Big Fishing Industry

CC: The Guardian 

Big Fishing industry leads to environmental changes that we have a hard time imagining, including completely destroying fish populations. With the massive hauls of fish that some of these techniques get, you can destroy an entire ecosystem in a days fishing. We need to find much more sustainable fishing methods that will lead to food for humans, but also healthy fish populations. 

Trawling, and in particular bottom trawling is one of the worst methods of fishing for conservation. Bottom trawling is unselective and severely damaging to seafloor ecosystems. The net indiscriminately catches every life and object it encounters. Thus, many creatures end up mistakenly caught and thrown overboard dead or dying, including endangered fish and even vulnerable deep-sea corals which can live for several hundred years. This collateral damage, called by catch, can amount to 90% of a trawl’s total catch. In addition, the weight and width of a bottom trawl can destroy large areas of seafloor habitats that give marine species food and shelter. Such habitat destruction's can leave the marine ecosystem permanently damaged.

Long lines have been accurately described as a “curtain of death” that catches any living creature unfortunate enough to bite a baited hook. They are indiscriminate – they catch not only the “target” (for example tuna or swordfish), but endangered sharks, leatherback and loggerhead turtles (legally protected), and seabirds, especially albatross. Over 25% of long-line catch is thrown back into the sea, usually dead. Long lining must be banned internationally. It is killing protected species of animals and is putting many other species in danger of extinction. It is the main culprit in the decimation of shark populations by over 90% and must be outlawed immediately if we are not to face the collapse of fish populations and the ocean ecology.

We need to protect our resources, so they can continue to help us for centuries to come instead of for a few more decades if we are lucky. These massive hauls of fish lead populations to plummet and gives no time for population growth. We need fish to survive, our oceans will be empty of life soon if we don't start to change our methods.

Michigan Wolf Debate

Credit: U.S Fish and Wildlife

The Great Lakes Region has been the site of major controversy when it comes to Wolf conservation, and Michigan is no exception. Despite success in their population rebounding to better number, due to hunting and other policies their numbers are still unstable. All it takes it one disease and it could potentially completely destroy the population, so we need to continue to protect them instead of making money of allowing them to be killed.

An "endangered" species is, according to the act, any species "which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range," (excluding certain insects). Inclusion of range extends protection to animals that may be overall reduced in number, even if significant populations exist somewhere.

In the Lower 48 states, gray wolves now occupy about 10 to 15 percent of their historical range. Wolves used to roam almost everywhere but the southern U.S. east of Texas and south of Ohio. Today, in addition to the Great Lakes population, Rocky Mountain wolf packs roam parts of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and a small group exists in Arizona and New Mexico.

We first need our permanent populations to increase in populations in order for wolves to expand their range and try to reclaim some original territory. This means putting the short term financial benefits behind the long term ecological benefits, which is not the way human beings think unfortunately. It will take a movement to show people why we will all benefit from protecting wolves for the time being, and just making people care about wolves. 

Wildlife Corridors

                                                                            CC: Crystal/Flickr

Wildlife Corridors are a relatively new idea in wildlife conservation, but they could open the door to populations expanding to their natural home ranges. Different populations of species are separated by civilization all over the world, so being able to connect them could allow for increased genetic diversity, more expansive population ranges, and populations moving back to their natural ranges. It could lead the way to established conservation all over the world, which would help preserve the few healthy ecosystems we have left.

Above is a male mountain lion living in the Santa Monica Mountains in California. He is surrounded by civilization, and unable to reach other mountain lions because of it. This means that he is unable to breed, which means his presence in the area is meaningless unless he is able to reproduce and bring in a steady population of mountain lions. The area most likely wouldn't be able to support a larger populations of mountain lions, but putting in a wildlife corridor would make it a much safer place and could add to the habitat of mountain lions. Mountain lions could then at least move in and out of the area to use the resources. 

Wildlife Corridors are put over highways and other major roadways to give wildlife a safer way of accessing areas they couldn't before, and prevent roadkill from occurring. They can be very fancy and complex, or very simple, but the fact that instead of having to cross eight lanes of traffic they can now have a much safer option, is a huge win for conservation. Wildlife Corridors are popping up more and more around the country, but we need to do more to give animals a better shot of being able to distribute. Wildlife Corridors are much more common in the Western United States than in Eastern United States, and it is in the east that these populations are the most scarce, so we need to build more all over the country.

