To mark International Endangered Species Day, Pittsburgh City Council unanimously passed a proclamation calling attention to the plight of endangered species. In the proclamation Council commend the Sierra Club Allegheny Group’s Endangered Species Action Team (ESAT) for the work it does by educating the public and advocating for endangered and threatened plants and animals.

It was the suggestion of ESAT member Mary Ruth Aull to call attention to the fact the earth is in the midst of the greatest mass extinction of species since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The proclamation was happily sponsored by Council president Darlene Harris and co-sponsored by every other member of City Council. On hand to accept the proclamation and make brief statements were ESAT chair Gwen Chute, her husband Ed, and ESAT member Mike Pastorkovich.

Artwork: Mike LaMark

ACTION: Contact EPA’s Steve Owens at or call him at 1-202-5642902 to request a suspension of the neonicotinoid seed coatings until independent scientists verify safety.

Where is Rachel Caron when we need her? Two years ago a United Nations report highlighted the collapse of honeybee colonies around the world. Even last year there remained numerous possible explanations of this disorder, but today the most likely cause is believed to be the use of nicotine-based insecticides called neonicotinoids like imidacloprid and clothianidin, marketed by Bayer and Syngenta.

The EPA allowed “conditional registration” of neonicotinoid-based insecticides in 2003 but after a safety study conducted by Bayer itself, in 2010 the EPA granted unconditional use of these insecticides. As part of its Pollinator Protection Campaign, last week the Sierra Club joined beekeepers and other environmental organizations brought suit against the EPA. In referring to the Endangered Species Act and FIFRA, the plaintiffs want the court to remove EPA’s approval of products containing clothianidin and thiamethoxam and issue an immediate suspension of their use.

Award-winning Florian Schulz will present the stories and images from his Arctic adventures. Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, in partnership with the Alaska Wilderness League.

7:30 to 9:30 pm, Friday, March 22
Pittsburgh Zoo Education Center
Wild Place 1, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Florian Schulz is a photographer with a strong conservation vision. He spent almost two years traveling from northern Greenland to northwest Alaska, photographing amazing animals, including spectacular images of a mother polar bear and her cubs, and other wildlife who call this harsh habitat their home.

The evening will feature Florian’s presentation, a silent auction to support the Alaska Wilderness League, and a dessert reception. After the presentation, Florian will be available to sign copies of his book “To the Arctic.” A guided tour of our polar bear exhibit is also included.

Registration is by mail only. Click HERE for a registration form.
$15 members/$20 non-members.   Includes dessert reception.

Photo: State of South Dakota

Planning a highway project can take a long time, but often, when the funds suddenly become available, there is a big rush to get final approval from all the various agencies. Sometimes that last minute rush can neglect some important factors, and that is what a number of environmental organizations including the Sierra Club believe may happened in Somerset County. After many years, PennDOT is now beginning to improve the section of US Rte 219 between Somerset and Meyersdale, and last month the public was asked to comment on the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit. Among the apparent failures of the planning process was an incomplete assessment of bat hibernacula, neglect of the cumulative impact on wetlands, and the absence of a detailed plan for the disposal of millions of cubic yards of excess soil material. The Sierra Club and Mountain Watershed Association called for re-submission of application for the USACE permit.

Image courtesy of San Antonio Audubon Society, Mike Scully.

In a sad sign of the times, on June 26 the Pennsylvania Game Commission board moved the classification of the upland sandpiper, a grassland nesting bird, from ‘threatened’ to ‘endangered’ in its Endangered Species program. Added to the ‘threatened’ list were the northern harrier, a raptor, and the elusive long-eared owl.

Rachel Carson

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication Rachel Carson’s seminal book Silent Spring, considered the most significant influence in mounting an era of environmental awareness and action around the world. To commemorate the anniversary, the National Aviary and The Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University
will hold a celebratory symposium May 11-12, 2012. The main sessions will cover:
• Award winning Natural History Writers
• Silent Spring’s Lessons- the predictions & state of the environment today
• Challenges for the 21st Century- preserving our life support system
• Green-washing and bridging the credibility gap
• Voices for the Future

For the full agenda click HERE

REGISTER NOW! $50 Friday only, $75 Saturday only; $100 both days; Student Discount Available at Registration.

