The Kirtland’s warbler has been on the endangered species list since 1966. In that time, the population has grown from an all time low of 167 mated pairs to over 14-hundred. Now budget cuts are putting the recovery effort at risk. The GLRC’s Charity Nebbe has more:
Transcript
The Kirtland’s warbler has been on the endangered species list since
1966. In that time the population has grown from an all time low of 167
mated pairs to over 14-hundred. Now budget cuts are putting the recovery
effort at risk. The GLRC’s Charity Nebbe has more:
The comeback of the Kirtland’s warbler is largely due to an annual
trapping program aimed at cowbirds, but federal funding for the US Fish
and Wildlife Service program has now been cut.
Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Species like the
Kirtland’s warbler raise the cowbirds at the expense of their own young.
Jim Bull is a past president of the Detroit Audubon Society. He says the
trapping program has been an inexpensive and effective way to protect
the warblers since 1972.
“Before the trapping program there was less than half a Kirtland’s
warbler fledging per nest. With the trapping program almost
immediately that went up to three young leaving the nest.”
Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak has introduced a measure to restore
the funding. In the meantime, a reduced program will be carried out with
the help of volunteers.
When an emerald ash borer has infected a tree, white-colored
larvae can be found under the bark. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan
Department of Agriculture)
When an adult emerald ash borer emerges from an ash tree, they
leave behind a D-shaped exit hole. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan
Department of Agriculture)
The ash borer larvae form S-shaped tunnels under the bark..
(Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Agriculture)
U.S. senators are asking the Department of Agriculture for emergency funding to help control the spread of the emerald ash borer. The burrowing tiny insect has already killed millions of ash trees. The emergency funding request comes as Congress has severely cut federal funding for the program. That’s forced states to change the way they fight the spread of the beetle. The GLRC’s Mike Thompson reports because of the federal budget cuts and a lack of state funding, experts fear the infestations could spread:
Transcript
US senators are asking the Department of Agriculture for emergency
funding to help control the spread of the emerald ash borer. The
burrowing tiny insect has already killed millions of ash trees. The
emergency funding request comes as Congress has severely cut federal
funding for the program. That’s forced states to change the way they
fight the spread of the beetle. The GLRC’s Mike Thompson reports
because of the federal budget cuts and a lack of state funding, experts
fear the infestations could spread:
(Sound of chainsaw and worker)
In 2002 the emerald ash borer was first discovered in southeastern
Michigan. Soon after that federal and state officials determined the
chainsaw was the best way to fight it.
(Sound of tree falling)
Since the tiny beetle arrived, officials estimate the insect has killed – on
its own – more than 15 million trees in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and the
infestations keep spreading.
There is no known natural predator for the ash borer; no known
pesticide. The experts believe the only way to stop it is to destroy it by
cutting all ash trees within half a mile of a known infestation.
Dan Herms is an entomologist at Ohio State University. He serves on the
ash borer science advisory panel. He says the beetle threatens all of
North America’s 8 billion ash trees.
“If the spread of the insect can’t be contained to Michigan, it will
continue to spread to Ohio and throughout the Eastern United States,
killing all the ash trees. Essentially it’s going to do to ash what
Dutch elm disease did to elm and what chestnut blight did to chestnut.”
Over the past two years the three infested states have cut down
hundreds of thousands of ash trees to stop the spread, but cutting was the
preferred method when the federal government was picking up the tab.
In 2004, the federal government allocated some 41 million dollars for
protecting and cutting down ash trees. That funding slipped to 27
million dollars last year. In 2006 the federal government ash borer
funding has dropped to 8 million dollars – just one-fifth of what it was
two years ago.
Getting at the reasons for the budget cut is difficult. State agriculture
officials defer to federal agriculture officials who defer to Congress.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Ash Borer Program coordinator
Craig Kellogg theorizes the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina forced
lawmakers to cut funds.
“We can always speculate between all the other programs that are going on at
USDA, the cost of war, the cost of the hurricanes and the clean-ups and
all that good stuff, but we are not at the level that we were given the full
reason why we were cut.”
So with little federal money, most of the pre-emptive cutting of ash trees
has stopped. OSU entomologist Dan Herms says he’s concerned.
