Kim Keating, USGS
Tracked by DNA testing
The U.S. Geological Survey, best known as the makers of
those squiggly topographic maps, has recently uncorked a few new tools to help
protect endangered and at-risk species.
While massive herds of stimulus dollars are being shepherded
into suspect projects, the USGS is doing good work within the confines of its
annual budget.
In the seafood section, the agency has deployed techniques
to restore critically endangered freshwater mussels to their native habitats by
raising them in laboratories and then releasing them into the wild. It is also
monitoring methods that let researchers discover new freshwater habitats for
sea turtles in the Everglades National Park, which is essential to the survival
of the endangered species.
On the meat side of the aisle, the USGS is using DNA testing
to track grizzly bear movement and habitats. And in the salad department, the
agency is conducting innovative research to reduce the threats and restore the
habitats of unique, endangered and threatened plant species found only on
California’s Channel Islands.
Highlights of USGS research on endangered plants and animals
done in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is published in the
Endangered
Species Bulletin (pdf). Paper copies (environment hater!) are available through
the USGS office of communications, and you can bet there will be more issues of
the bulletin considering that just a portion of recent USGS research is
addressed in this volume. Every year the agency monitors on average of 150
threatened, endangered or candidate species.
The environment is important, of course, but do we really
want to read about all the money the government is spending on the beasts of
the land while our own economy plummets into the abyss? Stories such as $3.4
million in stimulus money awarded to a biologist for turtle tunnels don’t do
much to inspire confidence, and threaten to undermine the ecological efforts elsewere.
The conservationist merits of the bridges and tunnels built
for turtles near U.S. Route 27 just north of Tallahassee, Fla. can be debated
until the turtles finally do come home. But the project has garnered attention
from lawmakers who see it among the 100 worst projects in the recent stimulus
bill.
The poor turtles have not had a good track record of
crossing the road that skirts Lake Jackson, as some 9,000 have been found dead
in the past three years. But government bailouts also don’t have a good track
record of pleasing taxpayers, whether it is turtles we’re talking about or the
automobiles that run them over. If turtles had the concept of following signs
and looking both ways before they cross the street, reactions to the turtle
works may be different.
Fortunately, the USGS has shown that it can use its
resources it usually receives every year without making taxpayer money extinct.
Funding for the USGS comes via the annual Department
of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. And
Rachel Muir, who has the formidable title of “USGS Imperiled Species
Coordinator,” notes just how important it is to fund and develop new
technologies for species survival.
“Once a species is lost, it is
lost forever,” Muir said. “Science is the best tool we have for understanding
what plants and animals need to survive—and human survival directly depends on
the well-being of plants and animals.”