Looking forward the distribution of these species relies on us, and we must make the effort to give them routes to safely pass from territory to territory. If we give these animals a shot, they will find a way, we just cannot make it impossible for them to travel.

Keystone Species

Keystone species play the largest role in their ecosystems, and they not only impact the animals directly around them, but they impact the ecosystem around them as a whole and actually impact the landscape around them. When wolves were returned to Yellowstone, we saw ecosystems return to much healthier levels because that is how they were naturally meant to be; the check and balance system of the predator prey relationship keep the ecosystem much healthier. 

Wolves are a keystone species because of how they impact other species around them and the landscape. Without wolves, the vegetation wasn't being given enough of a chance to grow because elk and other grazing animals would just eat all the vegetation. Entire forests of saplings were being eaten destroying the plant life, and the populations of these herbivores was reaching the point where it was headed toward a collapse. Eventually there would not have been enough resources to support these huge populations and thousands would die off changing the ecosystem completely. Wolves not only kill and eat animals, they also keep the herds on the move so they can't over graze one area. Also areas where the herd would be easily trapped, they avoid, which allows for more full forest growth. The vegetation can help to keep river banks stable and prevent erosion of the river banks. Last but not least, wolves also help other species survive by decreasing certain species of herbivores, and also providing food for other species.

Looking around the world, many keystone species populations are threatened, especially keystone predators. These large animals require the most land to meet their survival needs, and with constant human expansion it leaves them with less and less space for survival. As their numbers decrease, it makes them much more at risk to extinction because of the lack of genetic diversity. If we lose our keystone predators, it will be fully humans responsibility to maintain populations of hundreds of organisms, and we have seen how that goes. There is also the issue of the social stigma that I always talk about that hinders these animals survival, it is because not many humans know the truth about them, just the negative stereotypes. You are much less likely to help an animal if you are scared of it or think it is a man eater, so we need to realize these animals just want to be left alone and given their space.

As human beings we need to realize that we hold the future of the world in our hands, we control the fate of every species in the world, including our own. Soon though we are going to have changed the environment so much that we will not be able to reverse the damage we have caused, and we will meet the same end of many species before us. These species help keep stable and healthy the ecosystems we have already damaged, and we need them to minimize the damage we have already caused. 

Our National Parks 

Our National Parks play a huge part in conservation in our country, and not just for the reasons you may expect. Yellowstone was the first National Park, and was created in 1872, and ever since then we have been designating land to be protected as National Parks. Millions of people a year from all over the country and the world come to these parks annually, and it is a great way to showcase the beauty of nature.

Our National Parks can inspire people to have interest in conservation, which can lead to many things. People could donate money, donate their time, start to take interest in a specific cause, or even start a career in conservation. When I spent time in Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Badlands National Parks, just the majesty of the landscape was enough to make me want to live there the rest of my life. That is the impact these parks can have on people, and another reason why we need to continue to protect these special lands.

The more obvious reason to continue to maintain these National Parks is the amount of money they bring in, which then can be used to fund more and more recovery/conservation programs. It is a way to make money that doesn't involve us changing the landscapes or giving the rights to hunt the animals, which makes it a sanctuary for key species. Out west these national parks give rare protection to all sorts of animals that are hunted off park grounds, and gives them a place to stabilize their numbers.

National Parks are always under pressure to allow hunting or allow other activities that could compromise the integrity of the ecosystems, which could then change what these National Parks mean to us. We need to continue to protect these lands, so we will always have these wild spaces to be able to find ourselves.

Big Predator Hunting

Big game hunting has taken hold all over the planet, especially big predator hunting. With cases like Cecil the Lion seeming more and more common, it is time we make changes to our big predator hunting laws. It isn't a humane practice, and if you look at how much money is being made off of sentencing these animals to death it would amaze you. The days of allowing governments corporations and individuals to make money by allowing hunts of "their" animals are over, and we need to move past this primitive practice.

