director Blog

“Creativity is Subtraction”

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:44:00 -0600

I have been thinking a lot about a book my son gave me called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon and how it relates to our work here at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Creativity is Subtraction,” Kleon tells us, and it doesn’t seem to make sense at first. I mean, think back to grade school, you just had to have the 64-count box of crayons. The 8-pack was just not good enough.

But, think about it some more. With the 64-count, what do you color an orange? Do you use Orange, maybe Burnt Orange, Yellow Orange, Tan, Red Orange, Burnt Sienna, Bittersweet?

With so many possibilities, you sit there unsure what to do. Having so many options is actually paralyzing.

Meanwhile, your buddy with eight crayons just used basic Orange, maybe added some tinting with plain old Red, had time to draw a really good fruit, then finished way before you and went to play. Austin Kleon’s point is that by limiting choice we don’t constrain creativity – we empower it.

The same thing happens when we approach conservation. All the wild life, and all the habitats they occupy, are a limitless palette with which to paint. And our first instinct is to paint with all of them.

But it can paralyze us. There are just so many species we have to care for. [More]

Plenty to Celebrate on Endangered Species Day

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:39:00 -0600

On May 17, 2013, we’ll celebrate the eighth annual Endangered Species Day.

After nearly disappearing from most of the U.S., the bald eagle recovered and was removed from ESA protection in 2007. Photo by Peter Davis, USFWS

And celebration is especially in order as we approach the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. During the last 40 years, plants and animals have continued to face a barrage of threats – habitat loss, invasive species, pollution and climate change – but the ESA reflects an unwavering national commitment to prevent species extinctions and to protect the habitat and ecosystems essential to species recovery. It is one of the world’s most powerful and successful conservation laws.

That success in saving species from extinction and helping them recover is fueled by the dedication and hard work of employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because of their commitment to conservation, gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Western Great Lakes, the American alligator, bald eagle and Tennessee purple coneflower have all fully recovered and no longer need federal protection. We can also celebrate that many other species, such as the black-footed ferret, whooping crane, karner blue butterfly and California condor have been brought back from the very brink of extinction and are making major strides in their path to recovery.

We have much success to celebrate but also much more work to do. The challenges the conservation world faces are daunting and growing, calling us to be more innovative, to create more conservation incentives and to work even more closely with our partners. [More]

Biking to Work: Healthy for Us and for the Environment

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:05:00 -0600

David Patte

David Patte, climate change coordinator in the Pacific Region, is just one of many Service employees committed to reducing their carbon footprint while getting plenty of enjoyable exercise in the great outdoors.

Every day, David bikes to work, rain or shine, even in snow and ice.

A little scratch-pad math shows David has ridden nearly 40,000 miles out in Portland, eight miles daily since 1995. He actually has ridden farther because he started commuting by bike when he was here at Headquarters in 1992.

People like David do not need any encouragement to try commuting by bicycle. But others may need a push.

For all those folks, May is National Bike Month, and Friday, May 17, is National Bike to Work Day. Think about cycling and maybe give it a shot. [More]

Defending the Defenseless: Plants and Animals

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:52:00 -0600

Our law enforcement officers are dedicated to protecting our natural heritage. Credit: USFWS

Plants and animals have countless and often ingenious ways to deter predators. Monarch butterflies are toxic; turtles have shells; armadillos curl into a ball; cacti have sharp spines. But these defenses aren’t enough to stave off the ultimate predator: people.

The human intellect and the technology it commands have been able to overcome almost every defense plants and animals can deploy. Which means that the only defense left to our native plants and animals is humanity itself.

For more than a century, dedicated men and women have been willing to put their lives on the line to protect and defend our natural heritage. All of us in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and across the conservation community contribute to this goal in vital ways. But among us, a few assume the responsibility and risk of putting on a badge and a gun to deter and confront the perpetrators of wildlife crime.

As we celebrate National Police Week (May 12-18), I hope we all will take time to reflect on those who dedicate their careers to conservation law enforcement, especially the officers who died to protect our safety. [More]

A Mother's Reward

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:33:00 -0600

April 20, 2013 was a blessed day in my family. Three weeks before this annual celebration of Mothers, and the miracles they work, our daughter was married. The photographs are glorious, and numerous as geese and cranes in a November morning "fly-out" from the marshes of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

Each photo depicts a piece of a wonderful celebration. But one is special for me. It was not taken by the official photographer, but rather by my youngest brother. It is an unscripted, simple, shoulders-to-head picture of mother and daughter.

