Care2 member? Log in
|
|
 |
List the Red Knot Under the Endangered Species Act
Target: U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
Sponsored by: Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
Sponsored by: Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
The red knot sandpiper is in danger of extinction. A new report by the world's leading shorebird biologists confirms a 90 percent decline in the bird's population over the past ten years, leading scientists to predict that the red knot may become extinct as soon as 2010.
The red knot can fly extraordinary distances. On a wingspan of 20 inches, red knots can fly over 9,300 miles from the Arctic Circle to as far as Tierra del Fuego, South America, making this bird one of the longest-distance migrants in the animal kingdom.
Historically, more than 100,000 red knots stopped at Delaware Bay -- one of the most important migratory bird stopovers in the world -- to feast on horseshoe crab eggs each spring, to help power the final leg of their long flight. But because of a overharvest of horseshoe crabs over the past 15 years, supplies of horseshoe crab eggs have greatly diminished as have knot and other shorebird populations that also feed on horseshoe crab eggs.
Because of the red knot's highly precarious situation, it needs immediate protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Please send your message today calling for an emergency listing of the Red Knot sandpiper under the Endangered Species Act!
Send Your Letter Now! see who signed this
We took action on “List the Red Knot Under the Endangered Species Act”
# 5,500:
8:37 am PDT, Jun 20,
Name not displayed, Missouri
# 5,499:
8:20 am PDT, Jun 20,
Annie PEYSSON, France
Annie PEYSSON
Annie PEYSSON
# 5,498:
7:59 am PDT, Jun 20,
Jennifer Ciambrone, New Jersey
# 5,497:
7:09 am PDT, Jun 20,
Megan Potter, Massachusetts
# 5,496:
6:32 am PDT, Jun 20,
Sharon Wirt, Connecticut
# 5,495:
4:49 am PDT, Jun 20,
Name not displayed, New Jersey
Why wait until there are only 3 left in the world to say they are "endangered?" It is our duty for future generations to protect all of our natural resources.
Why wait until there are only 3 left in the world to say they are "endangered?" It is our duty for future generations to protect all of our natural resources.
# 5,494:
4:20 am PDT, Jun 20,
Nicole Carpiniello, New York
# 5,493:
3:43 am PDT, Jun 20,
Christine Iadeluca, New York
# 5,492:
12:46 am PDT, Jun 20,
Lana Oberst, Georgia
# 5,491:
10:44 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Diane Polish, Michigan
# 5,490:
9:27 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Mary Lou Griggs, New Jersey
Help save the beautiful sandpiper. They are slowly disappearing from the Jersey Shores.
Help save the beautiful sandpiper. They are slowly disappearing from the Jersey Shores.
# 5,489:
8:16 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Paula Miller, Iowa
# 5,488:
7:49 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Name not displayed, New York
The world cannot afford for any more species to go extinct. It unbalances the global ecology and could have dire consequences, in the overgrowth of undesirable critters like insects and vermin.
The world cannot afford for any more species to go extinct. It unbalances the global ecology and could have dire consequences, in the overgrowth of undesirable critters like insects and vermin.
# 5,487:
7:06 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Sébastien Vigne, France
# 5,486:
5:30 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Karen (Belladonna) Dull, New Jersey
# 5,485:
5:16 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Ananya Bhattacharjee, India
Dear Secretary Kempthorne, I am concerned about the problems facing the rufa subspecies of red knot (Calidris canutus rufa), a migratory shorebird that faces extinction if we fail to act. The science behind this claim is compelling, increasingly disturbing, and borne out in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reports. The 2001 National Shorebird Conservation Plan recognized the red knot as "highly imperiled," and their plight has since gotten worse. I urge you to immediately list the Red Knot for protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). In 2006, the FWS designated the red knot as a "candidate species" for protection under the ESA. But being on the candidate list confers no statutory protection. Although the ESA requires that the FWS make "expeditious progress" toward listing candidate species, over the past decade, very few species have been moved from the "candidate list" to either the threatened or endangered list. Despite the growing list of candidates, now totaling 282, the proposed Department of Interior budget for endangered species protection requested an 11% decrease for candidate conservation. I am concerned that protecting endangered species is not a priority for the Department. view more Every spring, the red knot migrates from as far south as Tierra del Fuego to the Canadian Arctic. Its last stop is on the Delaware Bay shores, where it feeds on horseshoe crab eggs. Each red knot must eat enough horseshoe crab eggs to quickly double its weight in order to survive the last part of its journey to the Arctic and successfully breed. But as horseshoe crabs became a popular source of bait for the commercial fishing industry in the 1990's, the horseshoe crab population plummeted. Without eggs to feed on, the number of red knots stopping at Delaware Bay has dropped from almost 95,000 in 1989 to only 12,375 in 2007. Scientific models predict that the Red Knot may become extinct in just a few years. Although local action has been taken to help the horseshoe crab recover and should be applauded -- including Governor Corzine and the New Jersey legislature passing a bill in March 2008 that implements a moratorium on the state's horseshoe crab fishery -- the current restrictions in other states that affect the Delaware Bay population of horseshoe crabs are insufficient. For red knots and other species that feed on horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay to recover, the number of breeding crabs must return to the levels of the early 1990's. We know that the current horseshoe crab population is not large enough to provide for the nutritional needs of the migrating red knots because egg density on the beaches is not increasing. Listing the red knot as threatened or endangered will lead to a true recovery plan that takes the full needs of this incredible migratory species, instead of the piecemeal approach we have now. The red knot's problems span several states, and saving it requires integrated fisheries management and habitat protection. I urge you to quickly place the rufa subspecies of red knot on the endangered species list. Sincerely, Ananya
