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Strategies & Market Trends : Piffer OT - And Other Assorted Nuts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: arno who wrote (57330)	10/22/2000 12:48:15 PM
From: arno	Respond to of 63513

It looks like snow geese are destroying more of the ecology of the arctic, than oil exploration/production ever did..... kdwp.state.ks.us GOOD NEWS FOR SNOW GEESE Experts say special hunting seasons and regulations are helping save overabundant snow geese from themselves PRATT -- Special hunting seasons implemented in 1999 to lower populations of critically overabundant mid-continent light geese appear to be working. According to preliminary harvest reports by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), hunters in the U.S. bagged 1.3 million light geese during the 1999-2000 regular and conservation seasons. With an estimated harvest of more than 100,000 birds in Canada, the total North American harvest most likely exceeded 1.4 million birds. Waterfowl experts say that at this rate, the overall population of mid-continent snow geese could decrease by half; and by 2008, snow geese could reach a level that their habitat can support. "These preliminary numbers give conservationists a reason for hope," says Paul Schmidt of the USFWS and co-chairman of the Arctic Goose Joint Venture Management Board. "If we are able to sustain this level of harvest for the next several years, we may be able to stop the devastation that is In the last three decades, the mid-continent light goose population has tripled as a result of man-made changes to the birds' migrating and wintering habitat. One major factor is the abundance of agricultural crops the birds find in the south each winter. "The food supply during the seven months the birds are not in the Arctic is virtually unlimited," says Dr. Bruce Batt, Chief Biologist for Ducks Unlimited. "But when they fly north to breed in the spring, the Arctic habitat cannot sustain the number of birds feeding on the fragile native plant communities. As a result, portions of whole ecosystems are being destroyed." In many places scientists believe the damage will last for decades, even centuries. According to Batt, the consequences of this devastation are unprecedented and will ultimately lead to the collapse of habitats that are not only vital to light geese but to a whole array of other resident and migratory wildlife species as well. In the face of this ecological crisis, the USFWS developed new conservation measures in 1999 that allowed 24 states in the Central and Mississippi Flyways to permit the use of unplugged shotguns and electronic calls during regular light goose seasons. The rules also allowed states to implement a conservation order under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that would allow hunters to take light geese after March 10, when seasons typically close. The Canadian Wildlife Service also moved to implement similar measures in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the summer of 1999, following a legal challenge, the Service decided to withdraw these new rules and complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) analyzing the impact of such regulations. In response, Congress and the President enacted the Arctic Tundra Habitat Emergency Conservation Act, which extends until May 15, 2001, and gives states the ability to implement the rules while the Service completes an EIS. During the 1998-1999 regular and special seasons (the first year for a special season on light geese), the combined U.S. and Canadian harvest total was 1.07 million light geese. These numbers encouraged waterfowl experts but did not hit the 1.4 million mark considered necessary to start bringing populations under control. Experts assumed that as hunters gained experience and became more efficient with electronic calls, harvest numbers would increase, but most were pleasantly surprised by how much they increased in one season. "Last year's harvest estimate is great news," says Batt. "We are on the front lines of an unprecedented habitat conservation crisis, and our methods to save the snow goose appear to be working. That is crucial for the long-term integrity of the Arctic ecosystem upon which these birds and a multitude of other wildlife depend." When I was at Prudhoe Bay, there was an area we drove through called the "Snow Goose Training Area". Speed limit 20. Radar patrolled. I guess we needn't been so cautious.....