building in place, a great team of educators and an unending interest in our programs, we are prepared to expose even more of the next generation of stewards to the wonders of New Mexico’s wildlife.
I have had the most incredible experience anyone could have in a professional life. I have been given opportunities to make a bit of a difference on behalf of the critters with whom we share this planet. Audubon New Mexico is being left in very good hands and I will be around to witness the great things that are still to come. I thank all of you for being a part of this most wonderful adventure.
CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY
Tom Jervis, Board President
It is an honor to be selected to lead the board of Audubon New Mexico. This is a wonderful organization that has developed a significant leadership role in education and advocacy in New Mexico. We have, of course, much work still to do, but I am assuming the presidency at a time when Audubon is poised to take on an even greater role in New Mexico. We have just hired Betsy Daub as Director of Bird Conservation and Public Policy, a new position that will expand and extend our ability to conserve birds, other wildlife, and habitat in the state. Our outstanding education program is reaching out all over the state and we are embarking on a major effort to determine how best to use our existing facilities in Santa Fe. It is an exciting time for Audubon in New Mexico and I am thrilled to be in a position to help make ANM stronger and even more effective.
Birds and other wildlife are under pressure from threats ranging from global warming to the loss and fragmentation of remaining bits of native habitat. A national Administration that seems bent on dismantling a thirty-year legacy of conservation legislation adds additional complications in a state where much of the remaining habitat is under federal control. Audubon must continue to focus its attention on what it does best: science-based advocacy for the protection of wildlife and habitat and education efforts at all levels to build a culture of conservation in our communities. New Mexico has a rich and incredibly varied legacy of wildlife. That legacy belongs to all Americans and it is our duty to conserve it. If you are reading this newsletter, I know you care. I hope I can help give you more opportunities to make a difference in the future.
David Henderson has been an effective and forceful advocate for conservation and has built Audubon New Mexico into a model for National Audubon Society’s growth in other states in the country. He is widely respected within Audubon and in the broader conservation community for his dedication. David’s announcement that he will retire in a year is, of course, a loss. Fortunately, we will have David’s support, expertise and experience during the transition. We will soon initiate a search for his successor even as we proceed with our other plans for development.
Audubon New Mexico has a strong program, an excellent and dedicated staff, and a board of directors committed to conservation. I ask for your help in advancing the cause of conservation. It is our collective responsibility to the planet and to those who will follow in our footsteps. Thank you!
In April, Audubon New Mexico educators presented the popular Birds for a Purpose-Northeastern New Mexico program at the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge. This second year of the program at Maxwell Refuge was received with great enthusiasm. As some of you may remember from the Randall Davey Audubon Center spring newsletter, Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge has been recognized as an Important Bird Area and it is wonderful to overlap Audubon education programs with the IBA Program. Over five days, we presented the program to 4th and 5th grade classes including from Raton (Kearney Elementary), i from Springer Elementary, and i from Maxwell Elementary. In addition, we offered an advanced pilot program on Ecosystems and Birding to the 6th and 7th grade classes at Maxwell Schools. Our hope is that we can continue building programs through the grade levels and begin to evaluate the success of Audubon New Mexico programs over a number of years.
The 136 students who participated were engaged in a variety of activities including owl pellet dissection; observation of bird bones, study skins, nests, and skulls; and a discussion of bird adaptations including feather, talons, and beaks. Every afternoon, we went on a hike between Lakes 13 and 14 led by Refuge Manager Patty Hoban and Audubon educators. We were surprised by the variety of wildlife we encountered including a Bald Eagle, Swainson’s Hawk, a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds, many desert cottontails, mule deer, a few prairie dogs, and even a couple of bull snakes! We even had the opportunity to observe nests of a Say’s Phoebe and a Great Horned Owl. As we exited the bus one afternoon, we were greeted by a Peregrine Falcon!
One 4th grade student summed it up best in a letter she wrote us:
The field trip was really fun and I learned a lot. My favorite part was going on the hike and seeing all of the animals, watching the movie about owls, and dissecting owl pellets. It was really fun. I learned that it is cool to look at all of the body parts and all of the birds and the eggs and all of the other stuff of any birds. The thing I u’ill do to help them is to keep their home clean for their baby birds, you should always clean up after yourself and don’t ever litter the world and keep it clean for the birds so they can find food and water: Don’t ever mess with the baby birds because the parents might be in the nest and the birds will et mad if you try to mess with the baby birds. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you thank you for everything and maybe see you some other time when 1 go to the refuge.
The Friends of Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge observed Birds for a Purpose-Northeastern New Mexico at Maxwell in fall 2004 and then received a grant that brought the program to Las Vegas Refuge in the 2005-2006 school year. Additionally, we are in conversations with Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell to offer the program in the 2006- 2007 school year. We received initial funding for this from the Smith Family Foundation.