Courtesy Montana Fish and Wildlife
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will announce tomorrow (Friday) that’s it’s denying endangered species status for the America Pika, a small cousin of the rabbit that goes by the nickname, “boulder bunny.”
The decision is a huge disappointment for environmental groups. They say the pika is danger of going extinct because of global warming. If the feds had agreed, it would have been the first time global warming was the primary reason for listing an animal.
When President Obama arrives at the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen later this month, he won’t be coming empty handed.
The EPA wants to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Photo from ODOT.
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health, and will start regulating them as pollutants under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says the agency will move forward on plans to control greenhouse emissions from cars and trucks, and from large stationary sources such as factories.
The decision is receiving, so far, unanimous praise from Northwest environmental groups.
Environment Oregon calls this the, “Most significant step the federal government has taken on global warming.”
The Center For Biological Diversity, a national group with offices in Portland says, “We applaud the EPA for moving forward to implement one of our nation’s most successful environmental laws to avert catastrophic runaway global warming.”
Seattle based Earthjustice adds, “We are heartened to see that our government is recognizing the global warming threat.”
If you’ve done much mountain hiking, you’ve probably seen these little guys climbing among the boulders.
But the American Pika is in trouble. According to the Center For Biological Diversity, the so-called “boulder bunny” is in danger of going extinct because of global warming.
The pika thrives in the cold temperatures of the high elevations of the Western Mountains. Researchers say global warming is shrinking their habitat, forcing them to move to higher elevations where it’s still cool enough for them to survive. It’s estimated that a third of pikas in Oregon and Nevada are have already disappeared.
Courtesy Montana Fish and Wildlife
“As temperatures rise, pika populations at lower elevations are being driven to extinction, pushing pikas further upslope until they have nowhere left to go,” says Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Pikas are also disappearing on the southern end of their range in New Mexico, Utah and California.
Which is why the Center and other environmental groups are pleased to see that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will now study whether the pika should be added to the endangered species list.
The decision is significant because Fish and Wildlife will investigate findings that global warming has a role in the pika’s decline. If it agrees, then the pika would become the first mammal outside of Alaska to be listed because of climate change. Greg Loarie, an attorney with the legal group Earthjustice says, “The pika’s shrinking habitat is a harbinger of what may happen to many species if we don’t address global warming now.”
Pikas are small, growing to about 8 inches long and are related to rabbits. Their fur coats do such a good job of keeping them warm, that they can survive winters in the high elevations without hibernating. But that makes them especially vulnerable to global warming. Even brief periods of temperatures reaching 78 degrees or higher can overheat and kill them.
Today’s announcement by Fish and Wildlife means it has to make a decision on listing the pika by February of 2010.
Columbia River Salmon Courtesy WDFW
Three pesticides have been added to a growing list of chemicals that are considered a threat to endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead populations across the Northwest.
That finding, just released by NOAA Fisheries, covers pesticides containing carbaryl, carbofuran, and methomyl. The pesticides are used in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California on a wide variety of crops including fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.
Exposure to these chemicals can kill salmon, or damage their central nervous systems, making it harder for them to catch food, avoid predators and spawn. An even bigger problem is that when these chemicals wash into streams and rivers, they kill the aquatic insects that salmon eat.
