The Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium will cosponsor a one-day forum at the Aquarium entitled "The Marine Fisheries of Southern California", on Saturday, May 17. The day's program is intended to give members of the general public an overview of the state of marine fisheries and their management. Of particular interest will be the environmental, historical and political settings of the myriad issues involved and what we, as individuals, can do to effect an outcome which assures us of sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine environment.

California has recently mandated development of a management plan for our near-shore marine resources. There can be no doubt that sustainable fisheries must play a significant part in this plan. However, to date, there has been no attempt to look at fisheries as a unified subject, either in Southern California or elsewhere in the state as a whole. Yet, this must be done if we are to fully grasp the ecological problems to be solved. This joint forum is seen as a first step in providing the general public with enough basic information to become active participants in the process, and we hope that this forum can be replicated in other coastal communities to broaden public understanding of the issues involved.

Speakers from across the nation will focus on the historical development of fisheries in the region, current practices and how our fisheries are to be managed in the future. Dr. Carl Safina, director of Audubon's Living Oceans Campaign, and author of a recent book and Scientific American article on the subject, will present a summary of the world's fisheries as the context within which the day's discussions will revolve. Speakers will discuss past and present marine fisheries, including mammals and shellfish, as well as fish themselves. Both commercial and sport fishing will be considered. Talks will also focus on economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects of these fisheries.

The afternoon session will be concerned with current and future management practices. Speakers will discuss who is managing what, what gaps exist, and how the system must be improved. The final session will be a workshop and discussion about what you, as a private citizen, can do to make marine resources management a viable reality. Brian Baird, of the California Resources Agency, will discuss Wilson Administration proposals, Assemblymember Debra Bowen, chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, will address currently proposed legislation, and Marilyn England, of Audubon's Living Oceans Campaign, will describe how the public participates in these processes. The day will conclude with a post-forum reception, at which the day's speakers will be available to answer questions and to help you learn more about these important matters.

Registration for the day costs $35 at the door (or see enclosed flyer for early and student registration) and includes lunch, reception, information pack, parking and all forum sessions. This forum has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

I hope you have been out to view the comet. It is being called the "comet of the century" because it is bigger and brighter than most previous ones. The comet is named after its co-discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, so get out and take a look at comet Hale-Bopp in the northwest sky after sunset.

I guess it is the science teacher in me that is urging you to go out and look at the sky. When I was young, I decided that science and technology could solve all our earthly problems, so I studied science with the idea of learning everything about everything. Of course, later, I found out that that is impossible, but by the time I finished college, I had found that I wanted to pass my learning on to others. So I went into teaching.

There seems to be so much anti-science written today that a science teacher has a lot of misinformation to counteract. I have been reading a very good book that can help in this process, "Betrayal of Science and Reason," by Paul and Anne Ehrlich. It promotes the scientific consensus view of environmental issues--as opposed to the complacency, hype and outright lies that have been undermining recent attempts to deal with environmental problems. Many anti-science advocates want to profit from using up the planet's resources. They have promoted a series of erroneous notions that are analyzed and refuted in the Ehrlich book. I highly recommend it!

Audubon is supporting federal legislation which provides a cohesive long-term vision for our National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). Representative George Miller's HR 952, the Theodore Roosevelt Wildlife Legacy Act, contains important "organic" legislation for the NWRS for the first time since its creation in 1903. The NWRS is the only federal system of lands that lacks such guidelines. Importantly, HR 952 would make wildlife and habitat conservation the sole purpose of the refuge system. Wildlife-dependent recreation, including wildlife observation, hunting, fishing and environmental education would become priority uses of the system only where they are compatible with conservation. This is an important distinction, and I think it's imperative that conservation comes first.

Another bill, HR 511, which is receiving heavy special-interest promotion, takes the opposite approach. It elevates hunting, fishing and wildlife observation to the same level of importance as wildlife conservation. This bill would turn the only federal lands presently dedicated primarily to our nation's birds and other wildlife into recreational parks. Through circular language, HR 511, would deem all wildlife-dependent uses as compatible, frustrating refuge managers' ability to regulate uses detrimental to birds, wildlife and their habitat. As a result, conservation would have to compete with recreational uses for resources.

On the other hand, HR 952 codifies Roosevelt's original vision for the NWRS by reaffirming that its purpose is to conserve the nation's fish and wildlife and their habitats. It recognizes that wildlife observation, hunting, fishing, and environmental education are appropriate public uses on many, but not necessarily all, of the nation's refuges and directs that such uses take priority over activities that are unrelated to learning about or experiencing fish and wildlife. In addition, HR 952 requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop plans to guide the future management of the refuges and that such plans be developed in an open, public process.

Please urge your Congressional representatives to support HR 952, The Theodore Roosevelt Wildlife Legacy Act. Let's keep the NWRS legacy by keeping our refuges truly places of refuge.

April 22nd is Earth Day, and many local events will help celebrate it, so take your pick. Come and visit one or all. Or better yet, come take part as a volunteer.

Saturday, April 19: Audubon will be represented at two Earth Day Celebrations, one in Manhattan Beach, at Pollywog Park, and the other in San Pedro, at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. The show at Pollywog Park runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and features music, dramatic programs, dancing, children's activities and an environmental quiz. Displays will include an all-electric vehicle. For information call Liz Corso at 832-9026.