This video has just recently emerged of a Grizzly Bear being shot and killed by hunters.  After watching that video, and just listening to these "men" talk while they slowly kill a beautiful, majestic Grizzly Bear, all there is left to say is that was really is disgusting. And how about all the blood and internal organs pouring out of his underside as he runs across the snow, really pleasant right? This is what big game hunting really looks like, there isn't anything clean or humane about it. The Bear is going about his business hundreds of feet away from the hunters, and then in his natural habitat he is shot multiple times, and they missed all around him. Same thing as humans being in their kitchen and then shot several times slowly by an alien hundreds of feet away, while they just look in entertainment at the human's suffering. It sounds pretty wild I know, but it really is the only way for people to realize what we are doing to these creatures. All the while we have people making tens of thousands of dollars by allowing the killing of these animals. 

The "man" who killed Cecil the Lion, Walter Palmer reportedly paid $50,000 to be able to kill a Lion in Zimbabwe. They then lured Cecil off park grounds, shot him with an arrow, and then 40 hours later shot him with a rifle. He was then skinned and his head cut off, later on park investigators found his headless skeleton, and his tracking collar was no where to be found. Looking around the world, there are more and more cases of endangered animals, particularly endangered predators being hunted despite their low numbers and the impact on the ecosystem. Alaska is allowing the hunting and trapping of the rare Alexander Archipelago Wolf, despite their population being down 60% and as few as 50 wolves left. That is just unbelievable, exploiting our fellow beings despite their need for help.

In 50 years when our children and grandchildren see videos like that, what are they going to think? They are going to see a society that allows this violent practice to continue, all while making money off of exploiting these great creatures. From now on whenever you hear hunting laws coming up for voting, try and think about that video and the bear, and hopefully we can end this primitive practice.

Wolf Conservation Center 

                                                          CC: Dina Wuest   

This past summer I had the privilege of being a summer intern at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. The Center makes up 28 acres, and with 28 wolves on site it is one of the best places to learn about these amazing creatures. With 4 Wolves being Ambassador Wolves, these are the wolves who interact with people and would not be released back into the wild. The role of the Ambassador Wolves is to show people through all sorts of interactions and methods that wolves are nothing like the perception we have of them. When you see three wolves running around together playing, interacting with little campers, and showing one another affection it really is impossible not to look at them with awe and respect.

I think that is how we are going to get to the point we need to as a civilization when it comes to how we look at conservation. Human beings look down at other animals, or at least don't give them the respect and time that they deserve. Wolves are nearly perfectly adapted to their environment all over the world, varying from the Frozen Tundra to the Deserts of the American Southwest. They are social creatures like us, with a complicated system of hierarchy, and most importantly for their conservation I believe, they care about one another. There are cases all over of Wolves seemingly mourning for the lose of one their own, and it doesn't get much closer to how Humans react when we lose a loved one. I have seen a Red Wolf pack right after the lose of a pup, and their behavior is completely different. They seemed distraught, confused, and upset, and it was gut wrenching to watch. With great teamwork and compassion for one another Wolves are able to survive all sorts of challenges all over the world, but the constant pressure from humans could be the thing that drives them towards extinction. 

Wolves have reestablished a fraction of their former populations in Western United States thanks to the restoration programs that we believed in once upon a time. However, from constant hunting, urban sprawl, and still plagued by the misconception as blood thirsty killers, they need our help now more than ever. In Alaska we see Wolf hunts being authorized when over half the population of Wolves in the area has been killed in the previous years hunts. With methods like this, their fate seems to be doomed, but if we are able to move past the medieval notion that wolves are evil, maybe we could one day see Wolves roaming free back across the United States all across their once natural habitat that we pushed them out of. 

When we look back at ourselves in fifty years, what are we going to see? Are we going to see a primitive society that just killed off animals because they scared us or were an inconvenience to us? Or are we going to see a culture that showed the basic respect to an apex predator than all animals deserve. An apex predator that we need by the way, and without them we saw one of our national treasures change for the worst during their absence. Yellowstone National Park is healthier than it was without wolves, and it could be the same all across the United States if we just moved past this vendetta that humans have always had against wolves. Before it is too late, let's all do the simple act of just thinking about why we need Wolves, and if that isn't reason enough for you, think how we will be seen by the generations to come when they see what we did to our fellow beings.