Page 28 - aruba-today-20190518

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 18 May 2019
Wolf’s comeback in U.S. triggers debate on protection levels

By ANDREW SELSKY said Oregon is committed to killing by the state.” The
Associated Press to ensuring the progress of federal government has al-
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The the species while minimiz- ready delisted wolves in the
gray wolf is on track for a re- ing livestock losses. eastern one-third of Wash-
markable comeback after However, his advocacy of ington and Oregon, as
being almost exterminated federal delisting of wolves well as in Idaho, Montana
in the contiguous United brought howls of complaint and Wyoming. It contends
States, but a Trump admin- when it was publicized. that gray wolves no longer
istration proposal to take U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, qualify for federal protec-
the iconic symbol of the an Oregon Democrat, told tion as an endangered or
wild off the endangered Melcher in a letter that he threatened species.
species list has exposed di- was “shocked and ap- Oregon officials have
visions among states. palled.” drafted a new state wolf
California says it opposes “I am ashamed by your will- plan aimed at ensuring
delisting the wolf, while ingness to throw an incredi- “the conservation of gray
Washington state said it bly important predator spe- wolves as required by Or-
agrees. The federal pro- cies under the bus in favor egon law while protecting
posal also exposed a rift This February 2017 file photo provided by the Oregon Department of a few private interests the social and economic
among top officials in Ore- of Fish and Wildlife shows a wolf of the Wenaha Pack captured that clearly have a differ- interests of all Oregonians.”
gon — one of several states on a remote camera on U.S. Forest Service land in Oregon’s ent mission than your agen- Oregon removed wolves
where wolves have estab- northern Wallowa County. cy,” Blumenauer wrote. from its state endangered
lished breeding packs af- Associated Press Noah Greenwald, endan- species list in 2015. A prime
ter wandering across state down a stance by Curtis a half-dozen states have gered species program objective of the draft plan
lines. The debate highlights Melcher, director of the Or- no wolf protections on the director at the Center for is to promote a naturally
clashing interests and dif- egon Department of Fish books. Biological Diversity, said: reproducing wolf popula-
fering philosophies, with and Wildlife. He wrote to In his letter, Melcher said “Lifting federal protections tion connected to a larger
ranchers fearing more live- federal officials on May 9, Oregon had 137 wolves at now would hamper further population of wolves and
stock will fall prey to wolves saying his agency supports the end of 2018 — a 10% wolf recovery in Oregon allowing for expansion into
and conservationists wor- delisting wolves because increase over 2017. He also and expose the animals other areas of the state.q
rying that wider hunting the animals no longer meet
of the predators might be the definition of an endan-
around the corner. Hunting gered or threatened spe- Flooding makes big ‘dead zone’ off
and trapping wolves is al- cies.
ready allowed in Montana Brown said her office had Louisiana coast likely
and Idaho. not been informed that
At the center of the debate Melcher would take the the world’s second-largest
is, how much more help do stance. When she learned human-caused dead zone
wolves need? of it, she put on the brakes. usually comes out in June.
Washington Fish and Wild- “The state of Oregon and The spring floods are likely to
life Director Kelly Susewind its agencies do not support mean significant amounts
told the U.S. Fish and Wild- the delisting of wolves from of the widely used fertiliz-
life Service recently that the federal Endangered ers have run from farmland
protecting thriving wolves Species Act across their into waterways in the 31
could expose the Endan- range in the 48 contiguous states that feed the Missis-
gered Species Act to leg- states,” Brown wrote in a sippi River. Sewage treat-
islation weakening protec- letter to U.S. Interior Secre- ment plants, manure, and
tions for species in actual tary David Bernhardt. other sources also contrib-
danger of extinction. A total of 6,500 wolves are ute to the river’s nutrient
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown believed to roam Minne- load from 41% of the U.S.
said Thursday it’s critical- sota, Wisconsin, Michigan, mainland.
ly important to maintain Rocky Mountains and Pa- Workers open bays of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, to divert rising Last year’s dead zone cov-
wide-ranging recovery ar- cific Northwest. Additional water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, upriver ered about 2,720 square
from New Orleans, in Norco, La., Friday, May 10, 2019.
eas for wolves across the wolves inhabit Indiana, Associated Press miles (7,040 square kilome-
West. Kentucky, Massachusetts, By JANET McCONNAUGHEY from Baton Rouge. Thur’s ters), about 40% the aver-
“The challenge is, it’s not Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Utah NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The agency is part of the Na- age size that had been
like wolves pay attention and Vermont. year’s widespread flood- tional Oceanic and Atmo- predicted, and was one of
to statewide boundaries,” Collette Adkins, carnivore ing has made it likely that a spheric Administration. the smallest recorded since
Brown said. conservation director at big, oxygen-starved “dead The task force coordinates Louisiana researcher Nan-
Her comments came a the Center for Biological zone” off Louisiana’s coast work to cut the amount cy Rabalais began map-
day after she slapped Diversity, said more than will form this summer, the of nitrogen and phospho- ping them in 1985.
head of the National Cen- rus flowing into the Gulf. It was smaller than usual
ters for Coastal Ocean Sci- The nutrients feed algae only because winds stirred
ence said Thursday. and plankton which die up the Gulf just before the
Preliminary computer mod- and fall to the bottom. annual mapping cruise,
el runs “indicate a large Their decomposition uses mixing oxygen into the wa-
to very large year,” for the up oxygen from the bot- ter, Thur said.
area where there’s too little tom up, resulting in low In recent years, Thur noted,
oxygen to support marine oxygen levels, called hy- mapping cruises overseen
life, Steven Thur told the Mis- poxia. Fish and shrimp can by Rabalais have run out
sissippi River/Gulf of Mexico swim away, but starfish of money and had to end
Hypoxia Task Force during and other bottom-dwellers before the entire area was
a meeting livestreamed die. A detailed forecast of covered.q