Guest guest Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Wednesday, April 26, 2006 6:35 PM Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls Dear Jeff, Please Give A Hoot - Help Protect Imperiled Owls! A major motion picture based on Carl Hiaasen’s eco-novel Hoot will be released on May 5. Hoot is about a group of teenagers taking on Florida developers who are destroying the habitat for burrowing owls. The release of Hoot presents a great opportunity to educate the public about the real-life plight of imperiled owls – such as burrowing owls in California and cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls in Arizona – as well as endangered wildlife nationwide. The Center is organizing volunteers to hand out information to interested moviegoers in front of dozens of theaters the weekend of May 5 to 7. Volunteers will also collect petition signatures supporting protection of owls and their habitat. The Center will hold a press conference at one of the movie openings in California to focus on the decline of California's burrowing owls. We will also issue a nationwide press release about the plight of imperiled owls. Please help spread the word about the Give a Hoot campaign to protect endangered owls. You can help by distributing information and collecting petition signatures from interested moviegoers during the opening weekend of Hoot (May 5–7) and beyond. An action kit containing fact sheets, petitions and information about endangered owls is available at www.Hoot4owls.org or by contacting our office. If you are interested in volunteering to hand out information and collect petition signatures, please contact Kelli Shields at kshields or (415) 436-9682 x300. If you are part of an organization that would like to participate in the Give a Hoot campaign by organizing volunteers or signing on to a letter requesting state protection for the burrowing owl in California, please contact Jeff Miller at jmiller. Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): Director Ryan Broddrick, CA Dept. of Fish and Game (if you live in CA)Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (if you live in CA) Below is the sample letter: Protect California's burrowing owls Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here], I support state Endangered Species Act protection for California's vanishing burrowing owls. California's breeding colonies of burrowing owls have been declining eight percent annually, and breeding owls have been nearly or completely eliminated from 15 counties - approximately one-quarter of their California range.No state or federal law adequately protects burrowing owl habitat. Throughout most of California, burrowing owls live on unprotected land at risk of development. The species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout much of its range in California and requires immediate protection under the state's Endangered Species Act.Please take immediate action to protect burrowing owls and their habitat throughout California. Sincerely,Jeff Hoffman Take Action! Instructions:Click here to take action on this issue Tell-A-Friend:Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-Friend! What's At Stake: California's Burrowing Owls: Threatened by Development The western burrowing owl is a small, 7- to 10-inch ground-nesting bird that lives in grassland burrows. In California it relies primarily on burrows dug by ground squirrels, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two animals. Burrowing owls were once among the most common bird species in California, particularly in the Central Valley and in coastal grasslands from Marin County to San Diego. But burrowing owls are vanishing throughout the state today, as they are being forcibly evicted from their burrows and their grassland habitat is being bulldozed to make way for urban sprawl. Unfortunately, the state allows and encourages the common practice of relocating owls from development sites – a practice that has not worked for the owls. Because owls reuse nesting burrows each year and have a strong affiliation with nesting sites, they have never been successfully reintroduced to locations where they have disappeared. Other threats to the owls include poisoning of ground squirrels, pesticides, and collisions with vehicles and electrified fences. California breeding colonies have been declining 8 percent annually, and breeding owls are now completely or nearly eliminated from 15 counties, or approximately one-quarter of their California range. California's Burrowing Owls Need Protection No state or federal laws adequately protect burrowing owl habitat. A large percentage of the state's burrowing owls are on unprotected land at risk of development. Widespread poisoning of ground squirrels throughout the state also deprives the owls of suitable nest burrows. Most remaining California burrowing owl populations are small and declining. The species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout much of its range in California and requires immediate protection under state law as an endangered or threatened species. In 2003, the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups petitioned to list the burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act, but the state rejected the petition and refused to act. The Center is now working on a new listing petition. More information on California's burrowing owls Arizona's Pygmy-Owls: Threatened by Development, Abandoned by Government The cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl is a tiny three-ounce bird of prey that inhabits deserts and riparian forests in southern Arizona and northwest Mexico. Fewer than 20 pygmy-owls are known to survive in Arizona today. Development has reduced the Arizona population of the pygmy-owl to a small area between Tucson and the U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the pygmy-owl's most vital Arizona habitat is located in the ironwood forests of northwest Tucson and Marana – an area that is also coveted by developers and threatened by dozens of construction projects. The Center for Biological Diversity's advocacy and education efforts resulted in protection of the pygmy-owl under the Endangered Species Act in 1997 and its subsequent designation of 732,000 acres of critical habitat. The listing spurred several positive wildlife conservation efforts, including restrictions on development in the owl’s critical habitat and Pima County’s adoption of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Developers filed a lawsuit in 2001 to overturn both the pygmy-owl listing and critical habitat protections. A court removed the