When my wife first saw it, she said, "I look old." I said, quite honestly, "You look beautiful. You are next to a 25-year-old bride." But maybe what I like most about this picture is what is represents to me. It is a monument to 25 years of hard work.

Don't mistake me. Our daughter -- Mary -- has been a wonderful child to raise, and we have been fortunate as parents. But we have had many of the day-to-day struggles that all parents face, and it has been her Mother -- Barbara -- who has borne the greatest burden of those struggles. I can't tell you how many times I heard her say some version of this refrain: "I don't care what your friends' parents are letting them do, and I don't have the slightest interest in what your friends think of me." As Mary got older, and more skilled in debate, she would try to make "logic-based" arguments around seemingly arbitrary parental decisions like not allowing her to join in the trouble-ridden, right-of-senior-passage called "Beach Week." Barbara would quickly cut off discussion with something like, "Thank you for that bit of wisdom, but I have shoes in my closet that are older than you."

She has never been afraid to be a Mother; always willing to make the hard decisions that job requires; never looking for the easy way. And looking at that picture, I see the reward. A Mother who has done her job exceptionally well. A daughter who loves and respects her for that.

Even though the daughter still believes we should have let her go to Beach Week.

To all who serve in the blessed trenches of Motherhood -- Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrating Birds

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:19:00 -0600

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter...” –Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was right. And one of the most important and spectacular of those “repeated refrains” in the Americas is taking place right now - bird migration.

Each year for more than 20 years now, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) has celebrated birds. Spring is in full swing now, and many of us are enjoying the sounds and colors of birds as they migrate to and through our cities and over our landscapes.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird visits a cardinal flower at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Credit: USFWS

Some migratory birds travel great distances. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit my yard in Maryland each summer travel 500 non-stop miles across the Gulf of Mexico from their wintering grounds to find nesting areas as far north as Maine and Canada. The Arctic Tern travels even farther, making an annual round-trip of almost 20,000 miles from the Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctic seas. [More]

Fighting for Elephants

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:01:00 -0600

"The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?" -- David Attenborough

Today, we find ourselves amidst a sudden and vicious epidemic of wildlife slaughter and illegal trade. We are receiving reports of a potentially catastrophic slaughter of forest elephants in the Central African Republic as that nation has spiraled into chaos.

Black market trade in ivory drives elephant poaching. Credit: Gary M. Stoltz/USFWS

First, we heard 30 elephants were killed. Then it was 40. Now it is more than 80, and the death toll will likely climb. Definitive numbers are hard to come by, but it is clear that the world-renowned national park, Dzanga-Ndoki, and its large elephant population is now in harm’s way. [More]

People Do Connect with Nature, Just Through Computers

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:50:00 -0600

We in the conservation field do a lot of hand-wringing over the growing disconnect between people and nature, and there's reason to be concerned.

America is changing: diversifying, urbanizing, gentrifying, globalizing. And its people are increasingly de-natured and disconnected from the outdoors.

So we worry about this disconnect and the challenges it presents.

But then something happens to remind us that while people are becoming physically disconnected with the outdoors, they are more and more fascinated with wild life.

Lori Iverson, in charge of Education and Visitor Services at Elk National Refuge in Wyoming, took a remarkable set of photos recently that showed a confrontation between juvenile mountain lions and coyotes.

The coyotes let the mountain lions know they weren’t welcome in the area. Credit: Lori Iverson/USFWS

Millions of people viewed these photos on Flickr, and thousands more commented on them and shared them on Facebook. [More]

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a Perfect Place to be on Earth Day

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:20:00 -0600

I am one lucky man.

I got to visit the beautiful Nisqually NWR on Earth Day. Credit: USFWS

I’m headed to the beautiful Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge at the south end of Washington’s Puget Sound. I’ll see herons feeding and ducks swirling while eagles watch them and me from nearby trees.

I’m meeting with representatives of two other federal agencies to review progress on one of the signature conservation initiatives in recent history.

Today I get to do two things I’ve always believed to be among the most important things any agency leader can do: get out in the field to meet the people who are implementing policy on the ground, and see how those policies are working.

And it’s Earth Day.

I am so proud – and so humbled – to be here today, representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and all the work we do and have done since that first Earth Day in 1970 and beyond.

What better way to spend this Earth Day? [More]

Earth Day Reminds Us of the Conservation Possibilities

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:01:00 -0600

Conservation is all about restraint, choosing not to do things so that future generations may enjoy the wild things and places we do.

This is awful hard, I know, especially in a world where fast is better than slow, more is better than less, and short-term thinking is often more highly valued than taking the long view.

