We shouldn't provide a way to mitigate the effects of drilling if we want it to stop.


    The attached suggestion by Frank (and sorry to call you out on this, but I think it is important to make a few public points) states that we should collect the wild birds and "store" them in a zoo or warehouse until the oil leak is fixes and they can be returned. I understand the idea, and besides the money/ time it will cost to catch those animals and maintain them in a captive environment, by removing the animals we are removing part of the "problem" for oil drilling companies. For example, in the arctic, what is stopping companies from drilling? The cold? No. People? Yes. And why? The Polar Bear. Without the Polar Bear in the great white north, it would be much more open to drilling. There were even plans to remove the bears from the Endangered Species List (Article to refresh the memory) to make the area open for drilling. When that didn't work, they tried to gut the ESA altogether (Article). 


    The Brown Pelican is our Polar Bear here. It was just removed from the ESL in November of 2009. Just months ago. I'm not saying that was wrong to do, it wasn't. They went through a DDT-related population bottleneck- down to 10,000 birds. Now they're up to 650,000. With the oil disaster, it's going to bring that number down, maybe within need to re-list the species on the ESL. I'm not saying I want to kill birds to make a point, I'm saying we have to. We need a mascot here, a representative to the nation of what is going on. If we remove them from the area completely, less and less people are going to care. It will open the area more and more for drilling. Politics seem uncontrollable these days and once out of the way, the birds may not be able to be re-released- it's a gamble we should not bid on.
     The apathy in America for wild places seems to grow and grow nowadays. I'm 28 and can see it. It seems that unless death is involved, people ignore situations such as this. Unfortunately, we as conservationists or at least respecters of wildlife, need those oil-spill photos to get people to care. To get people to change their lifestyles so we can collectively create less of a demand for the product washing up on our shoreline. 

    Why do I care about this? After finally paying my own way through my undergraduate degree at Ohio State (I graduate next weekend), I got into graduate school to pursue Ichthyology IN LOUISIANA this fall. I hope the fish species I am supposed to study will still be there at that time. 

Thanks for reading and happy birding.
Liz Marchio
Ohio State University/Southeastern Louisiana University 




________________________________
From: Frank Renfrow <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sat, June 5, 2010 10:24:47 PM
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Gulf Bird Recovery Plan (or at least a small piece of one):

Gulf Bird Recovery Plan (or at least a small piece of one):

Having watched with continuing dismay and horror the unfolding tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, I feel it is time that concerned persons in the ornithological and birding communities of North America should begin to anticipate what ultimately will be the results of this ongoing catastrophe. What might help in at least some small way would be to begin work to formulate a plan to restore the populations of avian species which are most likely to become imperiled. As someone who has spoken out before on issues political in nature but of real import for the future of our birds I expect that my future ability to post on some of the birding listservs may well be hampered by expressing my opinions in those formats. I have been troubled in the past that many state birding listservs have narrowed our free speech rights in this regard, even though many of the list administrators are employed by state and federally funded universities or even more directly by various
 government entities. I have in the past spoken out strongly against all offshore oil drilling, particularly of the deep water variety, mountaintop removal and the destruction of our forests and wetlands. I hope that with this horrendous ongoing calamity unfolding before our eyes, the birding communities will finally wake up and realize that the environmental movement is in actuality their movement, as well as everyone else that is interested in seeing our Earth continue as a living planet. 

On to the small piece of a  plan:

The rehabilitation of birds already sickened by the oil is a noble cause but might not be of much help to the ultimate goal of saving the bird populations in the Gulf area. On the other hand, fish and wildlife agencies do have invaluable resources that can be brought to bear for a Gulf Bird Recovery Plan. Universities, research facilities, environmental organizations, independent ornithologists and birding hobbyists all have an important role to play. Captive breeding plans have been used in the past for species and subspecies on the brink of extinction. These have met with some limited success even though until this time they have only begun when the species is on the verge of extinction. The more limited the gene pool is that is left to draw from and the more compromised the health of the captive breeding stock the less likelihood there is for recovery. That is why it is imperative to start now while there are still thousands of healthy birds to draw
 from among populations in the Gulf. 

Here is a basic outline for what I would suggest to be a good course of action:

            1. A detailed analysis should be undertaken of which species of birds having breeding populations along the Gulf are at the greatest risk of imminent extirpation by the oil spill. A consortium of the above-mentioned groups needs to bring their best minds to bear to do this quickly. Endemic Gulf of Mexico subspecies and local populations with the most distinct distinguishing characteristics from other populations of their species in unaffected areas need to be given highest priority. This list would also be prioritized in the order of those species that have highest exposure to water, shoreline or wetland habitats. Songbirds and other land bird species need to be evaluated as well, as there may be unforeseen risks to localized populations of these as well. Bird species that are more sedentary in nature are especially at risk as the likelihood is lower of other members of their species coming in from surrounding areas to fill a void. 

            2. Fish and wildlife officials need to oversee an extensive capture program of what is determined to be a viable number of healthy individuals to continue the gene pool in these at risk subspecies and local populations. 

            3. The captured birds will need to be “warehoused” in captivity, in enclosed aviaries, zoos, and other available institutions. Captive breeding programs would have to be maintained for these birds. It is likely that a good percentage of the species will not be conducive to captive breeding but there should be a significant percentage that could be maintained for some time in this fashion. Such facilities will likely have to hold these captive populations for a long period, probably for years until their home territories are down to an acceptable level of toxic exposure that is closer to what those species had already been dealing with prior to the oil spill. 

            4. Migratory birds not nesting in the Gulf but passing through need to be studied closely for ongoing health issues that might affect their population numbers as well. Oil has an insidious way of working its way through the food chain and toxic pollution of the air could be a factor during long flights over the Gulf by so many of our migratory bird species. 

That is the nutshell of my proposal of a Gulf Bird Recovery Plan (or at least small piece of one). It’s not much and it might not work, but at least it’s something to think about trying. I hope that it might stir others to think about what we can do as we go forward. I am interested to hear what other elements others might want to incorporate into the plan. 

And let us not forget the big picture:

There also needs to be a complete and immediate international ban on all deep water drilling worldwide. Also, we must stop the use of toxic dispersants. The “remedy” may well be worse than the “cure” in this case. It goes without saying that all oil spill clean-up efforts that are of a non-toxic nature will need to be vigorously increased and then maintained for many years to come. Oil from the Exxon-Valdez continues to contaminate Prince William Sound and that was just the tip of the iceberg compared to this one. It has become increasingly clear that we cannot continue to just hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst, as all signs indicate that the worst is yet to come. 


Frank Renfrow
Fort Thomas, KY




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Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

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