Too bad the politicians in this saga, are in the "I don't see no Climate Change" camp ...
Beetle Devastates Yellowstone Whitebark Pine Forests
Jesse A. Logan and William W. MacFarlane
ActionBioScience.org
The warming climate has made conditions suitable for a massive outbreak of mountain pine beetles, which are now infesting the whitebark pine forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The infestation has other ecological consequences such as:
* devastation of forests in the region
* loss of a critical food supply for grizzlies and other wildlife
* negative impacts on water and watersheds
* deterioration of biodiversity
* decline in the aesthetic value of an iconic ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The mountain pine beetle is killing pine trees in many areas of North America. The beetle’s effects are particularly devastating in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). [...]
Yellowstone?
Isn't that where Yogi Bear lives?
Climate Change ought to be "a good thing" for the supply of Picnic Baskets ... don't you think ...
Warm weather, brings out the fair-weather tourists, does it not?
So what does Politics have to do with this story? (Beetles vs Bears vs Politics ... and the Winner is ...)
Warning: Spoiler alert ...
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A Victory for Grizzly Bears
Editorial, NYTimes.com November 28, 2011
Thanks to a federal appellate court ruling last week, grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains will continue to enjoy protection as an endangered species. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service had not only acted prematurely when it removed the bear from the endangered species list in 2007 but had ignored clearly documented threats to the animal’s food supply -- in effect putting politics ahead of science.
[...]
But the beetle has prospered as winters have warmed, killing hundreds of thousands of acres of whitebark pine. The court explicitly acknowledged the role climate change has played in the destruction of these forests.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s argument has been that grizzlies are doing well (and presumably would continue to do well) even without the pine seeds from whitebark pines. The court rejected that, writing that the agency had ignored a well-established relationship between “reduced whitebark pine seed availability, increased grizzly mortality, and reduced grizzly reproduction.”
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larger
Wikipedia: Grizzly bear
Hmmm? Who was setting the Science policy tone, back in 2007?
Refresh my memory, I forget, what with all the rampant "delisting" that was becoming someone's legacy, right about then ...
One species, now protected by law again, thanks to a science-based court ruling -- How many more to go?
Only the resource extractors really know -- how many have been cast into "sink or swim" pile ... a lot like us humans that way ...
And who can forget that other W-Legacy of the Ownership Society -- which really meant only "You're On you Own" ... a lot like those endangered species that way ...
Just like the Republicans like it ... along with their school motto: "Science is for losers" ... Where's the profit in "protecting stuff", huh?
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Of course, there are always a few exceptions. Especially if you get your talking points from cartoon land ...