Liberty
Matters News Service
May 6, 2004
Rare Woodpecker Prompts Spending
Reacting to news that a woodpecker thought to have gone extinct had been sighted in eastern Arkansas, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced last week their departments have proposed spending more than $10 million to provide habitat for its protection. That is in addition to the $10 million already authorized for research and habitat protection efforts currently ongoing by private conservation groups and citizens. It is expected that figure will increase once news of the "fabulous" find spreads. The bird is the ivory-billed woodpecker and has not been seen in more than sixty years, although it is difficult to understand why one would not notice a 20 inch bird with a three-foot wing spread. The federal (taxpayer) dollars will be spent for research and monitoring, recovery planning and public education. Money will be spent on identifying habitat to be conserved through conservation easements, safe harbor agreements, purchases from willing sellers or other means. Fish and Wildlife will also increase its law enforcement presence in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge to protect the place from bird-lovers.
Rare Woodpecker Prompts Spending
Fencing Off the Last Great Places
TThe Nature Conservancy
announced last week it plans to finish raising $78 million that it will use to
take more land out of private ownership. "Today, a new vision is taking root in
Michigan," said Steven J. McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature
Conservancy. "Increasingly we are working on a larger scale because we
recognize that small steps and piecemeal conservation isn't going to be enough
to protect our natural heritage for future generations…" TNC has already
raised $68 million toward its goal and is counting on corporate sources, as
well as, federal appropriations for the rest. Michigan's biggest foundations,
including the Wege Foundation and Frey Foundation have contributed $31.5
million. Milt Rohwer, president of the Frey Foundation, said because the
Foundation believes protecting the natural environment is necessary for quality
of life, "[W]e encourage environmental preservation and seek to maintain a
balance between open land and well-planned development in our target
communities in western Michigan." DTE Energy Foundation has pledged $500,000 to
buy up Michigan and another $2 million for a reforestation project on
Louisiana's Cat Island, one of the last known locations of the newly
rediscovered ivory-billed woodpecker.
Nature
Conservancy Fencing Off Places
Save that Tiger
Members of our U. S. Congress apparently can't find enough projects to waste money on here at home. They plan to investigate why India's wild tiger population is declining so they can throw money at it. During last week's reauthorization hearing for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the organization that receives blackmail money from landowners wanting to build on their own property, Rep. Frank Pallone, (D-NJ), reported to the House Committee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans, that he had heard disturbing news that there is corruption and scandal surrounding international attempts to restore populations of India's tigers and that their numbers may be far smaller than reports indicate. Pallone, who is also co-founder of the Congressional India Caucus, instructed John Berry, executive director of NFWF and Matt Hogan, acting director of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and administrator of the "save the tiger fund," to look into the situation and report back to the subcommittee. "Clearly, current international conservation efforts are failing and we need to find out why before there are no more tigers in India," he continued.
Virginia Derails Mandatory Conservation Easement Plan
When the Clarke County Planning Commission tried to force a draconian land use plan on local residents they quickly learned the power of an enraged and engaged citizenry. The Plan, which at a glance, is similar to the 65/10 Plan in King County, Washington, would have required property owners to leave 65% of their land undeveloped and would have ensured it remain so by demanding the owners place it in conservation easements. The "Mountain Land Plan" listed nine objectives to be achieved, including protection of water, wildlife habitat, ecosystems, scenic by-ways, and, oh yes, private property rights, but none of these objectives was more important than any other, according to the planners. Residents recognized the plan for what it was, "tyranny in the making" as activist Curt Harvey termed it, and successfully forced the Commissioners to remove the offending provisions. As a result, the Plan no longer contains provisions that would require owners of more than 20 acres to place conservation easements on the land and forfeit the right to future development. As Mr. Harvey noted, "It seems that the public outcry against mandatory easements, among other things, was indeed heard by the Planning Commission and the Mountain Land Plan Committee. They asked their lawyers for an evaluation of the proposal and it appears the lawyers are cognizant of the Constitution. This is direct evidence that citizen involvement works!"