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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>For those that didn’t see this bit of grim news:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Donnie Dann<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Highland Park/Lake County<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>donniebird@yahoo.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
September
12, 2006</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Contact: </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Deborah Bagocius, Defenders of Wildlife 202.772.0239</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Perry Plumart, American Bird Conservancy, 202 234 7181 ext.
202</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>RARE
EAST COAST SHOREBIRD FACES EXTINCTION AS FISH AND WILDLIFE </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>SERVICE
REFUSES TO LIST SPECIES AS ENDANGERED</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Red
Knot Numbers Continue to Decline</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Washington</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></span></font></st1:place><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> – The decision today by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to relegate the <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>rufa</span></i> red knot – a rare migratory shorebird—to
the “waiting room” of candidate list under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA) is a move that will likely doom the species to extinction, according
to a coalition of environmental groups seeking protection for the migratory
shorebird. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>“When it comes to the red knot's survival,
the Fish and Wildlife Service is doing far too little, far too late. The
red knot is <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
most rapidly declining species and the one most in need of fast
action. The government's slow-poke approach greatly
increases the likelihood and imminence
of the red knot's extinction,” stated Greg Butcher,
Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Candidate species do not receive any ESA protection.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service places plants and animals on this list when
they believe the species may warrant protection under the ESA, but the Service
determines there are higher priority listing activities. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Recent scientific data clearly illustrate the drastic
decline of the <i><span style='font-style:italic'>rufa</span></i> red knot,
including a recent study that warns that this subspecies faces extinction as
soon as 2010 if immediate steps are not taken to halt its decline. The Service
itself also commissioned a draft status statement for the red knot that
provided comprehensive data about the bird's decline. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The red knot undertakes one of the longest migrations of any
bird, wintering in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tierra del Fuego</st1:City>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place> and
nesting in Arctic Canada. The species’ decline has been caused by
over-fishing of horseshoe crabs, whose eggs form the mainstay of the knot's
diet during its migration through <st1:place w:st="on">Delaware Bay</st1:place>.
Prior to the dramatic increase in the take of horseshoe crabs in the 1990s, a
plentiful supply of eggs allowed the red knots to feed briefly in the bay and
gain the weight needed to successfully complete a nonstop flight to their
Canadian Arctic breeding grounds. However, now red knots are not getting enough
horseshoe crab eggs to fuel their migration to the Canadian arctic
breeding grounds, thus they are not able to breed successfully because of their
low weight. According to the Federal Registry their numbers have declined
from 15,345 in 2005 to just 13,455 in 2006. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Currently 279 species are on the candidate list. Each is
assigned a listing priority. At this point the listing priority of the red knot
is six on a scale of one to twelve. Species have been known to languish on this
list for many years. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Today’s announcement follows the filing of two
emergency petitions to list the red knot. Those petitions were denied by
the U.S. FWS.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Statements by coalition partners:</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>“The Fish and Wildlife Service is studying the red
knot into extinction. Despite a recently completed study showing that all
signs point to extinction in a few years, the Service refuses to do what is necessary
to protect and recover the bird. It’s hard to imagine there are higher
priorities for the Service in this region,” stated Caroline Kennedy of
Defenders of Wildlife. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>“Unless listing happens soon, it will be too late for
recovery efforts to bring the species back. The ESA is criticized for failing
to recover species while other species are left hanging until they are near
impossible to recover. If FWS recognizes that the species should be listed then
it should be listed now. The costs of saving the species will only increase if
its decline is allowed to continue,” said Mike Parr Vice President for
American Bird Conservancy.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"This failure to list now can only be seen as a
conscious decision to sacrifice irreplaceable environmental phenomena, given
what we know about the peril of the red knot," said Tim Dillingham,
Executive Director of the American Littoral Society.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>“Study after study has shown the federal Endangered
Species Act works. Listed species are more likely to recover. The
science and our children’s future calls for the listing of the red knot
today,” declared Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation and
Stewardship, New Jersey Audubon Society.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"By choosing not to act, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service is making a very conscious and recognizable choice to allow the <st1:place
w:st="on">Delaware Bay</st1:place>'s population to wither and die from
existence -- it is a choice that we in the region will not stand for,"
observes Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"This is a cynical ploy to look like the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service is trying to protect the red knot but instead is sending them
toward extinction,” declared Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club New Jersey
Chapter. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'># # #</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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