Endangered? Or an Excuse?

U.S. to Study Protection for Alaska Loon

A petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for a rare loon that breeds in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve has been accepted for review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Conservationists hope an eventual listing of the yellow-billed loon will curb petroleum development in the 23-million acre reserve that covers much of Alaska's western North Slope.

The petition was filed three years ago by the Center for Biological Diversity. , the National Resource Defense Council , Pacific Environment and other U.S. and Russian scientific and conservation organizations.

This is an environmental story of an alleged endangered species with a “must stop oil drilling” mantra in the background. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be another Spotted Owl episode.

From Cornell Labs All About Birds: Spotted Owl

Conservation Status
Because of its preference for old-growth forests, it is heavily affected by clear-cut logging. The northern form is considered Endangered in Canada and Threatened in the United States. The California form is a species of special concern in California, and the Mexican form is considered as Threatened in the United States and Mexico. Listed on the Audubon Watchlist.

(Here’s the 2007 Draft Recovery Plan for the Spotted Owl: 2007 Draft Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl Now Available for Public Comment)

During the heated debate about the Spotted Owl, claims of incredibly small populations were circulated making one think they were as rare as Whopping Cranes or California Condors. People chained themselves to trees to prevent loggers in the Pacific Northwest from doing their jobs. Eventually, the spotted owl was listed as either Endangered or Threatened in much of coastal Canada and the US. Afterwards, studies of the real population indicated they may very well be far more numerous than thought. Much of the action on the Owl’s behalf was from those who opposed logging. They just shopped for a species that would serve their purpose and created a firestorm f hyperbole to push the Endangered and Threatened labels. And these preservationists won the day to some extent. Logging operations were shut down, some mills had to close and lots of people lost jobs.

If the same thing is going on here, environmentalists using the yellow-billed loon as a means of halting oil exploration in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve…. Well, you can only cry wolf so many times before people start to catch on.

The yellow-billed loon breeds in tundra wetlands in Alaska, Canada and Russia, and winters along the west coasts of Canada and the United States.

Petroleum development through leasing ordered by President Bush could reduce its numbers, said Brendan Cummings, ocean program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"The yellow-billed loon is one of the rarest and most vulnerable birds in the United States, yet the Bush administration's plan to 'protect' it is to approve oil drilling in its habitat," Cummings said.

Of course! It’s all Bush’s fault. Don’t suppose you fly to any conferences or even drive anywhere do you Mr. Cummings? And you live in a very small, environmentally friendly, super-duper efficient home. Right?

Just how rare is the yellow-billed loon?

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are 16,500 yellow-billed loons in the world, including 3,700 to 4,900 that breed in Alaska. More than 75 percent of the Alaska breeders nest in the petroleum reserve. Smaller numbers breed on the Seward Peninsula and on St. Lawrence Island.

Approximately one-third of the yellow-billed loon population nests in Alaska. And they are notoriously poor at raising a family.

The large-bodied birds have low reproductive success and depend on high annual adult survival to maintain population levels. Individual birds must live many years before they can reliably replace themselves with offspring that survive long enough to breed, according to the agency.[Fish and Wildlife Service]

So if the drilling does occur, it could have a substantial impact on yellow-billed loon survival according to these numbers. Right?

But, let’s go back a few years when oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was first discussed. Environmentalists were up in arms about how this activity would affect the caribou in the area being opened for drilling. After all the hollering was done and people pointed to the maps of the drilling area, Area 1002 which consisted of 1.5 million acres, was an area bordered the Prudhoe Bay area that has been in production for years. The remaining 19 million acre ANWR was to be left untouched. That left a whole lot of habitat for the caribou to roam.

Check out the maps from the Sierra Club via the link in the given here. The "1002" Area

The area to be drilled this time around, consists of 4.6 million acres within the 22 million acre National Petroleum Reserve. Granted, 4.6 million acres sounds llike a lot of land to someone who might live on a ¼ acre in a typical suburban setting or maybe a 5 acre lot in some more swanky development, but let’s put the numbers in perspective. Alaska measures 424,490,880 acres (663,267 sq. miles). They don’t mention where in Alaska the loon nests, but even if all of the NPR were open to drilling, the loon would still have over 400 million acres in which to find suitable habitat. Let’s say there are 500 yellow-billed loons that nest in Alaska. The loons, of course pair up to mate (their not that looney)so there are 2,500 pairs of loons, each pair looking for that perfect hideaway. Take the 424,490,880 acres of Alaska and subtract the 4,600,000 acres in the proposed drilling area and that leaves each pair of loons over 167,950 acres in which to find a lake that contains some fish for food and a suitable nest site.

The agency's finding, called a 90-day finding despite the filing of the original petition in March 2004, is based on scientific information provided by the conservation groups.

They cite threats including destruction and modification of habitat due to development and pollution and lack of regulatory protection.

Birds that breed in Alaska spend winters off the coast of Russia and face drowning in fishing nets, plus threats from petroleum development in the Sea of Okhotsk, Cummings said.

Yellow-billed loons do not recover easily from population declines, are susceptible to disturbance and may be vulnerable to habitat loss, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Inundation of their freshwater breeding areas by saltwater levels rising because of global warming is another threat, Cummings said. However, oil and gas development in nesting areas is foremost in the petitioners' minds.
"Industrializing the Arctic is not the way to protect a rare bird," he said.

Of course, global warming threats are to be considered as well.

(All emphasis is mine.)The information being provided is that of the environmental groups who have apparently already decided they drill should not be permitted. I wonder just how independent the researchers were or if any research that is not along the lines of the "no drilling" crowd will make it to the Fish and Wildlife Service's desk.

If this turns out to be a case built on hyperbole, something that may be difficult to determine considering the location of the yellow-billed loons habitat--the area in question is so remote that there are NOT a lot of people in the area to take measurements and make observations--the entire environmental movement will receive another mark against its reputation. Enough of those and it will be difficult to pay attention to warnings when they are real.