parakeet. Extinction becomes a more likely outcome for many species under the Trump proposals.” Craig Miller, another premiere birder of this region, has this to say: “If I were to boil it down, I would say that the concept of species preservation as embodied in the ESA is based on science, economic sustainability and longterm survival of the human race. Those who would weaken the ESA are interested in selfish short-term financial gain and/or are deficient in scientific understanding.” It was the early work of two giants of Oregon’s bird conservation that brought me to Oregon from Connecticut. In September of 1951 I rolled into Bend on my 1947 Harley-Davidson, and that next spring I went to Silver Lake to see, with my own eyes, the tiny colony of common egrets nesting in the small clump of willows in the middle of the lake, that so captured Dallas Lor Sharp, Herman T. Bohlman and William L. Finley in 1918. Finley was the first director of Oregon’s wildlife commission, and they were on their way to Burns where Finley had promised the residents a hatchery. So when they drove past that long-ago lonely spot in Silver Lake, they saw the egrets nesting in the willows. Finley and Bohlman were convinced the egrets had been hunted into extinction by the plume-hunters, and the shock and joy of seeing them was portrayed so beautifully by Sharp in his book, “Where Rolls the Oregon;” it caught me when I read it in 1936. Today, because of “man’s needs,” there are no willows or water in Silver Lake. In spite of the obvious need for water to keep the willows going, to keep the egret breeding colony going, the need for water to keep the hay-growers in business has trumped (if you’ll pardon my pun) the needs of birds. And that, Dearly Beloved, will be the fate of many, many native wildlife
species if the ESA is bludgeoned and torn apart by businesses having no regard for the welfare of the natural environment and its residents. My good friend and birding companion, Chuck Gates, retired teacher and the most important person in our area who keeps an eye on the welfare of the wildlife of our only salt lake, Lake Abert, has this to say: “Certainly, the ESA has been instrumental in stemming the constant threat of human progress on the natural world (in the U.S., anyway). I am fascinated (and more than a little concerned) by the intersection of the ESA and politics. “Locally, and increasingly throughout the West, the ESA has been labeled as a weapon yielded by anti-capitalists who, for reasons never really explained, want to destroy hardworking American workers. The living creatures have little to do with these discussions and are rarely mentioned," Gates says. “The ESA is the evil talisman wielded by the evil government to separate the noble businessman from his meager and honest dollar. The obvious hyperbole of the previous sentences might seem a bit over the top but they are not far from the narrative that plays out every day in western USA. I see places like Crook County making unholy alliances with the Patriot Movement and creating written policies that make no bones about various ESA end-arounds that are planned for the future. “While this attitude might currently be localized, the potential for it to spread, especially in the West, is very disconcerting. Government employees are facing dangerous and unstable (as well as well armed) individuals should an ESA situation occur here. Through intimidation and threats, local groups have what could become a stranglehold on implementing any measures designed to protect wildlife. I’m not optimistic about the future of the ESA,” Gates concludes
BLM Idaho / flickr
5
Our local Golden Eagle. Can the Endangered Species Act help them to survive?
The recovery of the bald eagle from possible extinction in the last decade has made it possible for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in December 2016, to raise to 4,200 per year the number of bald eagles that can be killed by the wind electric generation industry without paying a penalty. If issued, the permits would last 30 years, six times the current 5-year permits. Enough is enough… As my long time hero of The Land, Aldo Leopold, once said, “If the land mechanism as a whole is good then every part is good, whether we understand it or not…To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” That, Dear People, is what the ESA and other of our conservation laws are all about—saving enough of our biota as possible. SW The public comment period for the proposed changes to the ESA ends Sept. 24. Comment on the proposal by navigating to: fws.gov/endangered/improving_ESA/regulation-revisions.html
COPA parents know the difference We’re here when you need us the most
Open 7 Days a week plus Holidays 24/7 Pediatric Nurse Advice 4 Locations in Bend and Redmond Pediatricians in clinic Every Day Patient Support in the Birthing Center
(541)- 389 - 6313
•
COPAKids.com
100% Focused on Kids 5 Star Practice – State’s Highest Rating Children’s Hospital Specialists in clinic Behavioral Health in clinic Lactation Support in clinic
Together we’ve got this
VOLUME 22 ISSUE 30 / JULY 26, 2018 / THE SOURCE WEEKLY
pushed by President Richard Nixon and Congress responded by passing it in 1973. It might be hard to believe now that the Nixon Administration was also responsible for the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Environmental Policy Act. “The gutting of the ESA by the Trump administration proposal in the name of streamlining the regulatory process would be disastrous for wildlife and those who love it. It places corporate desires over those of wildlife. It promotes projects over protection." Crabtree goes on to quote Jamie Rappaport Clark, who was director of the Fish and Wildlife Service under President Bill Clinton, who said, “Unfortunately, the sweeping changes being proposed by the Trump administration include provisions that would undercut the effectiveness of the ESA and put species at risk of extinction." Clark is now president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife: Crabtree then said, ‘The signal being sent by the Trump administration is clear: Protecting America’s wildlife and wild lands is simply not on their agenda." “Most analysts agree that if it weren’t for the Endangered Species Act, bald eagles, whooping cranes and gray wolves would now be extinct. The peregrine falcon, nene (Hawaiian Goose) and Kirtland’s warbler would be on the edge of extinction. Before the act was passed, only 1,200 humpback whales were left in the Pacific Ocean. Now, due to a strong recovery program, over 22,000 now roam there. Grizzly bears, brown pelicans, California condors and American alligators are other species that have come back from the brink,” Crabtree said. “Unfortunately if the proposed changes had been in place over the last four decades many species would have gone the way of the passenger pigeon, great auk and Carolina