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The protection of endangered species
The protection of endangered species
The protection of endangered species
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Recommended: The protection of endangered species
When we hear about an endangered species we auto, automatically think of great blue whales, African elephants, polar bears, pandas, etc. These are highly publicized by the media and documentary makers. People are aware of this endangered species but not of the less popular endangered species that are in our own backyard. Based on published historic range and population there is roughly 317 animal and plant species endangered in California. The endangered species are protected under the federal and state Endangered Species Act. Under this act species are protected from being taken from their environment, creates a safe habitat for animals to thrive again, restore population numbers, etc. One of the animals in central California that is listed as being endanger is Vulpes macrotis mutica, commonly known as the San Joaquin kit fox. The San Joaquin Kit Fox habitat has been listed by the United States National Wildlife Services as endangered since March third, 1967. The kit fox has been in the endangered, due to its inability to adapt to the changes in their habitat due to humanity. After 46 years a healthy San Joaquin kit fox population is yet to be achieved.
The San Joaquin Kit fox is a subspecies of the kit fox, the smallest Canidae species—includes dogs, wolves, and foxes— in North America. The kit fox is the size of a house cat, however is the largest in the subspecies. On average, the male measures about 32 inches in length and weighs about 5 pound, females are only slightly smaller than males. There idiosyncratic feature are their large ears that stand close together on top of their head. Their colors range from season to season but are mostly buff, yellowish grey or tan. The Kit fox was primarily found throughout the San Joaquin...
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...coast range habitat. The Federal Bureau has found it more important to obtain natural resources than protect crucial habitat.
The San Joaquin Kit fox has been listed has been listed as endangered since 1967 under the federal endangered list. San Joaquin Kit foxes are important in their ecosystem; they serve as a population control for smaller rodents the population has continued to decrease due to loss of habitat and degradation of the land caused by development. The efforts that have been made to protect this species are necessary for the species to avoid extinction. However, the efforts made to protect the species have yet to have positive results. Stricter regulations on development need to be implement, for example banning franking. If larger parcels of natural habitat are not obtain for the San Joaquin kit fox the population will not thrive and become extinct.
These two sides of the issue bring about a major controversy in America today. Should the Pacific Northwest’s old growth forests and the welfare of the Northern Spotted Owl be sacrificed for America’s economy, and the jobs of the people in the logging industry? Which should be placed at a higher value, the forests in the Pacific Northwest and the northern spotted owl, or the American economy and the jobs and welfare of thousands and thousands of people?
At one time, the lynx lived all the way along the Continental Divide clear up into Canada. Now, after being gone from Colorado for 25 years, the animal has been reintroduced into the lower tip of the lynx's historic habitat, the San Juan Mountains (Rogers). So far, out of 33 lynx that are being tracked, all of them are roaming in 276 square kilometers of the southwestern portion of Colorado that runs from the New Mexico border up to the I-70 corridor and from Monarch Pass over to Taylor Mesa (Shenk). In an attempt to find out how the animals, which look like bobcats with black tufts on their ears and huge paws, act in nature, scientists are tracking them with radio collars and airplanes (Lloyd).
Estimates are that at the turn of the twentieth century over two million wild horses roamed free in the western United States. However, having no protection from their primary predator, man, by the 1970’s there numbers had dwindled to less than thirty thousand. In 1971, after a massive public uproar, Congress by a unanimous vote enacted the “Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act” (Act) that characterizes wild horses and burros as national treasures and provides for their protection.
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Despite protecting millions of acres of wilderness, this act provided for the numerous groups of people affected by the establishment of this law. Stipulations regarding the use of protected lands by private landowners were made. People living inside the park lands were guaranteed the right to subsistence hunting and fishing, as well as the guaranteed access to their lands. This right of access is the main concern for this argument, as it is a major management issue for park officials and land owners alike.
marine, either threatened or endangered. Under these terms species could no. longer be hunted, collected, injured or killed. The northern spotted owl falls under the more serious condition of being endangered. Also, the bill forbids federal agencies to fund or carry out any activity that would threaten the species or its habitat. It is the latter part of the bill that causes the controversy.
