More than 40 national environmental organizations actively supported President Obama’s appointment of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.  In a letter to Senators prior to last Thursday’s Senate approval of Kagan’s confirmation, the groups cited her “understanding of the importance of fair Court decisions that uphold, enforce, and correctly interpret laws that protect people, wildlife, and the environment.”

     Since the Supreme Court decides the fate of lawsuits that attack safeguards for clean air, clean water, endangered species, and special natural places, it is important that the Supreme Court be made up of Justices who respect the right of future generations to a healthy planet.  Unfortunately, however, four of the current Justices–Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Thomas, and Scalia–are no friends of the earth.

     Four other Justices–Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Kennedy, and Breyer–have been much more sympathetic to environmental issues.  Kagan is replacing the fifth pro-environment Justice, John Paul Stevens.  In his decisions, Stevens upheld the power of governments to regulate pollutants.  So while the appointment of Kagan does not give us an environmental majority on the Court, her appointment does mean that we should not lose ground.

    Indeed, Kagan’s environmental background is reason to cheer her presence on the nation’s highest court.  As Dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan made environmental law a top priority there.  She helped found the Environmental Law Program and started the Harvard Law School Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, which she called “the heart of our environmental program.”  She wrote in 2008 that “this program is fast becoming an international leader in showing how law schools (and lawyers) can actively shape a field that will in many ways determine the world’s future.”

     Now that Elena Kagan is a member of the Supreme Court, and the “mum’s the word” Senate confirmation process is over, let’s hope she will be a strong voice on the Supreme Court for the environment.–April Moore

Elena Kagan, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice

 

  

     I often wish the U.S. were more like Canada.  Canada has been much more serious about protecting its natural treasures than has the U.S.  Nonetheless, the following good news story from Canada is good news for all of us.           

     Over the last year or so, the Canadian government been putting in place important protections for its Arctic north.

     Last summer, Canada declared a large chunk of Ontario’s boreal (northern) forest off-limits to further development.  Then, soon after, Canada went further, establishing three National Wildlife Areas in the Arctic.  The designation means that the areas’ natural features will be protected from disturbance and from activities considered harmful to species living there or to the habitat as a whole.

     All three sites are located on Baffin Island.  Some of the species that will be protected, thanks to the recent designations, are bowhead whales, polar bears. walruses, seals, and many species of birds.

     The Inuit people, who live in Canada’s far north, had been advocating with Canada’s federal government since 2001 for the National Wildlife Area designations.  The day the designations were signed into law, was “a big day for Inuit,” stated James Eetoolook, acting president of the Inuit organizations that had worked to bring about the federal protections.

     And just this month, the Canadian government extended last year’s protections.  Now, vessels, foreign and domestic, must report to Canada’s Coast Guard when they are traveling through Arctic waters.  ”With mandatory reporting,” explains Gail Shea, Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, “the Canadian Coast Guard will be able to keep watch on vessels carrying pollutants, fuel oil and dangerous goods, and respond quickly in the event of an accident.”–April Moore 

northern fulmar, one of the birds protected in the Canadian Arctic

    

     Good news for all who care about healthy coastal marine ecosystems! 

     In an important step toward fulfilling California’s far-reaching Marine Life Protection Act, more than 85 square miles of waters along the state’s northern coast have been designated marine protected areas.  The Act, the first of its kind in the country, requires California to establish a system of marine protected areas all along its coastline.   Waters in the northern and southern ends of the state have already been set aside under the Act, and protected status will be in place for areas all along California’s 1,100 mile coastline in 2011.  The protections will not interfere with fishing along close to 90% of the state’s coast.

     The recent step protects such special north central California sites as Point Reyes Headlands, the Farallon Islands, and Bodega Head. 

     “The Marine Life Protection Act allows us to create a legacy of healthy, resilient oceans for our kids and grandkids,” says Karen Garrison of the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Scientists who have researched marine reserves in the Channel Islands and the Great Barrier Reef report that such reserves benefit fishermen as well as fish.  

     The new marine protected areas will be monitored by scientists as part of the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of California’s coastal ocean.–April Moore

Point Reyes Headland

Farallon Islands

     It is 30 years ago this month that Mount St. Helens ‘blew.’ 

     Without warning on a Sunday morning in May, the mountain in southwestern Washington erupted.  The blast killed 57 people, 7,000 elk and deer, and it ’shortened’ the mountain from a 9,665-foot peak to a crater just 8,300 feet high.  The eruption of this volcano, which had been considered dormant until that day, triggered the largest landslide in recorded history.  As a result, 230 square miles of forest were laid waste, and 14 miles of river valley were clogged with mud.  The churning pillar of ash and rock that Mount St. Helens spewed upward and eastward turned day into night in Yakima and Spokane, and spread particles of volcanic ash as far east as New England.

