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 Extinction crisis escalates
 High rainfall recorded in Big Bend
Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta
 Park attacked by vandals
 Biocontrol agent to control saltcedar
Cactus smuggling
 Chihuahuan Desert Animal of the Month
 Chihuahuan Desert Plant of the Month
 Guadalupe Mountains National Park fees
IRS Grants Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition non-profit Status
 Mexican poppies slide show
 Threat to Chihuahuan Desert cacti
Volunteer at the Nature Park
 Zoo volunteers attend wolf conference

Extinction crisis escalates
Learn more at www.redlist.org

Gland, Switzerland, 12 September, 2007, World Conservation Union (IUCN) – Life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken, according to the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

There are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List and 16,306 of them are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a further 65 are only found in captivity or in cultivation. 

One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the world’s assessed plants on the 2007 IUCN Red List are in jeopardy.

Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), said: “This year’s IUCN Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so far to protect species are not enough. The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and stave off this global extinction crisis. This can be done, but only with a concerted effort by all levels of society.”

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most reliable evaluation of the world’s species. It classifies them according to their extinction risk and brings into sharp focus the ongoing decline of the world’s biodiversity and the impact that mankind is having upon life on Earth.

Jane Smart, Head of IUCN’s Species Programme, said: “We need to know the precise status of species in order to take the appropriate action. The IUCN Red List does this by measuring the overall status of biodiversity, the rate at which it is being lost and the causes of decline.

“Our lives are inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very survival. As the world begins to respond to the current crisis of biodiversity loss, the information from the IUCN Red List is needed to design and implement effective conservation strategies – for the benefit of people and nature.”

 

 

High rainfall recorded in Big Bend National Park

September 16, 2007

The Chisos Mountains Basin, located in the center of Big Bend National Park, has received over twenty inches of rainfall for the calendar year.  This is the second time since 1992, and the first since 2003, that rainfall in the Chisos Basin has eclipsed the twenty-inch mark.  

Throughout much of the 1990’s rainfall in the Big Bend region was low and drought conditions developed and persisted even unto recently.  With several years of well above average precipitation in the 2000’s drought conditions in the region have been lifted.

Rainfall in 2007 has been well spaced and has been more abundant than in many of the recently preceding years.  This pattern has often resulted in many areas of the park having a brilliant green color and other positive effects such as healthy spring flows and many visiting bird species.  The relatively high levels of rainfall should benefit much of the park’s flora and fauna and possibly provide for excellent future shows of wildflowers.

Park Superintendent William E. Wellman said, “We are pleased to be receiving rainfall amounts that are in line or even above our normal expectations and look forward hopefully to an abundant spring wildflower bloom this coming season.”  With three months to go until year’s end, the park hopes to meet or exceed annual average rainfall amounts throughout its varied areas.

 


Texas Master Naturalist Geoff Wiseman shares information about desert snakes.

Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta attracts people of all ages to Franklin Mountains State Park

Tom Mays Park, El Paso, Texas  September 23, 2007.
People from across the community spent an enjoyable day at Tom Mays Park this past  weekend learning all about the animals and plants of the Chihuahuan Desert.  Event organizers with the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition were encouraged by the turnout and the overall response received by both park visitors and exhibitors.  This year's event included guided walks led by park volunteers to a small ridge overlooking the park's end loop, educational talks and demonstrations presented by member organizations and local experts, and entertainment featuring  traditional Flamenco music performed local by Erling Brabaek.


Over 30 people joined park volunteers on a guided walk along Upper Sunset trail.

One of the big attractions at this year's fiesta was a collection of live snakes brought to the event by volunteers at the Las Cruces Natural History Museum, the El Paso Zoo and El Paso Native Reptile Rescue.  Most snakes in the area are nocturnal and rarely seen.  Fiesta goers got to see up close two species of rattlesnake, a desert kingsnake, milksnake, gopher snake, bull snake, hog-nosed snake and western coachwhip.  


Las Cruces Museum of Natural History volunteers show children a Mexican milksnake.

Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park attacked by vandals

July 18, 2007, Las Cruces, New Mexico.  For the second time this year vandals have damaged facilities at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park.  Bathrooms and shade structures were completely destroyed and members of the park’s executive board are raising funds for repairs and to help build up a Crime Stoppers reward.

Rink Somerday, who works at the park and is also a CDEC Director, told KVIA-TV "We're shocked and disappointed by this...we put something out there that's nice, free to the public and where people can go to educate themselves and spend some time outside...it's probably only a few people doing this, but we're not down, we're not out of the game, we will rebuild."  
School programs at he park will continue as scheduled and donations can be mailed to:

Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park
P.O. Box 891
Las Cruces, NM 88004

 

 


IRS Grants Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition non-profit Status

The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition Board of Directors is happy to announce that we were officially designated as a non-profit organization 501 (c) (3) on May 18, 2007.  Under the Internal Revenue Code we are qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Code.  This also means that when you become a CDEC member your membership fee is tax deductible.

