Wildflower Stew

Used with permission. Copyright Michael G. Shepard

Three years ago I read the following story written by West Coast environmental activist and musician Joey Racano. (You can hear his music here and read his blog here.)

I was just starting my online magazine Wildflower Stew and the story of this mysterious little auk touched my heart and I was determined to work hard to get their story and others like it out there to more people. I had a wonderful year publishing my magazine until disaster struck and it was hacked beyond my ability to fix it.

After a pause and a move, I started up again with this blog and recently I found the marbled murrelet is back in the news. So I am sending you Joey’s original story so you’ll know who this amazing little bird is and then you can read what we can all do so that the marbled murrelet is not lost to us.
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The Miracle of the Marbled Murrelet

-Joey Racano
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On December 27, 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department charging that decisions about threatened and endangered species including the marbled murrelet were changed because of political pressure. The deputy assistant secretary, Julie Macdonald, resigned in May over allegations that scientists’ evidence had been ignored and their reports rewritten.

Earlier this fall, Earthjustice, a public-interest law firm representing several conservation groups, had written to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorn, asking that he reinstate the marbled murrelet. A lawyer for the group wrote that e-mails and meeting notes obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that MacDonald “improperly interfered with the science underlying the marbled murrelet status review.”

The US Fish & Wildlife Service had previously identified 3,590,642 acres in three states as critical habitat, but after the politically motivated rewrite is suddenly proposing to exclude 3,368,950 acres - leaving only 221,692 acres of protected habitat. Here is a copy of the revised proposal from November, 2006.

How did this happen? Craig Manson, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, was not happy with the results of a review that affirmed that the marbled murrelet in the Pacific Northwest deserved to be listed as threatened. The American Forest Resource Council, representing the timber industry, had sued the Fish and Wildlife Service to review the status of the marbled murrelets because 90 precent of the remaining old growth trees suitable for nesting (making them critical to the little bird’s survival, obviously) are found on public land - which the timber industry wanted to get their hands, er rather their chainsaws, on.

Everybody, and every bird, needs a home. The Endangered Species Act requires that federal agencies define and protect critical habitat “essential to the conservation of the species.” When the review affirmed that indeed the marbled murrelet was threatened, well, Craig Manson just rewrote it. In fact, Manson has been quoted as questioning the value of even trying to save species that are threatened - “because they can’t adjust to change.” Meaning, I suppose, that if the marbled murrelet can’t adapt to having their nesting sites clear-cut, then they’re expendable. This is the person who is head of the agency responsible for enforcing the Endangered Species Act!

The marbled murrelet faces the combined threats of logging, gill-net mortality, and oil spills. Big corporations behind them all. Maybe if we take the time, if we have the heart, to save this tiny, fragile, mysterious, innocent little feathered creature, we will have the heart for all the other work we’re going to have do to heal this wounded planet. I have a print of a beautiful watercolor of the marbled murrelet by artist Ram Papish - which you can get from Good Nature Publishing - over my computer to inspire me. If those little guys can keep on keepin’ on, so can I.

Here are some things you can do to help keep this little bird alive in our world:

Support those on the front lines.
North Coast Earth First! has used non-violent civil disobedience and direct action to save some of the last remaining old growth redwood and douglas fir forests left on Earth. Located in Humboldt County, California, they have a 20-year legacy of non-violence, including no property destruction, and they have brought tens of thousands of people together to save these ancient forests with a combination of tree-sits, roadblocks, rallies, lockdowns, media, ground support, legal support, lawsuits, and strong spirits. They also seek to end the destructive practices of clearcutting, herbicide spraying, and logging on steep and unstable slopes, and to expose the big timber corporations, as well as the corruption and complicity of the so-called regulatory agencies and law enforcement. Visit the main website for Earth First! for more opportunities to take action.

Join Earth Justice - their motto is “because the earth needs a good lawyer.” Oh boy, do we.

The Center for Biological Diversity protects endangered species and wild places through science, policy, education and environmental law. You can join their action network and become a biodiversity activist.

Of course, the venerable elder of the caring-about-birds family is the Audubon Society. You will find a wealth of information about the marbled murrelet and you can join local habitat protection groups, the Christmas bird count going on now or the actions associated with the Important Bird Areas.

And don’t forget - “Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.”
- Hoyt Axton

I just found this great little 20-minute video on free speech tv. It was written by Annie Leonard and produced by Free Range Studios - the makers of “The Meatrix”. The Story of Stuff is a very funny, very clever and yet absolutely clear description of how our stuff goes from the extraction of the resources to make it, through production, sale, use and disposal - the hidden costs, the real deal. Then it tells us how we can fix what’s wrong with this picture. I’d show it to every kid I know - and every adult too! See the trailer below and then go to http://storyofstuff.com for the whole video and the resources for another way.

This must be deja vu all over again. That’s what I thought when I started hearing all the talk lately about nuclear power plants being “clean” energy and read that there was a clause in the energy bill before Congress that would guarantee loans enabling investors to build new nuclear power plants.

It’s been almost 30 years now since MUSE - Musicians United for Safe Energy - was founded by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt and John Hall. The Three Mile Island nuclear accident had just happened and the movement that was launched with a series of No Nukes concerts stopped construction of nuclear power plants dead in its tracks. But now it seems like someone is trying to raise the dead.

“One of America’s most critical financial and ecological decisions is now before Congress. The atomic energy industry wants at least $50 billion in loan guarantees for a “new generation” of reactors that have already begun to fail, and that Wall Street won’t finance. If these subsidies pass, scores of new radioactive terror targets, thousands of tons of radioactive waste and untold billions in bad debt could haunt us and our children for a long time to come.

