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Editorial: Editorial: Cedar Key News Annual Meeting March 29
March 8th, 2008

Editorial: Let School Board Know What Should Be Taught
February 15th, 2008

Editorial: What Is a Fair Tax?
February 4th, 2008

Editorial: Inconsistent Appraisals Harm Taxpayers
December 17th, 2007

Editorial: Energy Crisis?
November 30th, 2007

Editorial: Florida Water War Heat Up
October 16th, 2007

Editorial: Nobel Prizes in Medicine
October 5th, 2007

Editorial: Editorial: Same Rules for Everyone
September 22nd, 2007

Editorial: Demand Action on Bridge Repair
August 8th, 2007

Editorial: Local Response Needed to Stem Clam Poaching
July 24th, 2007

Editorial: Money, Money, Money...Votes
July 9th, 2007

Editorial: We Celebrate Independence and Clams
June 26th, 2007

Editorial: Are You Ready for Hurricane Season?
June 12th, 2007

Editorial: The Sources of Progress in Medicine
May 30th, 2007

Editorial: A New Era of Politics and Religion
May 17th, 2007

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Editorial: State of the Birds

Editorial: State of the Birds

Editor

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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