Mr. Middleton, a journalist, compiled an article describing, in his opinion, the flaws of the Endangered Species Act. He then attempts to back his opinion with studied analyses, researched facts, and testimonies. To summarize Middleton’s (2011) perspective, “Rather than provide incentives for conservation and environmental stewardship, the Endangered Species Act punishes those whose property contains land that might be used as habitat by endangered and threatened species” (p. 79). This quote is broad and generalized yet draws in readers and forces Middleton to spend the rest of the article backing this statement with more logic based facts.
Fischer, Mary. "Introduced Species Summary Project Grey Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis)."Columbia.edu. Columbia University, 2 Mar. 2002. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
The Endangered Species Act Introduction: Long-term survival of a species depends on its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Murphy, 1994). Genetic diversity within a species, which has taken 3.5 billion years to evolve, makes adaptations to these changing environments possible. Unfortunately, the rate of extinction of genetically diverse organisms is rapidly increasing, thus reducing this needed biodiversity, largely due to the human impacts of development and expansion. What was an average of one extinction per year before is now one extinction per hour and extinct species numbers are expected to reach approximately one million by the year 2000 (WWW site, Bio 65). As a result governmental and societal action must be taken immediately!
Unfortunately, they are an endangered species due to urban and agricultural development that has caused a massive habitat breakup (1). The population of the Kangaroo rat has plummeted in the 20th century with over 95 percent of the former range of this species has been lost due to a mixture of overgrazing, mining operations, cultivation and the introduction of exoti...
California, or southern, Sea Otters are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act and are fully protected under California state law. The northern Sea Otters in Alaska are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, Act II. The Sea Otters in the United States are also protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sea Otters were put under protections with the signing of the International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911, and became registered under the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts in the 1970s. Worldwide, numbers have gradually recovered but still stand far below original population. “Today, there are estimated to be just over 106,000 worldwide, with just over 3,000 in California”. (Ecological Society of America. Climate change, predators, and trickle-down effects on ecosystems. ScienceDaily, 11 August
Over a century ago, humans fought animals for dominance of the landscape and we regrettably won, now they’re in need of our protection. The Government and Organizations have come to the rescue of wildlife species all across the U.S. Their main goal is to protect wildlife species from over harvesting and also their loss of habitat due to industrial and residential development. The beauty and curiosity of wildlife captivates all of us for different reasons. For certain species, they are the link to our existence Animals are not being hunted into extinction because the government is protecting certain wildlife areas and are controlling the animal populations within those certain areas. While increasing a wildlife species population and removing from the endangered species list, a predator such as the gray wolf, is sure to be seen as a success to some and a threat to others.
These four studies evaluated the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) as the primary tool for conservation efforts. Within Fox’s study, he identified four components that increase an MPA’s effectiveness, all of which focus on bringing together the goals of the governing bodies involved, as well those of the locals who rely on the marine systems in question for resources. The research presented by Edgar and his team presents similar findings as they identify five factors that have shown to increase the success of MPAs after they studied 87 different MPA locations. In addition to identifying the key factors that contribute to MPA success, they also identify some factors that lead to MPA failure. Halpern’s study focuses on the limitations of MPA networks and the broader scope issues that need to also be addressed in order for MPAs to be truly effective.
Over the years, past resources have quickly dwindling. Since then conservation has broadened beyond the use of natural resources, and has become a movement. Many critics of conservation believed it would stifle industrial development, however, the conservation movement has increased development over the years because it forced the need to find an alternative source of power. One of the main concepts of conservation is that it should be used to benefit the many not for the profit of the few, like big business that destroy large areas of wilderness without care for what they are destroying. Preserving wilderness areas will help with the conservation of America’s resources that are quickly dwindling. The resources we had years ago is much less due to the supply and demand of society today. Preserving certain areas will allow us to...
In the article,”California Invasive Plant Inventory”, it states, “ Invasive non-native plants that threaten wildlands are plants that are non-native to, yet can spread into wildland ecosystem,” (paragraph 7). When the invasive threaten and spread other wildlife the plants and animals that live there naturally might be taken over by these invasive species. To add, these non-native plants are being evaluated by the plant inventory only if they invade California wildland. To conclude, the California inventory is trying to keep up and stop invasive species from spreading to other wildlands and