CDEC members will be meeting on Saturday, July 28 for a strategic planning meeting to discuss the short and long range goals of the organization.  The mission of CDEC is to collaborate efforts among public educators, the public and CDEC in support of programs that enhance conservation and education of the Chihuahuan Desert.  The goals of the organization include:  serving as a resource on information about the Chihuahuan Desert, encouraging life long learning about the Chihuahuan Desert and collaborating efforts among public educators, the public and CDEC to enhance conservation and education of the Chihuahuan Desert. 

 

Biocontrol agent to control saltcedar in Big Bend National Park


Salt Cedar Leaf Beetle

The National Park Service is proposing to introduce biocontrol insects (Diorhabda elongata.) to control saltcedar (Tamarix spp.), an exotic invasive plant, in Big Bend National Park.

Saltcedar is a deciduous small tree or shrub that was introduced from Eurasia and has colonized riparian areas throughout the western United States. Where established, it has become dominant and has resulted in the exclusion of native flora, degradation of wildlife habitat, increasing salinity of surface soils, alteration of historic hydrologic processes, and decreasing biodiversity. In Big Bend National Park, saltcedar now occupies large areas of riparian floodplains and terraces along the Rio Grande and over 150 upland water sources.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed an effective biocontrol agent for saltcedar. Over the past 15 years, saltcedar leaf beetles, native to Asia and the Mediterranean, have been thoroughly tested for host specificity and effectiveness at defoliating saltcedar in North America. The beetles have been effective in defoliating large areas of saltcedar in Utah and Nevada. The beetle is not known to feed on any plant species, including important crop plants and habitat associates, outside of the Tamaricaceae family. The proposed project includes the release of biocontrol agents, monitoring of agents survival and dispersal, monitoring effectiveness of agent, and monitoring of ecosystem variables such as plant community composition and wildlife use of habitat. In July 1999, USDA-APHIS completed an Environmental Analysis (Field Release of a Nonindigenous Leaf Beetle, Diorhabda elongata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), for Biological Control of Deciduous Saltcedar, Tamarix ramosissima and T. parviflora (Tamaricacea). In 2005, USDA-APHIS completed the EA Program for Biological Control of Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) in thirteen states. Neither of these documents addressed release of biocontrol agents specifically on the Rio Grande nor within Big Bend National Park. In 2006, USDA-APHIS approved release of all available ecotypes of Diorhabda elongata for biological control of saltcedar in Texas. An environmental assessment (EA) will be prepared to analyze the proposal and alternatives and their impacts on the environment. This EA will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.9).

Big Bend National Park invites comments from interested agencies and public in both the U.S.A. and Mexico. Big Bend National Park, in coordination, with the Texas/New Mexico Saltcedar Biocontrol Consortium, is cooperating with Mexican resource managers and landowners in this assessment of biocontrol use.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Written comments can be sent to:

Superintendent
P.O. Box 129
Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834

or you can access our website and make comments. The 30-day scoping comment period starts on June 1, 2007 and ends on June 30, 2007.

Cactus Smugglers Threatening Chihuahuan Desert
April 20, 2007

AUSTIN - Chihuahuan Desert desert plants are one step closer to protection from illegal harvesting after a hearing on April 20 by the Senate Natural Resources Committee on S.B. 689. The committee passed the bill. 

"In the West, cactus rustlers are stealing rare state treasures, like the Texas Rainbow and Golden Barrel, and taking them to Arizona and California for yards," said Senator Shapleigh.  "We need to protect these rare and vulnerable cacti from theft, and protect our Chihuahua Desert environment."

S.B. 689 seeks to curb the illegal harvesting of desert plants by directing the Texas Department of Agriculture to administer and adopt rules necessary to enforce a system of regulation to ensure that certain endangered desert plants sold in, or being transported out of, Texas have been legally harvested.

The current trend in home and commercial landscaping toward xeriscaping, a water-conserving landscaping method, combined with tough Arizona and New Mexico laws regulating the desert plant trade, have made the West Texas desert area a prime target for the illegal harvesting of cacti and other desert plants.  Both public and private lands are being stripped of their desert plants by individuals who have not obtained permission to harvest.  This has the dual effect of damaging the delicate desert ecosystem and costing private landowners untold sums in lost possible revenues.

A recent study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund concludes that some of the plants "may become threatened and even disappear locally if conservation measures are not implemented."

