Blog Note

It has come to my attention, through various blogs, that this blog may have been unviewable for a time in Internet Explorer 7. The problem was a bug in the SiteMeter source code, which conflicted with one or another of IE's special requirements. The problem did not affect Firefox or other browsers.

As far as I can tell, that problem has been fixed. If you continue to have trouble, please let me know.

Reminder: Linnaeus' Legacy

Next Tuesday, August 5, I will be hosting the blog carnival Linnaeus' Legacy. Submissions can cover all aspects of biodiversity: taxonomy, identification, species names, newly-discovered species, evolution, etc.

For an idea of what what types of posts are appropriate, see the first edition and the most recent edition of the carnival.

Please send submissions to me at empidonax@gmail.com by Sunday night.

Loose Feathers #160

Semipalmated Plover / Photo by Tim Bowman

Bird news

• About 50 ducks died when the San Gabriel River suddenly dried up. The river has been dammed and channelized to the point that there is no longer a consistent waterflow.
• Thanks to warmer temperatures, southern bird species are becoming more common in Britain. Northern species are in decline.
  
• New Zealand is creating a marine reserve to protect Australasian gannet, little penguin, and wandering albatross, among other animals.
• Australian rosella species may have evolved into their many color varieties in response to ancient climate change.
• Nepal has set aside fields to dump animal carcasses, so that endangered vultures can feed on them safely.
• Flamingos at the Philadelphia Zoo are part of a study on laterality – to determine which leg they stand on and why.
• A colony of puffins in the North Sea decreased by a third in the last five years. It matches declines in other breeding colonies in the same area. So far the cause is undetermined.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• BrdPics: Black and White Penguins
• Snail's Tales: Migration conservation
• Birdchaser: Mad Birding Skills
• Scienceray: The Twenty Most Brilliantly Colored Birds in the World
  

Environment news

• A report from the World Bank details how biofuel production is driving the increase in world food prices – not just corn, but also soy, wheat, and rice.
  
• California and other states are suing the EPA to force it to regulate greenhouse gases from ocean and air transportation.
• In the wake of the U.S. Sugar deal, Florida is negotiating with Florida Crystal to swap or sell land to restore the flow of the Everglades.
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Oekologie #17
  
• Birds in the News #141
  

Negotiating Development and Conservation

Five environmental organizations negotiated with a developer to build luxury homes on part of the Tejon Ranch while preserving the rest.

Tejon Ranch dates to a land grant in 1843. Subsequent owners expanded the holdings to 270,000 acres of mountains, lakes, valleys and canyons. Parts of the property are used for cattle, farming, vineyards, mining and oil production. Most of it is untouched. The California condor — nearly extinct 25 years ago — flies over the ranch. Only 150 condors — whose 9-foot wingspan is the largest of any North American bird — survive in the wild. Tejon Ranch is one of the giant bird's prime habitats.

The carnivorous vulture symbolized the environmental problems the Tejon Ranch Co. faced in developing the land in a state that has some of the USA's toughest conservation laws. After years of tug-of-war with environmental groups, Stine decided it was time to try for a mega-deal that settled all top issues with leading environmental groups....

The culture clash was challenging, both sides say. As a veteran developer and hard-nosed CEO, Stine had authority to make decisions. By contrast, the six environmental groups worked by consensus. For the Sierra Club and Audubon, public access to the ranch was a top priority. To the Center for Biological Diversity, species preservation and habitat protection were paramount. The result was a break in the united environmental front during the talks.

Apparently 90% will be preserved, and 26,000 homes will be built on the 10% of development land.*

The linked article, and another in the same newspaper, present conservationist-corporate compromise as a growing trend in the environmental movement. I am all for compromises if they result in better outcomes for wildlife conservation. Federal, state, and local governments cannot protect every parcel that merits protection, and private conservation groups have limited funds for land purchase, especially in areas with high property values. So in many cases it is up to the landowner to act in an ecologically-sensitive manner.

I am not familiar enough with the Tejon Ranch parcel to comment on that specific deal. It is notable, however, that one of the organizations involved, the Center for Biological Diversity, pulled out of negotiations. Meanwhile the praise for the trend in the second article comes from a representative of the American Enterprise Institute. While compromise can be constructive, environmental groups must be careful not to support greenwashing or deceptive marketing. Such campaigns will do more harm than good because they obscure the choices that companies and consumers are really making.

* Of course, given the current state of the housing market (especially in California) even that number seems extraordinarily ambitious for the developer.

Conserved Farmland Safe for Now

Earlier this month, there was some talk that the USDA might lift penalties for farmers taking land out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP subsidizes farm owners who leave portions of their land fallow to serve as wildlife habitat. This conserved habitat provides breeding ground for waterfowl and many other bird species. Many business interests put pressure on the government to lift penalties in the wake of the flooding earlier this year. That, food crises elsewhere in the world, and ethanol mandates raised the price of grain. Instead, the USDA just announced that it would not lift penalties because the crop forecasts had improved.

The ruling was a major victory for conservationists and hunting groups, who had argued that lifting the penalties would have gutted the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers not to cultivate marginal land. Currently, 34.7 million acres are enrolled in the program, much of it in the Great Plains.

Under the terms of the program, farmers sign contracts for up to a decade or more. Farmers who terminate the contract must reimburse the government, with interest and a 25 percent penalty on the total rent payments they received.

“The Conservation Reserve Program is the holy grail of conservation, and we are pleased that the U.S.D.A. will maintain the program and the benefits that it has had,” said Barton James, director of agriculture conservation policy for Ducks Unlimited, an advocacy group.

If demand for ethanol continues to increase in coming years, the issue of the CRP lands is going to keep coming back. Even in the face of today's ruling, so far 288,726 acres have been removed from the program this year. Another 1.1 million acres will need to be renewed in September, which would give many farmers to remove land from the program without penalty. This trend bears watching. It may be time for the government to rethink its renewable energy strategy.