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Internet
database focuses on endangered species
Early warning designations could bring awareness to species in need
By GREG STAHL, Express Staff Writer
The Idaho Mountain Express, December 31, 2004
Source:
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?issue_date=12-31-2004&ID=200411553T
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Max Casebeau
CEEI Director |
The Sun Valley-based Center for
Environmental Education is experiencing a growth spurt and is touting its
on-line information database as one of the most comprehensive
environmental education networks in the U.S.
The group's newest site, called
Endangered Species Early Warning, was posted at
www.esew.org this month
after a lengthy logistical delay. The site, first announced in June,
features a thorough database of Endangered Species Act listed plants and
animals as well as species of concern, like the greater sage grouse, which
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced would probably not be granted
threatened or endangered status.
The main reason for the new site is to buy extra time for species that "do
not have a vote and need every bit of time they can get to stabilize and
recover," said ESEW Director Max Casebeau.
"We are depending on students, retired government employees, bird
watchers, scientists, farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen and
environmentally concerned citizens to voice their concerns and to offer
more information," Casebeau said. "We had anticipated only a couple of
hundred species would be listed worldwide. Then the Arctic Climate Impact
Assessment was announced in November and is providing a paradigm shift in
the thinking of the scientific community already."
An international project of the Arctic Council and the International
Arctic Science Committee, the assessment was designed to evaluate and
synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change and increased
ultraviolet radiation. The results of the assessment were released at a
symposium held in Reykjavik, Iceland in November.
Partially based on the findings in the report, CEEI said it will add 11
more "super Websites" to its network in the next four years.
"Our objective is to have the most comprehensive environmental education
Website network in the United States," Casebeau said.
The newly formed CEEI Advisory Board is another indication of the group's
growth, Casebeau said. Environmental science professors from the
University of Idaho, University of Alaska and University of Connecticut
are among the board members.
Of particular interest, the new Endangered Species Early Warning site
lists humans as its featured species.
"Scientific knowledge outstrips current self knowledge. Human vanity tends
to overpower reason and common sense. Demagoguery is used to influence
political decisions, while religious reasons are given to justify wars,"
according to the Website. "Psychological and spiritual knowledge is being
distorted by small, religious community leaders. This is creating an
inability to adapt to new ideas."
In a prognosis summary, the site states survival of western societies will
be possible only if agreement on central issues like global climate
restoration, clean air restoration and water resources care and
restoration is possible.
"It may be that the species are caught in a chemical and heavy metal trap
that already is affecting human sperm count," Casebeau elaborated.
Casebeau said the center decided to list the human family as a candidate
for an early warning designation, principally because of chemical
contamination of oceans, lakes, rivers and streams.
But the focus is considerably larger than that, and the effort is about
more than alarming people.
The new information database focuses on eight classes of species in North
America that Casebeau said are in danger. It integrates the information
with habitat and watershed data.
Species are listed by threatened, endangered and extinct categories. They
are also listed by state and by ecosystem.
According to Casebeau, it is the only Internet site aimed at relating
habitat status to threatened and endangered species.
The United Nations Environment Programme, an organization devoted to
improving quality of life without compromising that of future generations,
estimates 150 species per day are going extinct, up from 100 species per
day 10 years ago.
"This new Website will call attention to the situation for threatened and
endangered species, and may provide the time needed for those species to
recover before it's too late. Endangered Species Act listings are usually
too late" Casebeau said.
Casebeau's organization has been maintaining America's Threatened Streams
and Restoration Strategies, an Internet site focusing on the country's
water bodies, for years at
www.wcei.org.
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The Idaho
Mountain Express. Rights Reserved.
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