Sad news but thanks for sharing this on BOO, Linda. I don't see any reason why
this shouldn't go to OBOL too.
As much as it's sad to acknowledge when all hope is gone for any of us ever to
see a Bachman's Warbler, an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, or any of the Hawai'ian or
Guam endemic birds on this extinction list, I guess we all sort of knew that
this day was coming.
I'm curious if there is any practical significance to this negative form of
de-listing. For example, does it result in less protection of bottomland
forests in the southeastern states? If so, should we anticipate something
similar after the last Northern Spotted Owl left in our Oregon old-growth
forests meets his or her demise? I'm old enough to remember back in the 1980s,
when Northern Spotted Owls were still described as an "indicator species" for
an entire ecosystem type, rather than just a singular species that should be
maintained on what amounts to life-support, after that ecosystem has been
fragmented and demolished beyond all recognition.
The sounding of the death knell for eight freshwater mussel species also has a
Northwest birding connection. At an Oregon Field Ornithologists (now known as
OBA) meeting in Astoria about 15 years ago, local birder Lee Cain gave a
fascinating presentation which included discussion of our own native freshwater
mussel species, and their remarkable reproductive strategies.
Over half a century ago, Aldo Leopold advocated for "saving all of the pieces"
of our ecosystems, considering how little we knew then about how those pieces
fit together, like a well-made watch that was damaged but might still be
repaired. Now we've lost 23 more pieces of that watch.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
From: Linda Fink <linda@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: [boo] Linda Fink <linda@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2021 10:41:09 -0700
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/29/1041393172/u-s-says-ivory-billed-woodpecker-and-more-than-20-other-species-have-gone-extinc?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20210929&utm_term=5810582&utm_campaign=news&utm_id=30174864&orgid=135&utm_att1=
--
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