critical habitat but affirmed the endangered listing. Government biologists recently recommended that the owl remain protected as an endangered species and that its critical habitat be nearly doubled in size. But despite these recommendations and the fact that the owl is near extinction in Arizona, the Bush administration is working to remove the pygmy-owl from the endangered list in May 2006, which would effectively strip away all protections. Arizona's Pygmy-Owls Need Protection Arizona's pygmy-owls should remain protected given their critically precarious status and the broad support for endangered species conservation. Pima County residents and a range of government officials, including Congressman Raul Grijalva and the Board of Supervisors, support actions to protect and recover pygmy-owls. Removing the pygmy-owl from the endangered species list would undermine Pima County's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and other conservation efforts. More information on Arizona's pygmy-owls Other Imperiled Owls Mexican spotted owl: The continuing decline of the Mexican spotted owl mirrors the declining health of old-growth forests and riparian areas in the Southwest. Logging of ancient forests, domestic livestock grazing and a century of fire suppression have reduced spotted owl populations to only 2,000 known owls. More information on Mexican spotted owls California spotted owl: Like its cousins the northern and Mexican spotted owls, the California spotted owl lives in old-growth forests that have been decimated by more than a century of logging, road construction and development. More information on California spotted owls Campaign Expiration Date:May 31, 2006 If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist. This message was sent to jdh_666. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove" in the subject line). Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.0/325 - Release 4/26/2006 You can bomb the world to pieces You can't bomb it into peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls Dear Jeff, Please Give A Hoot - Help Protect Imperiled Owls! A major motion picture based on Carl Hiaasens eco-novel Hoot will be released on May 5. Hoot is about a group of teenagers taking on Florida developers who are destroying the habitat for burrowing owls. The release of Hoot presents a great opportunity to educate the public about the real-life plight of imperiled owls such as burrowing owls in California and cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls in Arizona as well as endangered wildlife nationwide. The Center is organizing volunteers to hand out information to interested moviegoers in front of dozens of theaters the weekend of May 5 to 7. Volunteers will also collect petition signatures supporting protection of owls and their habitat. The Center will hold a press conference at one of the movie openings in California to focus on the decline of California's burrowing owls. We will also issue a nationwide press release about the plight of imperiled owls. Please help spread the word about the Give a Hoot campaign to protect endangered owls. You can help by distributing information and collecting petition signatures from interested moviegoers during the opening weekend of Hoot (May 57) and beyond. An action kit containing fact sheets, petitions and information about endangered owls is available at www.Hoot4owls.org or by contacting our office. If you are interested in volunteering to hand out information and collect petition signatures, please contact Kelli Shields at kshields or (415) 436-9682 x300. If you are part of an organization that would like to participate in the Give a Hoot campaign by organizing volunteers or signing on to a letter requesting state protection for the burrowing owl in California, please contact Jeff Miller at jmiller. Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): Director Ryan Broddrick, CA Dept. of Fish and Game (if you live in CA)Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (if you live in CA) Below is the sample letter: Protect California's burrowing owls Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here], I support state Endangered Species Act protection for California's vanishing burrowing owls. California's breeding colonies of burrowing owls have been declining eight percent annually, and breeding owls have been nearly or completely eliminated from 15 counties - approximately one-quarter of their California range.No state or federal law adequately protects burrowing owl habitat. Throughout most of California, burrowing owls live on unprotected land at risk of development. The species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout much of its range in California and requires immediate protection under the state's Endangered Species Act.Please take immediate action to protect burrowing owls and their habitat throughout California. Sincerely,Jeff Hoffman Take Action! Instructions:Click here to take action on this issue Tell-A-Friend:Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-Friend! What's At Stake: California's Burrowing Owls: Threatened by Development The western burrowing owl is a small, 7- to 10-inch ground-nesting bird that lives in grassland burrows. In California it relies primarily on burrows dug by ground squirrels, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two animals. Burrowing owls were once among the most common bird species in California, particularly in the Central Valley and in coastal grasslands from Marin County to San Diego. But burrowing owls are vanishing throughout the state today, as they are being forcibly evicted from their burrows and their grassland habitat is being bulldozed to make way for urban sprawl. Unfortunately, the state allows and encourages the common practice of relocating owls from development sites a practice that has not worked for the owls. Because owls reuse nesting burrows each year and have a strong affiliation with nesting sites, they have never been successfully reintroduced to locations where they have disappeared. Other threats to the owls include poisoning of ground squirrels, pesticides, and collisions with vehicles and electrified fences. California breeding colonies have been declining 8 percent annually, and breeding owls are now completely or nearly eliminated from 15 counties, or approximately one-quarter of their California range. California's Burrowing Owls Need Protection No state or federal laws adequately protect burrowing owl habitat. A large percentage of the state's burrowing owls are on unprotected land at risk of development. Widespread poisoning of