On the brink of winning a green-powered planet, we intend to do all we can to avoid another radioactive dead-end. We hope you will join us.” from “Stealth Nuke Effort Should Be Stopped”

The group’s new music video on their website inspired me to keep on fighting back, one more time:

Nukefree.org

On Saturday, October 27, there will be 11 demonstrations for peace in cities across the country: Boston, Chicago, Jonesborough, Tenn., Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Visit www.oct27.org for more details and information on how to get involved in the demonstration in your region.

Friday, Oct. 19 is the date for this month’s Iraq Moratorium Campaign — an escalating, monthly series of actions demanding an end to the war. Click here to find an action near you. If you are planning an action, please post it on the calendar.

If another world is possible, this is the one I want to work for.

Global Exchange, is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice. Under their “war, peace & democracy” section is a wide choice of ways to get active. I just signed the Declaration of Peace

Friday, September 21 is the International Day of Peace. Declare peace through public signings of the Declaration of Peace and other nonviolent actions from Friday, September 14 through Friday, September 21. October 21-23 will be the No War, No Warming campaign and on October 27 the National Antiwar Mobilizations, ten mass demonstrations around the country. For the latest news on these actions you can go to http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

In September, Congress will vote on a request from the Bush administration for an additional $142 billion for the war, giving him enough money to continue the war at least another year costing (at current casualty rates) another 1,084 American lives and who knows how many thousands Iraqis. 70 members of Congress have already pledged to stop funding the war by signing on to a letter sent to the president on July 19th by Representatives Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee, and Maxine Waters. Go here to find out if your representative has signed and, if not, to send an email demanding that Congress fund only the safe, orderly and immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq. If your representative has signed send a thank-you letter here.

The lively , Code Pink, Women for Peace, have a pre-emptive strike for peace on their website. You can sign on to the Promote Peace with Iran - Stop the Next War Now! petition and then check out their colorful and efficient site for other ways to promote peace.

Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones currently in the military or who have served in the military since the buildup to the Iraq war. I have been a member of this organization and these are some of the most kind, caring, dedicated people I have ever met. If you have family members or loved ones in the military and you are opposed to this war, you may join us by sending an e-mail to mfso@mfso.org and go to their website at http://mfso.org for activist opportunities.

Peace.

The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near San Antonio Bay on the Texas coast is the only wintering ground for the world’s 236 remaining whooping cranes. Now the Army Corps of Engineers is considering a development permit for that area, which has been designated as Critical Habitat under the Endangered Species Act. The development threatens the birds’ already fragile existence. Please take a moment to sign a letter urging the Corps to reject the permit application.
http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/texas_cranes/86in3suzhbdnnn7?

Hurricanes and other natural disasters can bring chaos to coastal regions, and many people find themselves homeless and separated from their families, including many children. Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to helping those in need obtain decent affordable homes. Sign this petition to the US Senate to improve the post-disaster housing support that’s critical for low-income families and their children.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/301943234?z00m=9456232

Your senators and representatives have the opportunity to help clean up contaminated beaches and to make sure sources of beach pollution are identified and addressed. Urge them to co-sponsor the Beach Protection Act.
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_080607

Speaking of beaches, here are some surfers talking about the state of the ocean these days:

That’s really gross. But then consider this - there’s a proper place for everything:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlIOI3fDz5c

Or - as Texas populist Jim Hightower is fond of saying “money is like manure, you have to spread it around.”

This is a new action post that I hope to be able to put up here once a week or so. I am a petition signer. One of the quickest ways almost anyone can make a difference is to join up with other people to petition for the things we want to see happen. I’m going to give a quick write-up and a link to the petitions. If you only have a few moments, you can still help make a big difference. I have seen many good things happen because enough people took a minute to sign a petition for something they believed in.

The first one on today’s list is The Clean Water Restoration Act. Unfortunately we have to petition to restore safeguards that have long been in place but have been disregarded. Sixty percent of our water is now in jeopardy. This petition is an opportunity to ask your representative in Congress to co-sponsor this act. On the Earth Justice petitions after you sign one of them, all you have to do is put in your email address to sign another.
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/CWRA_CoSponsor_July_2007

The next one is another Earth Justice campaign. Typical of the Bush administration the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a “recovery plan” for the northern spotted owl that would actually increase logging by weakening protections for salmon, clean water and old-growth forest ecosystems.
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/Owl_Recovery_August_2007

On August 9, a cloud of the fumigant metam sodium drifted over two Kern County, California businesses, sickening eleven workers with vomiting and dizziness. Metam sodium is an acutely toxic fumigant pesticide, a carcinogen, and linked to developmental problems. It is being reviewed by both the EPA and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Public health advocates say fumigants contribute to smog and pose such high risk of respiratory illness that they should be phased out as quickly as possible. To demand the EPA protect people from fumigant pesticides sign this Pesticide Action Network petition:
http://action.panna.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=693

Many farm workers must labor outdoors in unhealthy conditions. But for some the exposure does not stop there. After completing a 10 to 12 hour work day, too many San Joaquin Valley farm workers go home and live in some of the most heavily polluted areas in the country. The small farm worker town of Arvin lies in a rich agricultural area filled with vineyards and orange groves. It also has the dubious distinction of being the town with the most polluted air in America. You can sign this United Farm Workers petition to help ensure the air in this town is cleaned up.
http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/smog/swwn874435b8ek?

Finally you may, if you wish, go to this delightful site and join the movement - for free - to support organic dairies. Power to the people - and the critters, too.