[mou] No potholes, no ducks

[MARTELL, Mark]

One should hardly take a mis-statement in the Argos Leader and apply it =
to everyone who believes that global warming is real.

The loss of wetlands is real and continuing and affects not just ducks =
but a lot of other birds that we enjoy.  Whatever the cause (and there =
are many) birders, ornithologists, hunters, and anyone with an interest =
the natural world need to get together and start pushing back.

Mark Martell
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Minnesota
2357 Ventura Drive #106
St. Paul, MN 55125
651-739-9332
651-731-1330 (FAX)


-----Original Message-----
From: mou-net-admin@cbs.umn.edu [mailto:mou-net-admin@cbs.umn.edu]On
Behalf Of Steve Foss
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 1:10 AM
To: Jim Williams; MOU-net; Grant Peterson
Cc: sd-birds
Subject: Re: [mou] No potholes, no ducks


"That would force ducks eastward and out of the=20
state's crucial pothole wetlands, which produce 95 percent
of the ducks  in the continental=20
United States."

Since when do South Dakota potholes produce 95 percent of
the ducks in the continental U.S.?

Sorry, folks, but when I see a statistic like that, it
casts doubt on the whole story, and does no good for the
credibility of those who believe human-caused global
warming threatens life on the planet.

Steve

--- Jim Williams <two-jays@att.net> wrote:

> This article is from a few days ago from the Sioux Falls
> ARGUS LEADER,
> South Dakota's largest newspaper. It was sent to me by
> Paul Baicich, a=20
> friend in Maryland.
> South Dakota won't be the only place this happens, not
> that Minnesota=20
> has much duck habitat left.
> Jim Williams
> Wayzata, Minnesota
>=20
> Global warming may threaten ducks
> South Dakota's wetlands could evaporate with climate
> change
>=20
> BEN SHOUSE
> bshouse@argusleader.com
>=20
> 2 July 05
>=20
>     BROOKINGS - Hunters and environmentalists have forged
> a tentative
> alliance to conserve wildlife habitat in recent years,
> but new studies=20
> are
> nudging that alliance toward a more controversial issue:
> global warming.
>=20
>     Most people know little about the uncertain business
> of forecasting
> climate change. But on Friday, a group of hunters,
> biologists and=20
> officials
> gathered here to tour local wetlands and point out the
> connection=20
> between
> duck hunting and predictions of rising temperatures.
>=20
>     New research from South Dakota State University and a
> new=20
> conservation
> report suggest that warming could make duck habitat
> literally evaporate.
> That would force ducks eastward and out of the state's
> crucial pothole
> wetlands, which produce 95 percent of the ducks in the
> continental=20
> United
> States.
>=20
>     "No water, no ducks, no hunting," said Land Tawney of
> the National
> Wildlife Federation, by way of connecting the dots.The
> Montana-based
> conservation group released a report this week called
> "The Waterfowler's
> Guide to Global Warming."
>=20
>     The guide, and the issue of warming in general, poses
> a dilemma for
> conservationists of all political stripes: A coalition of
> hunters and
> environmentalists could prove a decisive voice on the
> issue, but the
> controversy surrounding it also could jeopardize their
> unity.
>=20
>     The fate of North American waterfowl and its habitat
> lately has=20
> served
> as common ground for hunters and environmentalists. In
> 2003, for=20
> example,
> duck hunters prodded the Bush administration to conserve
> more wetlands.=20
> And
> in April, about 5,000 hunters and conservationists came
> together on the
> Minnesota capitol mall for the Ducks, Wetlands and Clean
> Water rally.
>=20
>     Tony Dean is one prominent member of what might be
> called this
> green-orange coalition. The outdoor TV host from Pierre
> wrote the=20
> forward
> to the NWF report, taking a stand against some of his
> fellow=20
> Republicans'
> views on global warming.
>=20
>     "Carried to the worst potential scenario, it could
> surpass even
> agricultural drainage, and essentially end waterfowl
> hunting," he wrote.
>=20
>     "What we're trying to do here is create a middle
> ground between the
> Chicken Little crowd on the extreme left and the 'never
> react to=20
> something
> unless it hits you on the head' of the right," he said
> Friday. But he=20
> said
> he does not know how readily hunters will embrace the
> issue.
>=20
>     "Sportsmen are notoriously slow to react, and they
> really have to=20
> lose
> something before they tend to react."
>=20
>     According to scientists, the first thing they'll lose
> could be=20
> wetlands.
>=20
>     Shallow, seasonal ponds and sloughs are indispensible
> habitat for=20
> ducks
> and a larder of insects and other tiny critters that
> ducklings need.
> Farmers have drained more than 90 percent of the wetlands
> in western=20
> Iowa
> and Minnesota, said Carl Madsen, a retired U.S. Fish and
> Wildlife=20
> Service
> official.
>=20
>     Drainage has affected only about one-third of South
> Dakota's =20
> wetlands.
> But Carter Johnson, a professor of ecology at South
> Dakota State
> University, said climate change could finish the job.
>=20
>     Long-term data has documented rising air and ocean
> temperatures, and=20
> a
> large body of research links it with a concurrent rise in
> carbon dioxide
> from human industrial activity. Various studies predict
> that will lead=20
> to
> an increase of anywhere from 2 to 6 degrees Celsius in
> the next 50 to=20
> 100
> years.
>=20
>     An average warming of 3 degrees Celsius - which is
> 5.4 Fahrenheit -
> would accelerate evaporation, lowering water levels in
> most wetlands,
> according to forthcoming research by Johnson and
> colleague Bruce=20
> Millett.
>=20
>     That would reduce the value of most South Dakota
> wetlands for ducks,
> pushing them eastward and driving their populations well
> below current
> levels, Millett says. Previous research said warming
> could shrink=20
> crucial
> pothole wetlands by 90 percent and duck populations by 70
> percent.
>=20
>     A 3-degree warming would clearly cause other major
> problems, such as=20
> a
> rise in sea levels of perhaps three feet and major shifts
> in=20
> agriculture,
> Johnson said. But a catastrophic loss of wetlands could
> be one of the=20
> most
> noticeable and irrevocable changes in the region, he
> said.
>=20
>     And it would have implications far beyond South
> Dakota.
>=20
>     The "prairie pothole region" of the Dakotas and
> Montana produce 95
> percent of the ducks born in the continental United
> States, Tawney said.
> Loss of wetlands here would rob the avid duck hunters of
> Arkansas and
> Louisiana of their game.
>=20
>     Those predictions, as with all forecasts about global
> warming, are=20
> based
> on computer simulations. Scientists must resort to these
> models because=20
> the
> Earth's atmosphere and oceans are complex beyond human
> understanding,
> Johnson said.
>=20
>     Computer models might raise public suspicion, but he
> said scientists
> have seen their predictions verified by real climate
> data.
>=20
>     "The uncertainty is not that it's going to get warmer
> or not, but how
> much warmer and where," he said.
>=20
>     Getting that message to the public can be difficult,
> but Johnson=20
> says he
> sees progress. His duck-hunting buddies, for example,
> come from across=20
> the
> political spectrum, and until about five years ago, he
> never would have
> talked about his research while sitting in a duck blind.
>=20
>     But now, he says, "it's getting more traction."
>=20
>     "It's getting more visible. I think the evidence is
> more clear," he
> said. "Therefore, I think those discussions are going to
> go on in the
> blinds more than they have in the past."
>=20
>     Some duck hunters with less knowledge of climate
> science are=20
> beginning
> to agree.
>=20
>     Todd Heidelbauer, 32, of Sioux Falls says he noticed
> a drop in the
> quality of duck hunting during the recent drought. He
> says it makes=20
> sense
> that a drier climate could lead to a more permanent
> decline.
>=20
>     "It makes me want to work even harder with the
> conservation
> organizations to buy up more land for public use and
> place
> water-conservation structures on the land," he said.
>=20
>     Pat Gross of Vermillion, a duck hunter and former
> U.S. Department of
> Agriculture employee, said climate change is real, and he
> fears for=20
> what it
> will mean for wildlife. But he attended the Minnesota
> duck rally at the
> Capitol in April and was encouraged by the hunters and
> conservationists=20
> who
> want to save duck habitat.
>=20
>     "There was some unprecedented hand holding between
> organizations that
> typically don't always agree," he said. "I tend to
> believe that there is
> kind of a new sense of understanding emerging, and people
> are willing to
> abandon some of their philosophical commitments to do the
> right thing=20
> for
> natural resources."
>=20
> Russel A. Daniels / Argus Leader
>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> mou-net mailing list
> mou-net@cbs.umn.edu
> http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net
>=20


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around=20
http://mail.yahoo.com=20
_______________________________________________
mou-net mailing list
mou-net@cbs.umn.edu
http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net