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Editorial: What Have We Learned? September 3rd, 2005
Editorial: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace August 17th, 2005
Editorial: What Is a Consultant to Do? July 5th, 2005
Editorial: Six Land Use Petitions in Play June 25th, 2005
Editorial: Poaching & Plagiarism June 13th, 2005
Editorial: Upward and Onward in 2005 May 24th, 2005
Editorial: Farewell Maureen May 17th, 2005
Editorial: Speaking About Speak Out May 10th, 2005
Editorial: Informed Voters Wanted March 26th, 2005
Editorial: Health Needs Survey Well Received February 12th, 2005
Editorial: Fire Protection, Fire Insurance and Tax Justice January 25th, 2005
Editorial: Cedar Key Health Service Survey January 14th, 2005
Editorial: New Year`s Resolution December 31st, 2004
Editorial: Do We Need Better Healthcare in Cedar Key? December 16th, 2004
Editorial: Help Defend Us October 29th, 2004
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Editorial: State of the Birds | Editorial: State of the BirdsEditor State of the Birds Message Bird watching is a hobby enjoyed by an estimated one out of every four people, despite the worst intentions of Alfred Hitchcock. Some of those people are casual observers of back yard birds. Some bird watchers are obsessive, traveling great distances to see a rare sight such as a flock of Whooping Cranes. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has issued a State of the Birds report that has both good news and bad. The status of coastal birds is of particular interest in Cedar Key which draws tourists in pursuit of one of our attractions - the birds. We may take our Brown Pelicans for granted, but thirty years ago they had become rare. Likewise, our Bald Eagles and Ospreys were in danger of extinction prior to the banning of DDT in the United States. Whooping Cranes are of special local interest. Establishment of a Gulf Coast migratory population is well under way, thanks to Herculean efforts by Canadian and U.S. ornithologists who rear and train young Whoopers to fly from Wisconsin to over-wintering sites in Florida. With recognition of conservation success stories like the return of Bald Eagles to Florida, consider shore bird species currently in danger. Red Knots depend on horseshoe crab eggs to fuel their long migration. Over-harvest of horseshoe crabs for pharmaceutical purposes has reduced the breeding success of the Red Knot by 82 percent. (This new value of horseshoe crabs illustrates the formerly unrecognized value of a marine species.) Habitat destruction to build condos on beaches has hurt other shoreline species such as Plovers and Sanderlings. Hurricanes, exotic mosquito borne diseases and rising sea level all afflict shore birds. Yet there is good news in the Department of Interior report. Several species of gulls are thriving. Garbage dumps are their buffet. In the past twenty years, Department of Interior programs have protected or restored 250,000 acres of coastal wetlands. Whooping Cranes, who depend on coastal marshes as over wintering grounds, have rebounded from 15 birds to 266 birds in seventy years. This recovery is proof that, with help, an endangered species can be saved. The next time special interests call for repeal of endangered species legislation please remember that these species can be saved, and the hospitality industry will benefit as well. |
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