[mou] Hurricane risks for wildlife

[Alt, Mark]

I am very familiar with the area to the south of Houston and Galveston,
which it appears may be ground zero this Saturday. Birds who have
existed at critical population levels for years may get cleaned out,
namely the Whooping Cranes and Atwater Prairie Chickens.  A 25 foot
tidal surge here would meet with no resistance.  Brazos Bend has great
wetlands, where I saw my first Masked Duck and a ton of Black-bellied
Tree Ducks; I imagine a tidal surge would inundate this wooded swamp as
well.  With the human tragedy looming, perhaps some would find it
trivial to think of the natural history risks that arise, but I love
these places and the creatures that haunt them and I  fear for their
survival. Whit-tailed Hawks and the hundred thousand or so shorebirds on
the Bolivar Flats just north of Houston are also at risk. The last
sighting of the Eskimo Curlew was in a small wetland on Galveston, this
is going to cause some real damage to some of the best coastal birding
on the planet.

Mark Alt=20
Brooklyn Center, MN=20
mark.alt@bestbuy.com=20
"I recalled that I had read somewhere that in the Middle Ages Hell was
envisioned as a place without birds." Jim Harrison=20