     But this is a success story, not a tale of utter destruction. 

     Miraculously, 30 years after Mount St. Helens erupted, the mountain is coming back!  While scientists predicted that the barren, ‘lunar’ landscape that the pristine mountain ecosystem had become on May 18, 1980, could never recover, life is returning to Mount St. Helens!  Humans left the mountain relatively undisturbed after the eruption, and now scientists are viewing Mount St. Helens is a testament to the resilience of nature.  It has become apparent that many, many plants and animals can make a dramatic comeback, even after a catastrophic disturbance.

     Today, visitors to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument can see many signs of regeneration:  alpine wildflowers and herbs, patches of scrubby willow and alder trees, chipmunks and grazing elk.  From microbes to mammals, from fungi to flowers, millions of plants and animals of thousands of species are now flourishing on Mount St. Helens.  And while the mountain today is a far less diverse ecosystem that it was before the eruption, so much life has returned that scientists now expect that in 30 more years a forest will begin to grow in what is still wasteland below the crater.   

     Mount St. Helens has provided scientists with an unprecedented opportunity to observe what happens to a landscape that is virtually wiped clean biologically.  Researchers report that they have learned a great deal about how plants and animals respond to volcanic blasts.   For example, when mountain lupine began to grow in profusion on the incinerated plain below the crater, scientists were surprised because the large seeds of the purple wildflower had not been thought to travel great distances on the wind.  Yet they did.   There have been many similar surprises.    “We have learned to expect the unexpected,” says Jeanne Bennett, executive director of the nonprofit Mount St. Helens Institute.

     The national monument that Mount St. Helens has become attracts more than 200,000 visitors every year.  I can imagine that it would be a thrill to visit the place every few years and observe new life each time–more plant and animal species returning to a mountain once deemed forever dead!–April Moore

Mount St. Helens--2010

Mount St. Helens explosion, May 18, 1980

     I am happy to report that a bird once thought to be extinct has made a comeback.  

     Bermuda Petrels  once inhabited the Bermuda islands by the tens of thousands.  But when the Spaniards first came to the islands in the early 1500s, they were spooked by the petrels’ haunting, nighttime calls.  Believing the island to be inhabited by devils, the superstitious Spanish sailors never settled there.  Unfortunately, however, they left behind pigs as food for shipwrecked sailors.

     Within 100 years, the pigs had killed off 90% of the petrel population, eating eggs and chicks from the nests the petrels had burrowed into the ground.  When the English arrived in 1609, there were only a few of the petrels surviving on remote islands in the archipelago.  Thanks to predation by animals brought over by the settlers, combined with hunting by the settlers themselves, the Bermuda Petrel (locally called the cahow) was thought to be extinct by the 1620s.

     Then, more than 300 years later, in 1951, 18 nesting pairs of the Bermuda Petrel were spotted on a few tiny, remote, rocky islands of the Bermuda archipelago.   One of the bird’s ‘discoverers’ was then teen-aged David Wingate.   The discovery inspired him to attend Cornell University, where he studied ornithology.  He returned to Bermuda and devoted his entire career to protecting the Bermuda Petrel, which lives nowhere else in the world.

     Wingate and other wildlife managers worked to restore a viable petrel population.  They created artifical nesting burrows that could not be accessed by non-endangered birds known to take over petrel nests. 

     Thanks to the efforts of Wingate and his team, the Bermuda Petrels’ numbers grew, albeit slowly.   But when a hurricane swept through in 2003, many of the nesting burrows on three of the four breeding islands were damaged. Many of the nests were destroyed completely.  

     Scientists responded by creating a new and safer habitat for the fragile petrel population.  A special reserve was created on one of the islands.  Nesting sites were built at a high elevation, to ensure protection from hurricane flooding and erosion.  Native trees were replanted, so that the island today has a closed canopy forest similar to the one under which the birds nested before the English settlers appeared.   

     In 2009 the first live petrel birth in the reserve was documented.  Today there are roughly 200 of the birds in Bermuda.  Scientists are cautiously optimistic about the bird’s future.  But the petrel is a slow breeder, with females laying just a single egg every year or even every other year.  

     Bermuda Petrels spend most of their adult lives on the open seas.  When they are five years old, they return to their original nesting grounds to begin breeding.  Petrels mate for life.–April Moore

 

photo by Ned Brinkley

    

  

     For the first time in more than a century, a California condor chick has hatched inside Pinnacles National Monument, the federal wildlife reserve in California that was once the species’ domain.  The young condor chick brings the total number of California condors in the world to 350.