S.B. 689 protects desert plants by requiring individuals who harvest and sell the plants to provide one of the following:

  •  Proof that the plants to be sold or transported will be harvested from the person's own land, 
  • Written documentation from the owner of the property from which the plants will be harvested granting the person seeking registration permission to harvest the plants. 
The Department would provide those who register to harvest and sell the desert plants specified in the bill with identification marks (decals, tags, etc.) specific to each grower.  Every plant specified in the bill sold or offered for sale in Texas, or transported out of Texas, would need to be marked with one of these identification marks.  The Department, during routine inspections, would be responsible for checking the desert plants being sold or transported to ensure that they are properly tagged and would be authorized to issue a stop-sale order to prevent the plants from being sold, or seize the unmarked plants to prevent them from leaving the state.  

 


Guadalupe Mountains National Park announces increase
In entry fees

Effective January 1, 2007, the Guadalupe National Park is also increasing the park fees from $3.00 to $5.00. 
 

Slide Shows
 Mexican Gold Poppies

 

Threat to Chihuahuan Desert cacti

Demand for wild cactus and rare plants by landscapers and plant collectors may soon surpass supply in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United States, according to a study from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network and joint programme of WWF and IUCN*. The study, the largest-ever analysis of trade in Chihuahuan Desert cactus, found that unsustainable trade could endanger certain populations of cacti if measures are not taken to regulate their harvesting. The Chihuahuan Desert is home to almost a quarter of the 1,500 cactus species known to science, and a booming desert landscaping trend, combined with poor regulation of legal plant harvesting, is putting pressure on many species. Use of cactus for low-water landscaping and demand for rare and newly discovered specimens by “cactophiles” is resulting in the heavy and illegal harvest of desirable species, which is likely a multimillion-dollar-a-year industry. "If we don’t reduce the demand for wild plants, especially cacti, from the Chihuahuan Desert, we run the risk of destabilizing populations and losing species," said Christopher Robbins, a botanist with TRAFFIC and author of the report Prickly Trade: Trade and Conservation of Chihuahuan Desert Cacti. "A whole range of desert dwellers — from hummingbirds to mountain lions — rely on desert plants for food or shelter. So in some situations, removing the cactus can be as disruptive to the ecosystem as clear cutting a forest." In recent years, Europe and Japan have been popular destinations for smuggled plants, seeds and fruits of rare and valuable cacti originating from the US and Mexico. The UK is the second largest market after the US for Chihuahuan Desert Species, followed by Germany, Sweden and Spain, Mexico, Italy, and Canada. Nearly 200 species of Chihuahuan Desert cactus were identified on the UK market alone. Many consumers and tourists are unaware they may be breaking the law when they collect, purchase or export cactus from countries that restrict these activities. According to the report, Mexican authorities seized nearly 800 cactus specimens from travelers entering or passing through the US from Mexico in 1998. The report recommends better monitoring of the cactus trade, strengthening protection for the species that are under the most pressure from exploitation and developing community-based programs to harvest common species and commercially cultivate slow-growing species. The report has led WWF to begin work on a program to establish a community-based nursery industry to grow native desert plants with seeds harvested from the wild. The program would also promote nature-based tourism in west Texas, a biologically rich region with high unemployment. "The good news from our research is that these desert plants have economic value. Landowners who might see cactus as pests ought to consider managing them as a crop, rather than view them as a pest to eradicate," Christopher Robbins added.

For further information: Kyla Evans WWF International Tel: +41 22 364 9550 E-mail: kevans@wwifnt.org Jan Vertefeuille WWF-US Tel: +1 202 861 8362 E-mail: janv@wwfus.org Majia Sirola TRAFFIC International Tel: +44 1223 277 427 E-mail: majia.sirola@trafficint.org IUCN - The World Conservation Union

El Paso Zoo Volunteers Attend 19th Annual North American Wolf Conference

FLAGSTAFF. The 2007 North American Wolf Conference was held for the first time in the Southwest in Flagstaff, Arizona this past April. El Paso Zoo volunteers Nancy Bain and Helen Stark attended the meeting.  Bain, who is affectionately called the "wolf lady" at the Zoo is organizing a wolf awareness event the weekend of November 3-4.  For more information contact Education Curator Rick LoBello at lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov.

The conference serves as a bridge to bring together leading wolf biologists, conservationists, livestock owners, depredation specialists, educators and state, tribal and federal wolf managers to share information ranging from ecological and genetic research, nonlethal techniques to reduce livestock conflicts, to economic and environmental impacts of wolf restoration. Former presenters include, Ed Bangs, Lu Carbyn, Jamie Rappaport Clark, Steven Fritts, William Lynn, L. David Mech, Marco Musiani, Paul Paquet, Doug Smith, Robert Wayne and many more.

Las Cruces:
Volunteer With the Nature Park

Burrowing owl

The primary way the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park in Las Cruces keeps  overhead low and put nearly every dollar they receive into our programs is by relying on their wonderful volunteers to help with all aspects of the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park's administration and programs. For example, 233 volunteers donated 3,513 hours in 2004.

There are many opportunities for you to help. No experience with education or trail maintenance is necessary. Please call 505-524-3334 or e-mail us . Together, we can make a difference!