From the Philadelphia "Inquirer", January 16, 2006, Monday, pp. B1 & B9:
U. S. Agency draws fire for red knot decision: the wildlife service denied
an emergency request to list the birds as endangered, saying such actions
are rare.
...The agency [U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service] contended no emergency existed
... Spokeswoman Diana Weaver said the denial did not mean the Fish and
Wildlife Service was not concerned about the species [Uh-huh]. An
emergency listing is "something we rarely do," she said. "It's to be used
in a situation where the species is in imminent danger of becoming extinct
if we don't take action immediately." ... Technically, the service has 90
days after the petition is filed to decide whether to propose a listing.
But it has been nearly six months since environmental groups ... filed
petitions. ... "We have so many issues and so few resources that it takes
us longer," Weaver said [Uh-huh]. ... In the last decade, the red knot
population has dropped from nearly 100,000 on the Delaware Bay ... to fewer
than 15,000. Computer models predict the bird could be extinct by 2010.
... Recently, New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection biologist Larry
Niles returned from studying an isolated population of red knots that
winter along Florida's Gulf Coast. He had expected to find 6,000 birds.
He found 2,000. ...
What I am wondering is just how many people make a living harvesting
horseshoe crabs and what do they do the rest of the year?
The "Inquirer" ran a series on the Red Knot last year which can be found
at: http://go.philly.com/redknots
Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com (never, please, to 74077.3176 ....)
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