Liz Smith, International Crane Foundation wrote a powerful article “Forum: Fate of the whooping crane falls into hands of the state …”. The article is in “Caller-Times” and Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) received permission to place it on our web site for your convenience.
FOTWW would like to commend Liz Smith, a whooping crane conservation biologist with the International Crane Foundation, on her excellent editorial in today’s Caller.com. We agree 100% with Liz when she states that the “Fate of the whooping crane falls into the hands of the state”.
Liz also writes, “As a coastal scientist working with other professionals to deliver scientifically sound information to guide environmental decisions, I will continue to increase awareness that our system is at a tipping point. It is up to the citizens of Texas to ensure we don’t lose this coastal treasure.
Please let your representatives know that we need a change of attitude about water. Let’s keep this initiative at the forefront of our efforts to save our beautiful Texas coast for future Texans.”
FOTWW agrees, it is up to us, concerned citizens and lovers of these magnificent whooping cranes to keep this initiative at the forefront. Texas citizens, please write to your elected officials. Write op-eds or letters to the editors of newspapers in Texas. Let’s keep this in the forefront and be the voices of those who cannot speak for themselves, our beloved whooping cranes.
Below is Liz’s article as posted on Caller.com.
Forum: Fate of the whooping crane falls into hands of the state
POSTED: 3:04 AM, Jul 25, 2014
TAG: forums (/topic/forums)
The recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals does not hold the state of Texas responsible for the fate of whooping cranes in the San Antonio Bay system. As Texans, we should insist that the state take that responsibility seriously. The future of our bays and estuaries hinges on responsible water management that values life and all water users throughout the river basin.
The whooping crane is a flagship for how we manage our waters. Whooping cranes number only about 300 individuals on their wintering grounds in Texas, and after 70 years of recovery from very near extinction their future remains completely dependent on the future of our coasts. The health of our San Antonio Bay system is intricately tied to both the return of Gulf waters through Cedar Bayou and the predictability of freshwater inflows from the Guadalupe and San Antonio river basin. Further misappropriations of flows, which resulted in the death of 8.5 percent of the crane’s population in 2008-2009, could result in the extinction of this
last remaining wild flock.
This places a huge responsibility on maintaining that estuarine system, not only for whooping cranes, but for the bounty of recreational fisheries, tourism and coastal enterprise it sustains.
The International Crane Foundation is one of the many organizations seriously concerned about the mismanagement of fresh water flowing into our coastal systems. We continue to work with all interested partners to find alternatives and viable solutions in our world of finite water availability, especially during drought conditions. Our efforts will not save our bays and estuaries, however, unless the state of Texas recognizes that the ultimate leadership on water management must come from the state.
As a coastal scientist working with other professionals to deliver scientifically sound information to guide environmental decisions, I will continue to increase awareness that our system is at a tipping point. It is up to the citizens of Texas to ensure we don’t lose this coastal treasure. Please let your representatives know that we need a change of attitude about water. Let’s keep this initiative at the forefront of our efforts to save our beautiful Texas coast for future Texans.
Elizabeth H. Smith, Ph.D. is a whooping crane conservation biologist with the International Crane Foundation.
Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