“It worries me extremely because if the funding is not restored such to
allow at least the opportunity to stop the spread of the insect in northwest
Ohio it will spread throughout the eastern United States, and it will cost
hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.”
The USDA and the states have shifted focus. States will use the federal
funding they receive to monitor the spread of the insect, enforce
quarantines and educate the public. Ohio will cut trees only if they find
new infestations away from the northwest part of the state.
But if the threat is so great to Ash trees, why won’t the states spend their
own money to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer?
We asked Ohio Agriculture Department spokeswoman Melissa Brewer.
“Well, you know, the state has stepped up to the plate as far as having in kind services
and taking those programs and running with them. You know, as far as how much
money can be contributed and that kind of thing… I don’t know who to even direct you on that.”
Officials from the different states say with current state budget pressures,
it’s difficult to find the money to cut down ash trees, and now that
federal money has dried up, Indiana scientists say they’re not sure
cutting trees worked.
State officials and scientists say the emerald ash borer is a national
problem and it should be the federal government’s responsibility to pay
the protection costs.
Faced with a severe cut in federal funding, the state of Ohio is scaling back its fight against the emerald ash borer. The burrowing insect has killed millions of ash trees in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. And researchers fear the bug will soon spread to other states. The GLRC’s Mike Thompson
reports:
Transcript
Faced with a severe cut in federal funding, the state of Ohio is scaling
back its fight against the emerald ash borer. The burrowing insect has
killed millions of ash trees in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and
researchers fear the bug will soon spread to other states. The GLRC’s
Mike Thompson reports:
Since the emerald ash borer was first spotted in Ohio in 2003, the state
has cut a quarter of a million ash trees – most of them in the northwest
part of the state. The federal government has paid for the cutting, but
Ohio’s federal funding for ash tree protection has shrunk from 17 million
dollars to about 1 million dollars.
So state officials say they will reduce the cutting of ash trees to keep the
bug from spreading. The state will let the northwest Ohio infestation run
its natural course, choosing instead to cut trees in other parts of the state.
Melissa Brewer speaks for The Ohio Department of Agriculture
“If you ignore those infestations, those infestations are going to grow and
you are going to see an expedited demise of our ash trees.”
Ohio agriculture officials say they will also use federal money to monitor
the insect, enforce quarantines and educate the public.
Budget cuts continue to plague states across the country. In Michigan, these cuts led to the elimination of the state’s fish advisory program. It’s the first state in the region to drop its program. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ashley McGovern has more:
Transcript
Budget cuts continue to plague states across the country. In Michigan, these cuts led to
the elimination of the state’s fish advisory program. It’s the first state in the region to
drop its program. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ashley McGovern has more:
Two years ago, Michigan’s legislature cut funding for the state’s fish advisory program.
Since then, Michigan’s Department of Community Health has been struggling to pay for
the advisories. Now, department officials say they can no longer afford to keep the
program going.
T.J. Bucholz is a spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Community Health. He says
the advisories inform an important segment of the population:
“The message is targeted these days at women that are pregnant. Letting them know that ingestion
of too much fish that is contaminated with mercury or PCBs or PBBs can have an
adverse affect on their pregnancy.”
Two years ago, officials from Ohio’s Department of Health threatened to end their fish
advisory program because of budget cuts. But they later found funds from other state
departments. Bucholz says his department will try to do the same.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Ashley McGovern.
A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean up polluted areas around the Great Lakes. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports – it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:
Transcript
A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean-up polluted areas around the Great Lakes, and as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:
More than ten years ago the General Accounting Office said that the EPA should better coordinate it’s efforts to clean-up pollution hot-spots known as “Areas of Concern,” and three years ago the EPA’s Office of Inspector General also said that better coordination is needed.
So far, of these 26 polluted areas located within the U.S., none have been completely cleaned up. The most recent GAO report says that the slow progress is due increasing budget cuts, and the lack of a clearly defined department within the EPA that’s responsible for the program. Gary Gulezian is the director of the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.
“I think that when the program was originally established people didn’t realize just how complicated, and complex, and expensive the problems would be to address. I think that we realize that now, and we realize it’s going to take new efforts and new coordination to get the job done.”
Gulezian
says that the EPA will lay out its roles
and responsibilities for the project in the coming months.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
The federal budget is a bit brighter for some energy savings programs…
but dimmer for others. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports:
