Wildlife

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit announced April

15 that Georgia Pacific, the largest U.S. forest products com-

pany, has agreed to leave at least 10 acres of woods standing

around each colony of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers

found on company land in Arkansas, the Carolinas, Louisiana,

and Mississippi. The deal protects 50,000 acres while allowing

Georgia Pacific to log the remainder of its 4.2 million acres of

southern timber.

The World Wildlife Fund has agreed to hire mem-

bers of the impoverished Hoopa tribe in northern California to

restore logged-out forests and eroded stream beds. The Pacific

Gas & Electric Co. has already provided 30,000 trees to the pro-

ject, which is expected to benefit bald eagles, peregrine fal-

cons, and northern spotted owls.

Fur

April 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:

Preliminary data indicates U.S.

trapping license sales fell to 147,000 dur-

ing the winter of 1992-1993, down from

191,000 in 1991-1992; 230,000 in 1990-

1991; and 338,000 in 1987-1988, when

U.S. trappers sold 19 million pelts. This

past winter they sold just 2.5 million.

Trapping was a $10 million a

year industry in Louisiana during the

early 1980s, but is now earning only $1

million a year. Trying to revive the boom,

state Department of Wildlife and

Fisheries biologist Greg Linscombe

recently told Newsweek that damage to

bayous caused by Hurricane Andrew was

actually the fault of allegedly overpopu-

lating nutria. Nutria are muskrat-like

South American aquatic mammals

brought to Louisiana by fur farmers about

70 years ago––and are a favorite food of

alligators. The Louisiana Department of

Wildlife and Fisheries, removes 75,000

alligator eggs a year from the bayous to

stock alligator farms.

WILDLIFE

April 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:

Babbitt moves on endangered species

Newly appointed Interior

Secretary Bruce Babbitt lost no time

demonstrating a new approach to endan-

gered species protection. As President Bill

Clinton scheduled a Forest Summit for

April 2, in hopes of resolving the long

impasse over northern spotted owl habitat

and old growth logging in the Pacific

Northwest, Babbitt on March 13 appointed

noted conservation biologists Thomas

Lovejoy of the Smithsonian Institution and

Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical

Garden to set up a national biological sur-

vey, which will map animal and plant habi-

tat much as the U.S. Geological Survey

maps topographical features. The habitat

map will be the first step toward reorienting

Endangered Species Act enforcement to

focus upon critical ecosystems, instead of

trying to save species on a slow, costly

case-by-case basis.

Reindeer wasted

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

While Alaskan officials pretend-

ed wolves had to be massacred so that

there would be enough caribou to feed

natives, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service in December quietly massacred

790 reindeer on Hagemeister Island, a

wildlife refuge 300 miles south of

Anchorage. Introduced by an Eskimo

rancher in 1965, the reindeer were endan-

gering native lichen. Nome medical doc-

tor Donald Olson (also an Eskimo) hired a

team to fly another 120 reindeer to safety

at an abandoned dairy farm. Natives were

given 172 reindeer carcasses; the rest

were left to rot. “It’s the worst wanton

waste case since the buffalo,” said tribal

elder Moses Kritz. At deadline, another

193 reindeer were slated for killing.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Los Angeles County on January 5 became the

largest and most populous jurisdiction in the U.S. to require

cat licensing. Cats must wear either collar identification or

ear tags. The new ordinance is modeled after ordinances

already in effect in Carson and Lomita, California, but

enforcibility remains in doubt. The ordinance was passed at

the urging of Citizens for Sheltered Animals, who argue

that it will reduce the euthanasia rate for cats picked up by

animal control: 39,000 of 42,000 in 1992.

Zoocheck Canada seeks letters supporting pas-

sage of the Ontario Animal Welfare Act, eight years in

development, “which would license and set standards for

the care and keeping of animals in zoos, aquaria, wildlife

displays, pet stores, pounds and shelters, breeding and

boarding establishments, and native wildlife rehabilitation

centers.” Address Bob Rae, Office of the Premier,

Legislative Bldg., Room 281, Queen’s Park, Toronto,

Ontario M7A 1A1.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Montgomery County, Virginia, on November

10 became the first East Coast community to enact a

comprehensive anti-pet breeding ordinance. Similar to

ordinances recently passed in San Mateo County,

California, and King County, Washington, the ordinance

cleared the county council by a 6-0 vote after language

requiring private breeders to license each animal individual-

ly was removed. Anyone who allows pets to reproduce now

must buy a breeder’s permit, the permit number must be

listed in ads offering to sell or give away the offspring, and

the newborn animals must receive vaccinations. The licens-

ing fee for unaltered dogs and cats will be increased by an

unspecified but substantial amount, while the licensing fee

for animals who have been altered will remain $6.00. Each

license is good for three years. The ordinance also enables

the county to sterilize any dog or cat found roaming at large

at least three times in a calendar year. Whether the ordi-

nance can be enforced is still a matter of debate. A compli-

cating factor is that Montgomery County veterinarians

reportedly charge some of the highest prices for spay/neuter

found anywhere in the U.S.––$200 and up––and even dis-

count coupons available through the county humane society

cost as much as $70. Free coupons are available to low-

income pet keepers.

Animal Damage Control thrown out of New Mexico: WOULDN’T CHECK TRAPS

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

ALBUQUERQUE – –Living up to an old

promise, State Land Commissioner James Baca on

November 16 evicted the federal Animal Damage

Control program from New Mexico because the adminis-

trators wouldn’t agree to make ADC coyote trappers

check their traps at least once every 48 hours.

The eviction order covers six to eight million

acres of state-owned land, much of which is leased to

sheep and cattle ranchers. As environmental and animal

protection groups applauded, ranching groups called for

Baca’s ouster.

Throwing wolves and sharks to the tourists: ALASKA AND HAWAII PLAN PREDATOR MASSACRES

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

JUNEAU, ALASKA––Hoping

to hype tourism, the Alaska Board of

Game on November 17 announced plans

to kill up to 80% of the 700 wolves who

inhabit the 43,000-square-mile region

between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The

same day, for essentially the same rea-

son, the Hawaii Shark Task Force

nnounced it would begin killing tiger

sharks on sight.

The Alaskan massacre is to

commence as early as January, while

shark-killing off the coast of Hawaii may

already be underway. In each case, state

officials called the killing necessary to

boost the tourist industry, but in each

case and especially vis-a-vis Alaska, the

immediate result was a wildcat (sponta-

neous) boycott by potential visitors,

which within 10 days seemed likely to

become an international campaign by

animal protection and environmental

groups.

Guest Column: An Avoidable Conflict by Dan Namowitz

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Would you fly in an airplane if upon boarding you beheld a

sign proclaiming, “Notice: the flight crew is trained to cope with nor-

mal operations only. The management is not responsible for the per-

formance of the pilots under emergency conditions.”?

Would you ride aboard a train or an ocean liner, if the engi-

neer or captain had received no emergency training?

What kind of emergency training should the driver of an

automobile undergo? With all the loss-of-control accidents that occur

on icy roads at the beginning of each new winter, and all the

animal/automobile collisions that occur each spring and summer, it is

obvious that drivers whose normal operating environments involve

certain predictable hazards are doing a poor job of dealing with emer-

gencies, resulting in unnecessary death and injury.

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