It is easy to think we are facing a unique cultural climate not at all conducive to conservation and get discouraged. The stakes seem so high, the consequences so enduring, long-term thinking so challenging.

That’s why it was such a pleasure to do a little reading about Sen. Gaylord Nelson, one of the founders of Earth Day, which this year is Monday, April 22.

More than 40 years ago, in a Congressional Record from 1970, Sen. Nelson called for “the introduction of new values in our society—where bigger is not necessarily better—where slower can be faster—and where less can be more.” [More]

Keeping Rhinos Alive by Watching What Antiques You Buy

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:08:00 -0600

Rhinos have been decimated by poaching. Credit: USFWS

People don’t often think about it, but even sales of antiques made from endangered plants or animals can hurt the survival of those species. Antiques can raise demand for similar products, which really just feeds the destruction of those animals.

A global black market hungers for rhino horn – an NBC report last year estimated the value of rhino horns at $25,000 a pound. They are used in Asian medicines on the misguided notion that they cure diseases, even cancer … of course, no scientific evidence supports that they really do any of that. Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same stuff that makes up hair and fingernails. They are also a sought-after carving material for ceremonial dagger handles and libation cups.

Poaching numbers for rhino jump every day, it seems. Wildlife authorities reported a rhino “death toll” of 668 for South Africa alone in 2012, a level of illegal take that translates roughly into a rhino being killed every 12 or so hours. This year, it’s even worse. As of April 3, 203 rhinos have already been poached in South Africa in 2013.

That is why I taped a segment on Antiques Roadshow talking about the rhino crisis. You can watch it online. You can also see a bonus interview I did. [More]

To Sniff out Illegal Wildlife Trade: Follow their Noses

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 03:53:00 -0600

Wildlife Inspector Amir Lawal of the Service’s Miami Law Enforcement Office and his canine partner, Viper, check packages on a conveyor belt during training. Credit: Tom MacKenzie/USFWS

Ed Grace, Deputy Chief of our Law Enforcement Office, shares some exciting news:

Dogs never cease to amaze me – whether they are sniffing out bombs, providing eyes or extra hands for their partners, flushing out pheasant or retrieving waterfowl for hunters, or providing that 24-7 friendship only dogs can. I recently saw that our Southwest Region had used dogs trained to sniff out Jemez salamanders.

That’s why I am so excited to welcome the newest employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Wildlife Detector Dogs Viper, Butter, Lancer and Locket.

They are part of our latest effort to fight the rising international black market in endangered animal parts – a callous and brutal trade that drives its victims closer to extinction. Much of the illegal wildlife trade passes across U.S. borders and we do stop much of it.

In 2012 alone, we inspected more than 180,000 shipments of wildlife and wildlife products, and successfully executed one of the largest investigative operations ever mounted by the Service – Operation Crash – which broke a global rhino horn smuggling ring.

[More]

Adapting to Climate Change, for the Good of Wild Things and the Nation

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:17:00 -0600

As I walk around my neighborhood near Washington, DC, I see daffodils brightening gardens and lawns, poking up through the snow.

Daffodils are just one of the flowers blooming earlier. Credit: Kevin Rutherford, Wikimedia Commons

No one really minds seeing flowers that remind us that spring is coming, but these early blooms are just one of the many impacts of a changing climate, and most aren’t as friendly as a spot of yellow in your yard.

With our newly released National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy, developed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, state wildlife agencies and many others, the United States has a solid plan to meet the challenge of climate change. Climate change is not a myth. It is not something for future generations to deal with. It is happening now, and we must address it, not tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. But today! [More]

Bats are in Good Hands

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:10:00 -0600

White-Nose Syndrome has devastated the bat populations in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and it is spreading to other areas of the country. The disease has killed more than 5.5 million bats, and the outlook is not great. Its relentless march threatens untold economic and environmental damage on the nation.

But even as White-Nose finds its way into more states in the Midwest and Southeast, new faces turn up to fight it.

Many of these new faces are women.

Director Dan Ashe poses with Ann Froschauer, an advocate for bats. (Photo: USFWS)

[More]

Sportspeople Keep Money Flowing to Conservation Through Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Funds

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:02:00 -0600

I have written before about how valuable sportsmen and –women are to conservation.

I am a dedicated hunter and angler, and that is why I am so proud that Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration is distributing more than $882.4 million to the states for conservation this year.

Thanks to the generosity of hunters, anglers, recreational target shooters and boaters, we all enjoy areas abundant with fish and wildlife resources. That is the beauty of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program and the “user pays, all benefit” idea behind the North American model of wildlife conservation.

Anglers are just one group that provides funds for conservation. Credit: Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation

[More]