Dear Secretary Kempthorne, I am concerned about the problems facing the rufa subspecies of red knot (Calidris canutus rufa), a migratory shorebird that faces extinction if we fail to act. The science behind this claim is compelling, increasingly disturbing, and borne out in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reports. The 2001 National Shorebird Conservation Plan recognized the red knot as "highly imperiled," and their plight has since gotten worse. I urge you to immediately list the Red Knot for protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). In 2006, the FWS designated the red knot as a "candidate species" for protection under the ESA. But being on the candidate list confers no statutory protection. Although the ESA requires that the FWS make "expeditious progress" toward listing candidate species, over the past decade, very few species have been moved from the "candidate list" to either the threatened or endangered list. Despite the growing list of candidates, now totaling 282, the proposed Department of Interior budget for endangered species protection requested an 11% decrease for candidate conservation. I am concerned that protecting endangered species is not a priority for the Department. view more Every spring, the red knot migrates from as far south as Tierra del Fuego to the Canadian Arctic. Its last stop is on the Delaware Bay shores, where it feeds on horseshoe crab eggs. Each red knot must eat enough horseshoe crab eggs to quickly double its weight in order to survive the last part of its journey to the Arctic and successfully breed. But as horseshoe crabs became a popular source of bait for the commercial fishing industry in the 1990's, the horseshoe crab population plummeted. Without eggs to feed on, the number of red knots stopping at Delaware Bay has dropped from almost 95,000 in 1989 to only 12,375 in 2007. Scientific models predict that the Red Knot may become extinct in just a few years. Although local action has been taken to help the horseshoe crab recover and should be applauded -- including Governor Corzine and the New Jersey legislature passing a bill in March 2008 that implements a moratorium on the state's horseshoe crab fishery -- the current restrictions in other states that affect the Delaware Bay population of horseshoe crabs are insufficient. For red knots and other species that feed on horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay to recover, the number of breeding crabs must return to the levels of the early 1990's. We know that the current horseshoe crab population is not large enough to provide for the nutritional needs of the migrating red knots because egg density on the beaches is not increasing. Listing the red knot as threatened or endangered will lead to a true recovery plan that takes the full needs of this incredible migratory species, instead of the piecemeal approach we have now. The red knot's problems span several states, and saving it requires integrated fisheries management and habitat protection. I urge you to quickly place the rufa subspecies of red knot on the endangered species list. Sincerely, Ananya
# 5,484:
5:15 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Christina Pinkney, California
# 5,483:
4:50 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Name not displayed, California
# 5,482:
1:14 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Monica Ball, Illinois
# 5,481:
1:13 pm PDT, Jun 19,
Lily Jou, Colorado
# 5,480:
9:52 am PDT, Jun 19,
Chad Pollard, Texas
# 5,479:
|
9:26 am PDT, Jun 19,
Mary Smith, Indiana
God didn't create these birds for us to destroy them or their habitat. |
# 5,478:
9:01 am PDT, Jun 19,
Adri Luque, New York
# 5,477:
9:00 am PDT, Jun 19,
Tara Easter, Georgia
# 5,476:
8:53 am PDT, Jun 19,
Kenneth Hall, Michigan
# 5,475:
8:28 am PDT, Jun 19,
Stephen Velky, United States Minor Outlying Islands
# 5,474:
8:13 am PDT, Jun 19,
Caroline Luley, Florida
# 5,473:
7:17 am PDT, Jun 19,
Gloria Chepko, Virginia
# 5,472:
7:08 am PDT, Jun 19,
Name not displayed, Ohio
# 5,471:
6:38 am PDT, Jun 19,
Barbara Francisco, Maryland
I am a teacher. There is a great book about the flight of the red knot. If we lose the bird, we'll lose the magic of a book about the long flights and the interesting stopovers!
I am a teacher. There is a great book about the flight of the red knot. If we lose the bird, we'll lose the magic of a book about the long flights and the interesting stopovers!
# 5,470:
5:21 am PDT, Jun 19,
Valerie Howell, Florida
# 5,469:
5:17 am PDT, Jun 19,
Kenneth Waller, New York
# 5,468:
4:23 am PDT, Jun 19,
Edwin Todd II, Ohio
# 5,467:
12:53 am PDT, Jun 19,
Dorothy Hubbard, New Jersey
# 5,466:
10:27 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Alfredo Sabillón, California
# 5,465:
10:12 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Michelle Chesley, California
# 5,464:
9:56 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Kari Achterberch, Indiana
# 5,463:
9:12 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Ed Maguire, California
# 5,462:
8:41 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Timothy p. Mcmahon, Colorado
# 5,461:
8:11 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Name not displayed, South Carolina
# 5,460:
7:53 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Cynthia Turino, Pennsylvania
I grew up near the Delaware Bay and witnessed the red knot migration each year. Please help continue this beautiful sight for generations to come.
I grew up near the Delaware Bay and witnessed the red knot migration each year. Please help continue this beautiful sight for generations to come.
# 5,459:
7:40 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Ellen Delaney, Massachusetts
# 5,458:
7:39 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Ed Lee, Colorado
Please save the red knot
Please save the red knot
# 5,457:
7:24 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Kris Gourley, California
# 5,456:
7:09 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Melanie George, California
# 5,455:
6:57 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Carolyn Lamb, New Mexico
# 5,454:
5:56 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Jami Hadaway, Canada
# 5,453:
5:44 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Helen Pierce, New Jersey
# 5,452:
5:30 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Name not displayed, Illinois
# 5,451:
5:10 pm PDT, Jun 18,
Park Cooper, Texas