Ithaca 37
New member
This guy has a good perspective on the problem. I can just hear some of our rape and ruin SI posters saying, "See, we are taking good care of the environment. There's one Ivory Billed Woodpecker left."
"Recently, an announcement was made that the ivory-billed woodpecker had been rediscovered in Arkansas. Campephilus principalis was seen for the first time in 60 years in the United States. A team of ornithologists from Cornell and the Nature Conservancy gave a definitive nod that it was indeed the ivory-billed.
For decades there had been many near sightings. Often it turned out to be the smaller cousin, the pileated woodpecker. People's hopes were often dashed as their searches offered little evidence of the magnificent bird that reached almost 2 feet in length. Countless searches along the last remaining patches of mature bottomland hardwood forests came up empty. It had been 70 years since the Singer property was clear-cut in Louisiana, supposedly sealing the ivory bill's fate. There were even trips to Cuba, where a few of the remaining mountain-topped forests were rumored to store at least a couple of the winged treasures.
The rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker is a cause for celebration. A spectacular piece of America's natural history puzzle has been found. The second largest woodpecker on Earth, only slightly smaller than the now-extinct imperial woodpecker of Mexico, is not gone after all.
The rediscovery, however, must be kept in perspective. We should not accept the existence of the ivory-bill as a sign that we've done a good job protecting the Earth's biodiversity. On the contrary, the rate of extinction goes on at an unprecedented rate. Some estimates put the human-caused rate of extinction at one species per hour. Some of the world's most charismatic creatures — the tiger, the giant panda, the rhino, and gorilla — are perilously close to extinction and could be gone from this Earth within the next 25 years.
The fact that we have rediscovered one of the world's more charismatic birds should not be looked at as a triumph of our stewardship efforts. Rather, it should be looked at for what it really is — a second chance. A shot at redemption that doesn't come along very often.The first time the ivory-billed woodpecker "went extinct" it was because we didn't value the bird enough to protect the habitat it needed. The question before us now is "will we this time?" The ivory-billed woodpecker has the fortune to call the richest nation on Earth its home. It doesn't live in a poor country where people must chop down the forest for subsistence farming or for firewood to cook dinner. It lives in a country with the resources and technology to ensure that a hundred years from now it is a common sight throughout the south. We have been given a second chance at the ivory billed woodpecker. If our great grandchildren get to see this bird themselves, then we can call it a triumph."
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050514/NEWS0503/505140337/1052/NEWS05
"Recently, an announcement was made that the ivory-billed woodpecker had been rediscovered in Arkansas. Campephilus principalis was seen for the first time in 60 years in the United States. A team of ornithologists from Cornell and the Nature Conservancy gave a definitive nod that it was indeed the ivory-billed.
For decades there had been many near sightings. Often it turned out to be the smaller cousin, the pileated woodpecker. People's hopes were often dashed as their searches offered little evidence of the magnificent bird that reached almost 2 feet in length. Countless searches along the last remaining patches of mature bottomland hardwood forests came up empty. It had been 70 years since the Singer property was clear-cut in Louisiana, supposedly sealing the ivory bill's fate. There were even trips to Cuba, where a few of the remaining mountain-topped forests were rumored to store at least a couple of the winged treasures.
The rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker is a cause for celebration. A spectacular piece of America's natural history puzzle has been found. The second largest woodpecker on Earth, only slightly smaller than the now-extinct imperial woodpecker of Mexico, is not gone after all.
The rediscovery, however, must be kept in perspective. We should not accept the existence of the ivory-bill as a sign that we've done a good job protecting the Earth's biodiversity. On the contrary, the rate of extinction goes on at an unprecedented rate. Some estimates put the human-caused rate of extinction at one species per hour. Some of the world's most charismatic creatures — the tiger, the giant panda, the rhino, and gorilla — are perilously close to extinction and could be gone from this Earth within the next 25 years.
The fact that we have rediscovered one of the world's more charismatic birds should not be looked at as a triumph of our stewardship efforts. Rather, it should be looked at for what it really is — a second chance. A shot at redemption that doesn't come along very often.The first time the ivory-billed woodpecker "went extinct" it was because we didn't value the bird enough to protect the habitat it needed. The question before us now is "will we this time?" The ivory-billed woodpecker has the fortune to call the richest nation on Earth its home. It doesn't live in a poor country where people must chop down the forest for subsistence farming or for firewood to cook dinner. It lives in a country with the resources and technology to ensure that a hundred years from now it is a common sight throughout the south. We have been given a second chance at the ivory billed woodpecker. If our great grandchildren get to see this bird themselves, then we can call it a triumph."
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050514/NEWS0503/505140337/1052/NEWS05
