GOT A QUESTION?A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1 percent of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year..."For two years in a row, we've sustained a substantial loss," [Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of Apiary Inspectors of America] said. "That's an astonishing number. Imagine if one out of every three cows, or one out of every three chickens, were dying. That would raise a lot of alarm."
Grand Canyon National Park charges a $25 per vehicle user fee. Fees are used for infrastructure improvements to the park, and they seem to be working. I couldn't help but think of John when I saw the sign to the right. Sorry for the picture quality. It's the best I could do while trying to inconspicuously take a picture of a restroom with a camera phone while people are streaming in and out (the sign in the middle reads UserFee: Your Fees at Work). My kids hid in shame.
Trade-offs. I study trade-offs. For example, my wife loves deer. She gets great enjoyment from seeing a small herd standing in a field. Even greater enjoyment from seeing a spring fawn. Unfortunately there's a downside (cost) to large deer populations, and Ohio is about to do something about it:
Ohio's deer herd swelled to an estimated 675,000 last summer, and state officials say that's enough.
"No later than two years from now, we plan on effectively stopping the growth of the deer population," said Dave Risley, executive administrator of wildlife management and research for the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
In fact, the goal is to reduce the herd considerably.
"We're going to come up with a new (population) target level," Risley said. "It probably isn't going to be 250,000. That's not realistic. But it definitely won't be 700,000."
The Ohio Farm Bureau, citing increasing crop damage, publicly called in late 2006 for a herd of about 250,000, a number reached about two decades ago. The population has numbered more than 600,000 for at least several years, prompting the state's orchardists also to press for a reduction.
Nonuse value is an oxymoron (Without proof ...):
It has been almost three years since a research team, led by Cornell University and the Nature Conservancy, announced the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Big Woods — a 550,000-acre tract of bottomland hardwood forest. ... After the sighting was announced, local economies seemed to benefit for a while as scientists, bird-watchers and news media outlets from around the world flocked to Brinkley and to the other communities in the patchwork quilt of fragmented forest and farmland that surrounds the Big Woods. ... Lately, though, the ivory-billed boom has pretty much been a bust, especially since researchers and bird-watchers have, so far, failed to take a definitive picture of the woodpecker.
I may need to give the prize money back and strip my name from the record books*.
*Note: I've earned no prize money or records. I've never taken steroids. Note also the subtle sarcasm in the title and lead sentence. I don't believe the CVM critics were right, although if there is no bird there really shouldn't be any nonuse value generated. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Finally, the pull from the NYTimes article is economic impact, not economic value. All in all, a fun post.
Dozens of dead and injured seabirds found coated in black goo are the most visible victims of a 58,000-gallon oil spill in the San Francisco Bay, an incident that scientists say could threaten wildlife for years.
and this:
As many as 10 ships sank or ran aground in the strait and the northern Black Sea region during the fierce storm, including the tanker, the Volganeft-139, loaded with nearly 1.3 million gallons of fuel oil. Nearly half that amount had spilled into the strait and had begun washing up on nearby shorelines.
Bo Derek, actress who starred in the movie "10," makes an argument for demand side intervention to reduce illegal wildlife trafficking.
Not only do the governments of the world need to redouble their protection efforts, but we must end the demand that drives [illegal wildlife trafficking].
The war on drugs has graphically demonstrated that focusing on enforcement and interdiction is not the only key to victory in this fight. We must also educate people and reduce demand for these products.
From the inbox:
I wanted to direct you to an article in Business Tennessee magazine about the wetlands conservation group Ducks Unlimited, controversial for its pro-hunting stance, but wildly successful at fundraising and lobbying.
http://www.businesstn.com/pub/4_10/features/8319-1.html?utmsource=ducks
Is hunting wrong? Are mallards on the endangered species list? Is blogging via open closed-ended questions annoying?
The example of Ducks Unlimited is a good example of the importance of private property rights and the spillover benefits of self-interested behavior.
Ever been to Louisville (pronounced "Loo-uh-vul", not "Loo-ee-vil"), KY? Ever asked for directions and someone told you to take "the Gene"? The Gene Snyder Freeway is I-265, the outer loop. Well, it is not really a loop since it stops before crossing the Ohio River. Take a look here at Google Maps (head up towards Cincinnati in I-71, stop in LaGrange and visit my mom).
Louisvillians are in the beginnings of a controversial bridge building project to connect I-265 with I-65 across the river in Indiana. The sordid story involves threats to nature preservation, cost overruns, noise pollution for the wealthy, and etc (Prospect tunnel bids over estimate).
From The Economist:
MORE species are under threat than ever before according to the World Conservation Union. Its “Red List”, published on Wednesday September 12th, gives warning that 16,306 species are under threat of extinction (of 41,415 described), nearly 200 more than in 2005.
According to the article, there are 1.4 million documented species on the planet and a very uncertain estimate of 10 million species total (documented and undocumented). If I understand this right, that means that .16% of the estimated species or 1.2% of the documented species are threatened. Is that a lot?
The underlying premise to any endangered species list seems to be: any human induced species extinction is bad--natural extinctions are, well, natural. So, does anyone know of estimates of the natural rate of extinction among species in the absence of humans? Or is that an irrelevant question?
The aging* Bonner Bridge runs across Oregon Inlet on the Outer Banks of NC. It is falling apart and needs some sort of replacement. There are two options being considered:
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