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FW: Conservationists Seek Threatened Status to Save the Cerulean Warbler



We petitioned the US Fish & Wildlife Service today to list the Cerulean
Warbler as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. I thought
Carolinabirders would be interested in the press release.  

Derb Carter
Southern Environmental Law Center
Chapel Hill, NC  

> Songbird Declines 70% in Eastern U.S. in 30 Years
> 
> Conservationists Seek Threatened Status to Save the Cerulean Warbler
> 
> CONTACT:     Andrew George, S. Appalachian Biodiversity Project, (828)
> 258-2667
>                      Doug Ruley, S. Environmental Law Center, (828)
> 285-9125
>                      Jeffrey Wells, National Audubon Society, (607)
> 254-2105
>                      Bob Gale, Western North Carolina Alliance, (828)
> 258-8737.
>                      Brian Cole, Sabbath Project, (828) 771-3749
> 
> 
> ASHEVILLE -- A coalition of 28 local, regional and national conservation
> groups, including the National Audubon Society, submitted a petition to
> the
> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today to add the Cerulean Warbler to
> the nation's list of threatened species. The Cerulean population has
> declined an average of 4% a year throughout its eastern U.S. range for a
> total loss of 70% between 1966 and 1999, making it one of the
> fastest-disappearing birds in the country.
> 
> The Cerulean Warbler, known for its brilliant blue plumage and its
> distinctive song, breeds in the summer in eastern U.S. forests and winters
> in Andean forests of South America.  Well-known to wildlife watchers, it
> once was common but has become rare as forest habitat in both hemispheres
> has been destroyed and fragmented by logging, road-building, development
> and
> other human activities.  In the U.S., the Cerulean's decline has been the
> worst in the core of its range in the Midwest and Southeast, where the
> total
> decline is about 80%.
> 
> "It's well-documented that Cerulean Warblers and other migratory songbirds
> need expansive forests to breed and survive.  Conservation of these
> forests
> here and in South America is fundamental to saving this species," said
> Jeffrey Wells, Director for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon
> Society.
> 
> "National forests, parks and other publicly-owned lands are the logical
> place to begin protecting and restoring the Cerulean's breeding habitat in
> the U.S.," said Andrew George, director of the Southern Appalachian
> Biodiversity Project, which has been working on protecting the Cerulean
> for
> many years.   "If the Cerulean warbler continues to decline, we will
> continue to lose the clean water, the recreation opportunities, the
> beautiful vistas and tourism benefits that healthy forests provide."
> 
> "As a threatened species, the Cerulean warbler broadcasts important
> feedback
> about forest health and our irresponsible stewardship.  The false
> trade-off
> between jobs versus the environment begs for human creativity," said
> Father
> John S. Rausch, a Glenmary priest and economist who coordinates the Office
> of Justice and Peace in the Diocese of Lexington, KY. "As a dead canary
> signals disaster in a coal mine, losing the Cerulean telegraphs lousy
> economics and indicates time to change our forest practices."
> 
> "Right now, there is no law or regulation specifically protecting the
> Cerulean's forest habitat.  If the destruction of these forests continues,
> we will lose this bird in our lifetimes," said Douglas Ruley, an attorney
> with the Southern Environmental Law Center.  "By listing the Cerulean as a
> threatened species, we can take significant steps now to save it now and
> avoid more extensive measures later."
> 
> Like other migratory songbirds, the Cerulean Warbler performs important
> ecological roles such as insect consumption and pollination.  More
> important, as an indicator of forest health, the Cerulean's decline tells
> us
> that the forests on the two continents are in trouble.  Numerous studies
> over the years show that the Cerulean needs large tracts of unbroken,
> mature
> forest.  In South America, the evergreen forests along a narrow elevation
> zone through the Andes where the Cerulean winters have been virtually
> wiped
> out for agriculture.  In the U.S., millions of acres of forest, especially
> along stream banks and rivers where Ceruleans like to nest, have been lost
> to commercial logging, sprawl development, dams and other stream projects.
> 
> "The Cerulean is sounding a warning that our forests are deteriorating,
> along with the many benefits they provide such as clean water, recreation
> opportunities, favorite hunting and fishing spots, and much of our last
> remaining wild land," said Andrew George, director of the Southern
> Appalachian Biodiversity Project, which has worked for years on the issue.
> 
> The petition filed today represents one of the broadest conservation
> efforts
> ever undertaken in the east, and should result in coordinated forest
> protection throughout the Cerulean's range. It starts a review process
> within the FWS to determine if the Cerulean Warbler will be officially
> protected under the Endangered Species Act.  Once it is listed as
> threatened, the FWS must develop a recovery plan for the songbird. The
> conservation groups say the best place to start is on public lands,
> particularly in national forests.
> 
>  "These forests appear to harbor much of the Cerulean's habitat, but are
> not
> automatically protected just because they are in public ownership," Ruley
> said. "Too many U.S. Forest Service activities continue to degrade the
> large
> interior forests that the Cerulean Warbler needs."
> 
> Under the Endangered Species Act, the FWS would be required to review any
> federal actions that might jeopardize the Cerulean Warbler.  Such actions
> would include the 10-year management plans developed by the Forest Service
> for each individual forest as well as individual timber sales on the
> national forests.  Moreover, formally listing the Cerulean would provide
> the
> U.S. government and conservation organizations more opportunity for
> cooperation with their South American counterparts to protect Andean
> forests.
> 
> The Cerulean would be the first warbler to be listed as threatened under
> the
> Endangered Species Act.  Three other species of warbler found in the U.S.
> on
> the list-- Bachman's, Kirtland's, and golden-cheeked-- are endangered.
> Unfortunately, the Bachman's was likely extinct by the time it was listed
> and so did not benefit from protection under the Act.  The Kirtlands'
> warbler population, on the other hand, has increased since it was listed
> in
> 1967.
> 
> Joining the National Audubon Society in filing the petition are the Sierra
> Club, the Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and 22 local, state
> and
> regional conservation groups from 15 states.  The petition is also
> supported
> by several of the nation's foremost experts on migratory songbirds,
> including Jeffrey Wells and Frank Gill with the Audubon Society, and John
> Terborgh of Duke University.
> 
> 
> #