Overconsumption of resources has led to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attempting to kill 3,600 barred owls in the Pacific Northwest. In approving the Barred Owl Removal Plan, the agency identified the barred owl as a new threat to the Northern spotted owl. But the plan only scapegoats barred owls instead of recognizing the primary threat to Northern spotted owls, habitat destruction, primarily from human logging of old growth forest in California, Oregon and Washington. We filed a lawsuit against the plan and the District Court ruled against us, however we filed an appeal and continue our legal case in the courts. We recognize the significance of this case, as it legally cuts a massive exception to the stringent protections once provided under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. FoA persevered and stopped the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s 2013 plan to eradicate all wild mute swans in the state by 2025 and declare them a “prohibited species.” (see complete story page 5) DEC’s flimsy attempt to blame the state’s 2,200 mute swans for causing significant environmental damage lacks scientific evidence. While the diet of mute swans consists of sub aquatic vegetation, studies have shown that runoff from fertilizers, pesticides and animal waste from animal agriculture contribute significantly to the loss of SAV in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, for instance. Compared to stable population of 2,200 mute swans in New York State, in 2012 there were 494,109 doomed cattle, 579,216 poultry, 19,082 swine and 34,286 sheep in animal agriculture in NY State. About 23 percent of the state’s land area, or 7 million acres, are used by 36,000 farms. Animal agriculture accounts for 25 percent of NY State’s Bay watershed land use and according to a 2009 study delivers approximately 42%, 55% and 40% respectively of the total nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment loads from NY State to the Bay watershed. The Environmental Protection agency reported in June of 2016 that all states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed have collectively fallen behind in implementing a plan to reduce nitrogen pollution in the country's largest estuary. And don’t forget that New York’s human population grew from 18,976,457 in 2000 to 19,378,102 in 2010.
16 | Friends of Animals
WORLDWIDE POPULATION GROWTH AND
EXTINCTION
J
uly 11 was World Population Day. And According to the Population Reference Bureau, 237, 211 more people are added to the planet every day as every second worldwide, five people are born and two people die. Already the world population is 7.3 billion and it’s growing by 80 million a year. And we are fast becoming a single human-dominated species as we have already used about half the world’s land surface to grow crops, raise livestock, construct roads, and build towns and cities. So where does wildlife stand in relation to 7 billion people? According to the Center for Biological Diversity, worldwide, 12 percent of mammals, 12 percent of birds, 31 percent of reptiles, 30 percent of amphibians and 37 percent of fish are threatened with extinction. And Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimates that 30,000 species per year, or three species per hour, are being driven to extinction. Compare that to the natural background of one extinction per million species per year, and you understand why scientists refer to it as a crisis unparalleled in history. For the Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon, it’s already too late. The kokanee steadily declined as Seattle sprawled eastward, polluting its water and destroying it spawning habitat. It went extinct in 2001. These animals have also gone extinct in the wild recently thanks to human overpopulation and overconsumption:
WEST AFRICAN BLACK RHINO—2011 PYRENEAN IBEX—2000 CARIBBEAN MONK SEAL—2008 GOLDEN TOAD—2007 SPIX’S MACAW—2000 LIVERPOOL PIGEON—2008