ground squirrels throughout the state also deprives the owls of suitable nest burrows. Most remaining California burrowing owl populations are small and declining. The species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout much of its range in California and requires immediate protection under state law as an endangered or threatened species. In 2003, the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups petitioned to list the burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act, but the state rejected the petition and refused to act. The Center is now working on a new listing petition. More information on California's burrowing owls Arizona's Pygmy-Owls: Threatened by Development, Abandoned by Government The cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl is a tiny three-ounce bird of prey that inhabits deserts and riparian forests in southern Arizona and northwest Mexico. Fewer than 20 pygmy-owls are known to survive in Arizona today. Development has reduced the Arizona population of the pygmy-owl to a small area between Tucson and the U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the pygmy-owl's most vital Arizona habitat is located in the ironwood forests of northwest Tucson and Marana an area that is also coveted by developers and threatened by dozens of construction projects. The Center for Biological Diversity's advocacy and education efforts resulted in protection of the pygmy-owl under the Endangered Species Act in 1997 and its subsequent designation of 732,000 acres of critical habitat. The listing spurred several positive wildlife conservation efforts, including restrictions on development in the owls critical habitat and Pima Countys adoption of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Developers filed a lawsuit in 2001 to overturn both the pygmy-owl listing and critical habitat protections. A court removed the critical habitat but affirmed the endangered listing. Government biologists recently recommended that the owl remain protected as an endangered species and that its critical habitat be nearly doubled in size. But despite these recommendations and the fact that the owl is near extinction in Arizona, the Bush administration is working to remove the pygmy-owl from the endangered list in May 2006, which would effectively strip away all protections. Arizona's Pygmy-Owls Need Protection Arizona's pygmy-owls should remain protected given their critically precarious status and the broad support for endangered species conservation. Pima County residents and a range of government officials, including Congressman Raul Grijalva and the Board of Supervisors, support actions to protect and recover pygmy-owls. Removing the pygmy-owl from the endangered species list would undermine Pima County's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and other conservation efforts. More information on Arizona's pygmy-owls Other Imperiled Owls Mexican spotted owl: The continuing decline of the Mexican spotted owl mirrors the declining health of old-growth forests and riparian areas in the Southwest. Logging of ancient forests, domestic livestock grazing and a century of fire suppression have reduced spotted owl populations to only 2,000 known owls. More information on Mexican spotted owls California spotted owl: Like its cousins the northern and Mexican spotted owls, the California spotted owl lives in old-growth forests that have been decimated by more than a century of logging, road construction and development. More information on California spotted owls Campaign Expiration Date:May 31, 2006 If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist. This message was sent to jdh_666. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove" in the subject line). Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.0/325 - Release 4/26/2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 We are pleased to hear the owls every night again. They were here for years, and then we didn't hear them. Now they wake me up every night, but it makes me smile. Jo - fraggle TFHB ; Thursday, April 27, 2006 6:43 PM Fw: Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 I too have notice the odd hoot at night ( no its not me bum ), and also noticed in the last month how much noisier the birds are, Its great at this time of year when spring has finaly sprung. The Valley Vegan...............jo <jo.heartwork wrote: We are pleased to hear the owls every night again. They were here for years, and then we didn't hear them. Now they wake me up every night, but it makes me smile. Jo - fraggle TFHB ; Thursday, April 27, 2006 6:43 PM Fw: Give a Hoot for Imperiled OwlsPeter H Switch an email account to Mail, you could win FIFA World Cup tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 It is good to hear them. I think it is the heron that makes a strange noise - quite jungly sounding. The trouble is I can never hear the noise and see the heron at the same time. Jo - peter hurd Thursday, April 27, 2006 8:11 PM Re: Fw: Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls I too have notice the odd hoot at night ( no its not me bum ), and also noticed in the last month how much noisier the birds are, Its great at this time of year when spring has finaly sprung. The Valley Vegan...............jo <jo.heartwork wrote: We are pleased to hear the owls every night again. They were here for years, and then we didn't hear them. Now they wake me up every night, but it makes me smile. Jo - fraggle TFHB ; Thursday, April 27, 2006 6:43 PM Fw: Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls Peter H Switch an email account to Mail, you could win FIFA World Cup tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Hi Jo I've never heard a heron that I know of, but I do love them so! They are one of my fav birds. BB Nikki , " jo " <jo.heartwork wrote: > > It is good to hear them. I think it is the heron that makes a strange noise - quite jungly sounding. The trouble is I can never hear the noise and see the heron at the same time. > > Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Hi Nikki I'm not 100% sure the noise comes from a heron, but we know most of the local bird calls, and we've come to the conclusion it must be a heron as there are some around here (small lakes and streams around). BB Jo - " nikki_mackovitch " <earthstorm Friday, April 28, 2006 12:12 AM Re: Fw: Give a Hoot for Imperiled Owls > Hi Jo > > I've never heard a heron that I know of, but I do love them so! They > are one of my fav birds. > > BB > Nikki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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