Page Title

Text Box: Who would want to put Bambi, and from Nemo fame, Marlin or Dory at risk? I don’t think there may be too many of us worrying about protections for Snakeheads, but when, if ever, our favored Smallmouth come under danger of extinction, we want to make sure adequate protections are in place for them before needed. This past month has made me, for one, wonder about this, and, in fact, there are two recent events that have the potential to be real warnings for the future of legal protections for these animals and fish. The first of two potential danger signs is the vote recently taken by the current House of Representatives to decrease the impact of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 on private landowners (see www.fws.gov/endangered/
esaall.pdf).
The key changes incorporated into this new bill are:

*replace critical habitat with "recovery plans" that would have to be developed within two years. The recovery plans would not have regulatory force and the habitat would not be protected from federal actions,

* instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, require the Secretary of the Interior to respond to landowners’ development plans within 180 days (with a 180-day extension possible) as to the potential harm the development may present to protected species. If the government fails to respond in time, the development could go forward. If the government blocks the development, the landowner would be paid the fair market value of the proposed development, and

* let the Interior Secretary

Text Box: determine what constitutes appropriate scientific data for decision-making under the law. As of July 2004, the current administration has added an average of 9.5 species a year to the endangered list, compared with 65 a year in the previous administration, and 59 a year under the first President Bush. Recently, the feds have designated as "critical habitat" only half the acreage recommended by federal biologists. Let us hope that the Senate stops this offensive misdirection. Just in case you are wondering if there is a trend underlying these recent attacks on the Endangered Species Act, take a look at www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/
wildlife_species.asp
The second event that may make some wonder about the future protections for our wildlife and fish is the appointment and confirmation of the new Head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Although there seems to be a fair balance among pro and con comments related to Mr. Dale Hall ’s confirmation, many environmental advocates and Fish and Wildlife veterans have voiced concern and disappointment at the new Agency Head’s lack of aggressively protecting wildlife, plants, and fish. It looks like we will have to let time be the judge of the wisdom in this appointment.
Is it alarming that over 140 million birds and 60 people were killed in Asia over the past two years because of avian flu? The American poultry industry is apparently on high alert for signs that could demonstrate that this ‘bird’ flu has arrived in this country. The alarms should be caused by the dialogue and articles we’ve all heard and read about the effects of

Text Box: poultry manure on the waters of the upper Potomac and in other watersheds in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. My focus up to now has been on the poultry pollution in the South Branch of the Potomac. But a chart in the October 7th Washington Post showed that the Shenandoah Valley supports a $615M poultry indust ry with an annual production of about 265M chickens and 23M turkeys, while the Delmarva Peninsula supports a $1.7B poultry industry producing 561M chickens per year. Now that’s a lot of poultry, and a lot of potential to spread ‘bird’ flu by water to fish and humans. To characterize this virus, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture recently stated “This disease knows no boundaries”. Let’s hope that this flu is a virus that stays away, but just in case, let’s hope a remedy for this flu is found soon.
I hope everyone received word about the Fish Kill Conference held at JMU on 24 October (see www.purewaterforum.org). This Conference was intended to specifically address facts, impacts and needed responses to the recent fish kill in the Shenandoah River watershed. If we do not hear any specific reports from members who may have attended this conference, we ’ll keep our eyes and ears open for reports and needed actions resulting from this very important forum. In the meantime, recent rains have helped raise water levels and lower water temperatures, and Fall feeding should have kicked in by the time you read this column. Good luck with those hungry smallmouth. Ron Marafioti