 November 2012 (Animal Fibres / Fur)
Saving the planet with ... plush toys?
"While the debate over man's contribution to climate change rages, there is a general consensus that we need to reduce our dependency on petrochemicals," writes Simon Ward. "Taken individually, gas-guzzlers, polyester clothing, and plastic bags may not be the biggest blights on the planet, but collectively they are a behemoth. From oil well and tanker spills, to clogged landfills, chemical smogs, and waterways, oceans and beaches despoiled by plastic refuse, petrochemicals are harming our planet in myriad ways." |
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 November 2012 (Forestry)
Study of critical new forest conservation issues in the global south
"The last decade has witnessed a dramatic shift in the field of biodiversity conservation," write Arvind Khare and David Barton Bray in this 2004 report to the Ford Foundation. "Led by a handful of large conservation organizations, the new conservation strategy marks a major departure from the earlier approach of creating ad hoc protected areas toward scientifically identifying unprotected, endangered areas of high biodiversity concentration, and is accompanied by a shift from a species focus to an ecosystem and landscape focus." |
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 October 2012 (Felines)
Cheetah Conservation: How dogs are saving cats in South Africa
"Once a symbol of royalty, the cheetah walked side by side with kings and emperors for thousands of years," write Emily Wood and Annie Beckhelling. "The feline was favored as a royal pet and hunting companion because it is easily tamed and a spectacular hunter. Both Charlemagne and Genghis Khan kept cheetahs, and Akbar the Great is said to have captured more than 1,000 during his reign. ... "In the last century, however, perception of the cheetah changed. Seemingly overnight, it went from cat-goddess to pest, and its numbers have declined by 90 percent." |
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 September 2012 (Fisheries)
"Fishing" isn't a four-letter word
"Please excuse this intrusion on a national holiday," writes Nils Stople for the Fisheries Research Institute. "However, considering that Labor Day was designed to recognize the contributions and achievements of American workers, that fishermen are and since colonial times have been among the hardest working of those workers, and that the Congress and the current Administration are about to embark on an prohibitively expensive and totally unnecessary program to put many of those fishermen ... out of work without giving any consideration to alternatives that could keep them fishing, this seems a particularly appropriate time for it." |
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 March 2012 (Fisheries)
Strengthening "dolphin safe" while supporting responsible fishermen
"Concerned citizens around the country are aware that legislation has been introduced to make changes to the popular 'dolphin safe' label on the cans of tuna fish," wrote Teresa Platt for US News & World Report in 1994. "People who have never seen a tuna fishing boat are second guessing what is involved and worry if the dolphins are in any danger." At the time of writing, the author was co-director of the San Diego-based Fishermen's Coalition. |
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 April 2011 (Deer)
The introduction, increase and crash of reindeer on St. Matthew Island
"Reindeer, introduced to St. Matthew Island in 1944, increased from 29 animals at that time to 6,000 in the summer of 1963 and underwent a crash die-off the following winter to less than 50 animals," wrote David Klein of the University of Alaska in a 1968 report. "... Lichens had been completely eliminated as a significant component of the winter diet. Sedges and grasses were expanding into sites previously occupied by lichens. In the late winter of 1963-64, in association with extreme snow accumulation, virtually the entire population of 6,000 reindeer died of starvation." |
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 March 2011 (Bovines / Cattle)
"Big Meat" and Big Government. Subsidies and regs are the culprits
"Ranchers are a fairly independent bunch. We don't like overweening authority and prefer to fend for ourselves. We also find few things more objectionable than sitting endlessly indoors," writes Arizona cattle rancher Paul Schwennesen. "Nevertheless, 2,000 of us did just that a few months ago in the ballroom of Colorado State University. If the setting wasn't exactly invigorating, the topic was even less so: understanding why the family-scale cattle industry is going broke and why either Big Meat or Big Government is helping it down the drain." |
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 February 2011 (Management / Conservation)
Debt for Nature: Financing American endangered species on foreign soil
"Let me see if I have gotten this straight," asks lawyer and rancher Karen Budd Falen of Wyoming. "1. President Obama has stated that America is going to be more restrained in foreign internal affairs. 2. Yet the U.S. federal government has listed 568 foreign species on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These are species who never set one paw or foot or leg on American soil, ever. 3. And once listed, the ESA authorizes the U.S. Treasury to spend American taxpayer money acquiring foreign land, water and other property interests to 'protect' these species." |
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