     Biologists and others have been celebrating the birth.  After all, this bird–the largest North American land bird–was at the brink of extinction less than 30 years ago.  In 1982, only 22 of the birds were left in the world, thanks to habitat loss, poaching, and lead poisoning.  Those birds were then placed in a captive breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. 

     By 1991, the condors’ numbers had increased enough that biologists could begin reintroducing the birds into the wild, to their native California and the Southwest.  Now, about 180 of the 350 California condors live free in the Grand Canyon area, Zion National Park in Utah, and in the coastal mountains of California and northern Baja California.  

     The newest condor chick is being raised by a female who was released into the wild in 2004 at Pinnacles and by a male released that same year on the California coast.  The couple had produced an egg that proved not viable, so biologists replaced the egg in the bird’s nest with a fertile condor egg.   

     The California condor is an impressive bird.  It is a black vulture with a largely bald head.  The skin color of the bird’s head ranges from yellowish to bright red, depending on the bird’s mood!  The wingspan of the California condor is wider than that of any North American bird, and the condor is one of the longest-living birds in the world.  A California condor can live for up to 50 years.  A scavenger, the condor eats large amounts of carrion.

     I am thankful to the scientists and others who worked with care and wisdom over the years to prevent the complete extinction that would have taken place without their committed efforts.–April Moore

 

photo by Michael Quinn

 

       

     Great news! 

     Trees, those marvelous beings who absorb carbon from the air, who provide habitat for numberless species, who refresh us with their shade and beauty, are doing well in an important way.    

     According to a new United Nations study, the worldwide rate of deforestation has declined for the very first time.  The years 2000-2009 saw a significant drop in deforestation from the previous decade.  Deforestation during the 1990s averaged more than 20 million acres of forested land lost per year, compared to 12.8 million forested acres lost annually since 2000.   

     The reason for this first-ever decline in the deforestation rate, say the authors of the study, is the growth in tree planting programs.  In the United States, China, Brazil, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and in many other countries around the world, tree planting programs have increased forest coverage by millions of acres per year, according to the UN report. 

     A lower deforestation rate, combined with newly planted forests, “have helped bring down the rate of carbon emissions,” said Mette Loyche Wilkie of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

     Despite this excellent news, researchers are concerned that deforestation rates will again start to climb.  Scientists point out that global warming is devastating millions of acres of trees, as warmer temperatures lead to more insects and more damage to trees.  Another concern is that some replanting programs are scheduled to end in the next few years. 

     Yet another worry is agriculture.  UN scientists are studying the impact that clearing millions of acres of forest for crops and livestock has on deforestation.

     I raise another concern.  I have read that some tree planting programs are not well-planned, with biodiversity and the complexity of a healthy forest in mind.  Planting the wrong tree species or too few species of trees may make for a much less healthy forest system than the original forest cover.

     Still, the fact that forest cover on the planet is increasing, rather than decreasing, is ample cause for celebration.–April Moore

 

 

 

 

 

photos by Andy Schmookler

     Good news about our oceans.

     Recent research shows that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)–spots in oceans around the world that have been set aside by governments for conservation–are effective at increasing the amount of living coral on the ocean floor.  

     And why does increasing the amount of living coral matter?  Coral reefs are far more than colorful treats for the eye.  They are nursery, home, and ‘farm’ to one-third of all marine fish species.  Coral reefs are often compared to rainforests for the vast biodiversity they support, and to old growth forests for the longevity of their ecological communities.  Yet coral is under threat.  Forty percent of the world’s coral reefs are in critical condition or are degraded beyond recovery. 

     Scientists have long known that the regulation of fishing and other potentially harmful activities in MPAs is effective in restoring fish populations within MPA boundaries.  Encouraged by that good news, two marine scientists at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill wondered if the thriving fish populations in MPAs might indirectly be improving coral health by restoring reef-based food webs.  

     So the two researchers, Dr. Elizabeth Selig and Dr. John Bruno, conducted the first comprehensive global study to gauge the impact of MPAs on coral.  The two looked at more than 8,000 live coral cover surveys of more than 450 coral reefs in 83 countries.  The surveys, all conducted between 1969 and 2006, compared the percentage of live coral cover in 310 MPAs to live coral cover in nearby unprotected areas.  The percentage of ocean floor covered by living coral is a key measure of the health of coral ecosystems.

      The scientists found that while the living coral just outside the MPAs declined over time, the coral within MPA boundaries remained constant or increased over time.  In some MPAs, coral continues its decline for some years after the MPA designation is  made, and then begins to grow.  In an Indo-Pacific MPA, for example,  coral cover declined for five years after the area was designated a Marine Protected Area.  And then the percentage of live coral cover began to increase, reaching a growth rate of 2% per year after two decades.