At 8PM EDT on Sunday, March 18th the Discovery Channel will launch a natural history series FROZEN PLANET, joining forces with the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club. The series will portray our earth’s polar regions, where the scale and beauty of the scenery and power of the natural elements are unlike anywhere else on the planet.

Along the Spirit Bear coast of British Columbia, near the pipeline port of Kitimat. Photo: NRDC

By now the planned Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico is well known. Receiving less publicity is the Northern Gateway pipeline, planned by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc to transport the bituminous tar sand oil from Bruderheim in Alberta to Kitimat in British Columbia. Apart from the usual environmental concerns of constructing and maintaining large pipelines, the $5.5 billion project is opposed on the grounds of oil tanker spills in the narrow inlet from the port at Kitimat and out to sea between the coastal islands of the Spirit Bear Coast. The temperate rain forest of this coast is the home of the Spirit Bear, which has become the icon for the National Resource Defense Council’s campaign (see the Spirit Bear video). ACTION: Send a message to Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel, urging him to stop this project.

Photo courtesy of the NRDC

Most attempts by conservatives to use the recent budget deal to remove programs they were ideologically opposed to failed, but not all. For the very first time, Congress circumvented the Endangered Species Act and removed an animal from the endangered species list. This unprecedented measure, without any scientific justification, concerned the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies. It was attached to the budget by Representative M. Simpson (R, ID) and Senator J. Tester (D, MT) in a straightforward political move that had nothing to do with reducing the debt.

The survival of the gray wolf in the northern Rockies has a long history, a history of wildlife protection and ranchers rights. In January 2009 President Obama ordered Interior Secretary Salazar to halt action on de-listing of the gray wolf until the matter has been fully reviewed.

ACTION: Please contact your Congressman and Senators Casey and Toomey. Urge them to ensure that in future any removal of species from the endangered list only be done by the means set our under the Endangered Species Act, including public hearing and debate.

Photo courtesy of Jake Dingel and the PA Game Commission

Under the federal Endangered Species Program the bald eagle was listed as endangered in 1967. By 1989, a small breeding population had been re-established in Pennsylvania by the Game Commission, with the number of nesting pairs passing 100 in 2006 and the species being moved from Endangered to Threatened. Today, there are about 190 nests in 48 counties. Despite this progress, the bald eagle population is under threat from the development of shoreline habitat and other factors. (more…)

In April 2009, the Obama administration claimed that the gray wolf population in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming was stable and the wolf could be removed from the Endangered Species list. Fourteen environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and represented by Earthjustice, appealed that ruling, and on August 5, 2010, a Federal District Court overturned the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision.

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.

Protection of the gray wolf in the northern Rockies has been a long legal fight. It has been a key issue for the Allegheny Group’s Endangered Species Action Team. The hope now is that FWS will establish a careful and balanced restoration program for the species– a program that will include core protected areas and buffer zones.

Photo: US EPA
The Small
Whorled Pogonia

Join the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club and the Allegheny Defense Project in helping to survey Pennsylvania’s largest old growth forest for endangered plant species. On Saturday, June 19th, we’ll be hiking in the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas in a hunt for rare species such as the Small Whorled Pogonia. We will be meeting at 8 am at the Pittsburgh Sierra Club Office Parking Lot, 425 North Craig Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Contact Jim Kleissler at jim at palands dot org or 412-559-1364 for more information.

Peregrine Falcon. USFWS photo

No, these are not new sports teams, but new raptors. In mid-March a peregrine falcon nesting on the Gulf Tower building downtown hatched two chicks, and a second female nesting on the same building hatched three chicks in early April. Not to be outdone, Dorothy hatched five peregrine falcon chicks in the nest on the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland. Both the Gulf Tower and Pitt nests can be viewed live by the National Aviary cams. (more…)

The PA Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is calling for public comment on proposed rulemaking that will elevate the status of the Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans), Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale), and Northern Redbelly Dace (Phoxinus eos) to endangered. Endangered signifies that a species is in imminent danger of extinction or extirpation throughout their range in Pennsylvania.
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On May 8 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that a special rule to protect the polar bear would be retained.  Conservationists were disappointed for they had hoped that the polar bear would be placed on the Endangered Species list.
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