Federal water projects threaten Ivory-Billed habitat

[ailsagirl]

I should have known it was too good to be true: the feds wanting to protect the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker's habitat. Well, guess what? Sounds like they have other things in mind. At least, some part of the fed gov't has plans to wreak havoc on the very swamplands the bird depends upon for survival. That's what practically killed this bird originally: destruction of habitat. We never learn, do we?
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Federal water projects threaten to harm woodpecker's habitat
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
Knight Ridder Newspapers

CLARENDON, Ark. - (KRT) - The home of the newly rediscovered ivory-billed woodpecker has been protected for decades by the White River and its swampy forest.

Now, the U.S. government is set to drain 150 billion gallons of water a year from the White River and is contemplating dredging it deeper, two projects that some environmentalists and federal wildlife officials say could harm the woodpecker and damage its habitat in the Big Woods of Arkansas.

This threat - from two Army Corps of Engineers projects - comes as other parts of the federal government scramble to create a recovery plan for the woodpecker, which was long thought to be extinct, and try to add more land to its home.

"The biggest threat to the ivory-billed woodpecker is the unbridled arrogance of the Army Corps of Engineers," charged Arkansas Wildlife Federation President David Carruth, a Clarendon lawyer.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/11737406.htm

[CottonBear]

1. Goddamn the Army Corps of Engineer & *.

"The biggest threat to the ivory-billed woodpecker is the unbridled arrogance of the Army Corps of Engineers," charged Arkansas Wildlife Federation President David Carruth, a Clarendon lawyer.

The Republicans should burn in hell for any actions that they take that endanger the Ivorybill. Just my opinion.

[ailsagirl]

4. I'm with you!! I'm hoping that public pressure will cause them

to cease and desist doing ANYTHING that could imperil these glorious birds. How can they, on the one hand, say they're putting funds aside to ensure the bird's safety and, on the other hand, plan on destroying its environment????

Oh, that's right-- to these people, black is white, up is down, and wrong is right. I keep forgetting.

:crazy:

[lenidog]

2. We just found out the woodpecker is not deceased

give them a little time to figure stuff out.

[ailsagirl]

3. I hope you're right... I really do

But wouldn't be in keeping with this crappy "administration's" policies to send out a posse to blow away each and every last one of the birds? They have NO interest in the environment and its concomitant wildlife. They're so disgusting. God, how did we get INTO this mess????????

[lenidog]

5. Well the good thing is that the Army Corp of Engineers

kinda meanders through administrations without them really impacting on its operations. I'm worried about the impact the locals will have on their decision. They are the ones who are probably going to want to screw the woodpecker to make money. Knowing the Corp and its backlog this plan was probably first conceived back when Carter was President.

[blindpig]

6. this is where the ESA stands or falls

If this fight can't be won then forget it. No ground should be given. The timing of the big bird's reappearance could not have been better. What better standard bearer?

I'm going to allow myself a rare ray of hope here, this is a battle that can be won.

[amandabeech]

7. This will be heavily, heavily litigated with multiple causes of action.

Just hope that what ever federal district judge hears the case is a Clinton, an old Carter appointee, or a "stealth" moderate-liberal Bush I appointee like Justice Souter.

[bloom]

8. It's about rice and barge traffic...

"After the irrigation project, there's an Army Corps plan on the "back burner" to dig a deeper navigational channel through the river to allow more barge traffic. Environmentalists and Mallard say that project, while more unlikely, would be "more egregious."

<snip>

After a century of rice farming that's made this area America's rice capital, farmers are running out of water from the shallow local aquifers. They're now tapping into a deeper aquifer that also supplies the region's drinking water.

<snip>

Neal Galloway, a Stuttgart farmer whose family has been growing rice since 1910, thinks his fellow farmers could have used rain-catching reservoirs rather than relying so much on wells.

<snip>

Over the last 20 years, a state, federal and a private partnership with The Nature Conservancy has expanded the off-limits area of the Big Woods, making a larger area for the bird to roost and fly in, said Scott Simon, the Arkansas director of the conservancy.

"Twenty people working together have conserved 120,000 acres over the last 20 years," Simon said. But, he added, another 210,000 acres are needed.

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It's cool that 20 people had the foresight to do that.