Habitats May Shrink by Leaps, Bounds (feds want to cut frog habitats 82%)

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Habitats May Shrink by Leaps, Bounds
Officials want to reduce sanctuaries for frogs and other species by 150 million acres.
By Janet Wilson, Times Staff Writer


A century and a half ago, California's red-legged frog graced the menus of gourmet restaurants in San Francisco and helped launch a young American writer named Mark Twain, who immortalized the leaping Gold Rush wonder in his first published short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Humans have not repaid the favor since, gobbling up not just the long-legged amphibian but nearly all of its wetland habitat for crops and homes, threatening it with extinction.

On Thursday, as part of a continued, far-reaching rollback of protected landscapes for scores of imperiled species around the country, federal officials proposed cutting 82% of the celebrated frog's critical habitat.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eliminate federally protected critical habitat on 150 million acres of largely undeveloped public and private land. The Senate could act on the legislation by year's end.

But even without legislative action, the Bush administration is eliminating critical-habitat designations around the country. Administration officials say that habitat protections cost landowners billions and that voluntary plans work better for landowners and wildlife....


http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-me-frog4nov04,0,6374398,full.story?coll=la-story-footer

[Coventina]

1. This alone would make me hate the Bush administration

But instead, it's just another outrage.
I'll just add it to the list.

These fuckers won't be happy until every last living creature is dead and every last blade of grass is under a condo.

[fighttotheend]

2. You said actually what I was thinking n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Said it very well. What I was thinking, too. nt

[ochazuke]

4. Why do humans divide animal kingdom into noble and nebbish?

The eagle: proud, strong, American

The frog: weak, lowly, GAY

Humans are pigs.

[IChing]

5. Chumash Indians believe that frogs hold the foundations of life

Most of their creation mythology is centered around the frog.

Biologist also look at frogs for environmental breakdowns in eco-systems.

[chenGOD]

6. And what's said is people won't even look at the big picture.

They'll think, "oh, well that's too bad, it was a nice frog, but we don't have it anymore".
They don't stop and think about the effect this will have on local biodiversity both up and down the food chain.

[IChing]

7. I agree...BTW the Chumash are Central Coast Californians.

Repeatedly in these tales, the frog (or a water demon with frog-like characteristics) was depicted as the guardian of all the fresh water in the springs and wetlands of the world. Often the frog was called Frog Woman. When all was going well, she was honored and respected. But in times of severe drought, Frog Woman (or her male counterpart) was demonized and Coyote, or some other cultural hero, challenged her. In almost all these tales, however, the hero could not get the Frog (as the water monster) to move, i.e. he could neither displace her physically nor emotionally. She remains unsympathetic and immo0bile, in spite of the hero's pleas for mercy.

Eventually the hero discovered that Frog held the fresh waters back by weaving, either a basket or a dam. He saved humans from dying of thirst by destroying the basket or dam, or in some cases by stabbing the demon's bloated stomach which substituted symbolically for a dam. In a number of tales, Coyoe stole the fresth waters by drinking large amounts of water. Soon he became equally bloated and was relased from his self-inflicted suffering only after someone else burst his stomach.

With the destruction of the dam, the impounded fresh waters were released in a flood. The rushing waves carved out a new landscape and also dispersed a plethora of wetland animals which thereafter became food for humans. In their fecundity, the impounded waters were thus similar to the European Cornucopia, the horn of plenty which fed the world and brought joy to both the gods and humanity.>>>>snip

http://www.angelfire.com/id/newpubs/frog.html

[blindpig]

8. Keep pushing, you bastards.

George Washington Hayduke lives in the hearts and minds of many Americans, keep pushing.

WWHD? I've got an idea....

[callous taoboy]

10. blindpig- Ever read "The Fool's Progress" ?

"Black Sun" may be my favorite.

[brentspeak]

9. Follow the money...to Bush donors

The Homebuilder's Association and real estate groups put some money in the Bush administration's pockets - and so part of the nation's habitat has to die.

It's always about Bush donors.