     Selig’s and Bruno’s research proves that ocean conservation efforts make a difference in restoring our coral reefs.  Around the world, coral reefs are threatened by overfishing and harmful fishing methods, sediment and nutrient runoff pollution from adjacent land, invasive species, and the the growing acidification of oceans as a result of global warming. 

     The creation of a Marine Protected Area is an important step a government of a coastal country can take to protect the health of our oceans.  To date, more than 4,500 MPAs have been created.  Although 70% of the earth’s surface is ocean, only about 1% of ocean is under any form of protection.–April Moore

Much of the information for this article came from Flora Lichtman and Joe Palka, Science Friday, National Public Radio.        

photo by Raja Ampatphoto: California Academy of Sciences

 

    

  

current Marine Protected Areas

     The National Audubon Society, long known for its work to protect our bird populations, has launched an exciting new initiative that is helping not only birds, but thousands of people as well. 

     For the last few years, Audubon has been establishing nature centers right in the middle of some of our largest cities.  As many cities have grown in population and sprawl over the last  decades, birds have had an increasingly difficult time finding the habitat they require.  And many urban areas are hostile to migrating birds.  As they fly through urban areas, the birds cannot find the trees, shrubs, and grassland they need, and so are forced to land on concrete and metal.

     The six urban nature centers Audubon has created so far–in Phoenix, Brooklyn, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Columbus– demonstrate that a wasted industrial site can be transformed into a productive ecosystem teeming with life, even in the middle of a big city!   In the heart of downtown Phoenix, for example, a landfill was replaced with a natural Sonoran Desert habitat that attracts more than 200 species of birds and other animals.  Species once seen only rarely in the area, like owls, roadrunners, hawks, herons, and hummingbirds, are now common sights there.  The newly created habitat includes an environmentally friendly structure, in which adults and kids alike can learn about the flora and fauna native to their area.

     Another urban nature center, New York City’s Prospect Park Audubon Center, is housed in an historic landmark boathouse in Brooklyn.  Around the building, natural habitat has been carefully restored.  As a result, hundreds of bird species have been spotted, including such rare birds as the pied-billed grebe and the American bittern.  The Center includes a cafe, interactive exhibits, a nature theater, and a learning lab.

     In the cities where urban nature centers have been established, adults and children alike have been observing the birds and wildlife there.  That’s a good thing, maintains Judy Braus, Audubon’s senior vice-president for Education and Centers.  Since most Americans today do live in cities, many, many peoople have little contact with nature.  But by visiting a nature center close to home, city dwellers can gain an awareness of the wealth and beauty of living things that surround them, and have an enriching experience, Braus explains. 

     Braus is especially pleased that the urban nature centers are increasing children’s opportunities to experience nature.  “We are especially worried that children raised in urban settings will grow up with no appreciation of or connection to the natural world,” she explains.  “And if our children have no appreciation for the value of nature,” she asks, “what will the future hold for our birds and wildlife?”  She is hopeful that by providing young people with greater access to nature,  these urban nature centers will help stimulate and develop a new generation of conservation leaders for the future. –April Moore

  

Prospect Park Audubon Center, Brooklyn

     More than 200 miles of shoreline and pristine beaches along Africa’s southeast coast are now protected.  The newly created Marine Protected Area is the largest such area in Africa, and it runs from southern Mozambique south into northeastern South Africa.      

     This international effort connects two existing reserves, Mozambique’s Maputo Special Reserve  and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa.  

     The Mozambique portion of the new Marine Protected Area is home to rare and endangered species, and to many mammals and ecosystems.  The area also includes sensitive breeding grounds of leatherback and loggerhead turtles, currently threatened by human encroachment and by uncontrolled harvesting of the  turtles’ eggs.  Southern Mozambique is also a major nursery for commercially important fish populations, with larvae and eggs carried in south-flowing currents into South Africa’s iSimangaliso Park.  

     iSimangaliso, translated as ‘miracle and wonder,’ encompasses three major lake systems and eight interlinking ecosystems.  The park also includes South Africa’s remaining swamp forests and the continent’s largest estuarine system.  iSimangaliso is home to more than 500 bird species.  And its 25,000 year old coastal dunes are some of the world’s highest. 

     The Marine Protected Area designation is vital to the preservation of southeastern Africa’s coastal ecosystems.  The new status means that such activities as using  explosives in fishing, fishing on coral reefs, industrial fishing, and driving motorized vehicles on the beaches will all be prohibited. 

     “All parties are to be congratulated on this transfrontier initiative which is desperately needed along a heavily exploited coastline, threatened under the weight of beach tourism,” according to the Zululand Wildlife eForum, a South African nonprofit organization.–April Moore

photo by John Nelson