In San Pedro, Earth Day at the Aquarium will have many displays relating to the marine environment, and Audubon will have its E(arth)-mail station up and running so that visitors can let our political leaders know how important protecting the environment is to them. For information, call Linda Chilton at 548-7562, ext. 5007.

Tuesday, April 22: On Earth Day itself, El Camino College will celebrate with its annual Earth Fest with live music and displays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, call Hedieh Rahmanou at 541-7611.

Saturday, April 26: Sharing Nature With Children, at Wilderness Park in Redondo Beach, will feature David Shearer teaching children about king and milk snakes. Call Lillian Light at 545-1384 for information about how you child can take part.

Sunday, April 27: Earth Day Bird-A-Thon with Ollie Coker. See below for details.

Get ready for Audubon's annual fund raising event, the Bird-A-Thon! This event is helps promote Audubon's two main objectives, birds and conservation. By pledging a modest amount, be it a dime or a dollar for each species seen on Bird-A-Thon Day, you will know that you are protecting the birds that you enjoy seeing so much.

As always, Ollie Coker will be leading his "7x35 power team" on a not-so-mad dash to find all the birds on the Peninsula, Sunday, April 27. You can join the group, which meets at the Fantastic Cafe, 1631 25th Street in San Pedro, at 6:30 a.m.

Whether you go with Ollie in person or not, please give generously to the team so that you will be there in spirit. Pledge your support by calling Ollie or Lillian Light at 545-1384. Your contribution is tax deductible and goes to help Audubon's many worthwhile activities.

The family of the late Gordie and Shirley Wells has donated Shirley's extensive birding and bird banding library to the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society. Amassed in the 1960's and 70's, during her years of studying local birds, Shirley's library contains valuable records about Peninsula bird life as well as many fine reference books. These materials will form the nucleus of a Shirley Wells Birding Library, which the chapter will maintain.

Though Shirley passed away before this Audubon chapter came into existence, her spirit was instrumental in its creation, and Gordie was one of our founding members. Along with the reference materials is an extensive collection of bird banding records and equipment which will be of use for the MAPS station now being set up in San Pedro by Neil Multack. Shirley's records also contain sightings from many field trips around the Peninsula which should help us establish baselines for work now being done on the PV NCCP.

For information, or to make a contribution to this library, please call Bart Tendick at 530-3656 or Jess Morton at 832-5601.

For the first time, US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division (BRD) researchers are displaying the spring migration of snow geese on the internet. You can watch their progress at http://north.audubon.org

The National Audubon Society and the BRD are leading a cooperative education project called Wild Wings, Heading North. The project highlights animal migration by tracking ten snow geese, captured in November and fitted with satellite radios at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. The 3,100 mile spring migration from the desert to the tundra spans 5 months (February to June). The web site includes daily updates of maps and data on the birds' location, weather information, geographic and cultural areas along their route, a field journal of observations, and discussion forums where students can share messages and ask questions.

We've got a lot of "bird-word" to cover, from mid-Nov. to early March (our wintering season), including the December 29 Christmas Bird Count CBC) highlights! As usual, there were some things that will blow your mind.

Starting with the A's, one of the winter's best birds was an albatross recovered in San Pedro (SP) the day after the big storm 1/25, and given to Ann Lynch for rehab. Luckily, I was leading a LAAS trip 1/31 (to look for albatrosses), so I arranged for the bird to be released at sea. We watched it fly off, 60 miles west of Pt. Conception, to applause and tears. Interesting were its blue-gray feet and other marks suggest it is not Laysan. I think Black-browed is a possibility. We'll see when the pictures are developed. We did see 7 Black-footed and 1 definite Laysan on the trip, too! Locally, a Pink-footed Shearwater was seen from shore on the CBC by Charlie Collins (CC). The 3 or 4, on the March 9 LAAS pelagic, over Redondo Canyon, were too early for migrants. Bernardo Alps and I saw Short-tailed Shearwater on Count Week (CW) from local whale boats, but dark shearwater sp. was all we could muster Count Day (CD). As usual, we saw thousands of Black-vented in the circle CW. I counted 40,000 going past the point the day after and 20,000 the day before! On CD, we got about 4000.

Brandt's Cormorant is another species we only seem to get a small fraction of on CD. I saw 1500-2000 in a large feeding frenzy off Long Point the day before the count, but, as usual, 300-400 on CD.

Four CD Cattle Egrets included 2 that Dave Moody (DM) said stayed most of the winter at Madrona Marsh (MM). The normal 50+ Blue-winged Teal at the LA River Willow Street Crossing were still there 2/18 (Kevin Larson), and a couple spent the winter at MM (DM). Our ONLY local flock of Canvasback, 30+ at Alondra Park (AP), was forced out by drainage of the lake for construction (in mid-winter!?). A few Redhead and Ring-neck Ducks were around, and some Greater Scaup at LA River Mouth (LARM) and Cabrillo Beach (CB). An Oldsquaw was present at the LARM (KL) again this winter, but was easily missed. The Grant St. area (Dockweiler State Beach in El Segundo) is the best Scoter area around, and KL found Blacks and White-wing there. A Hooded Merganser was at Willowbrook (now Magic Johnson Square), where one was 5 years ago, in Feb. (Bill Principe).

The single Turkey Vulture at Dominguez Hills (DH), since July, seemed to leave in Dec. An Osprey flew over my house the first day of CW (12/26). Amazingly, on 11/23 at Peck Park, my wife and I saw an adult Goshawk (photo). On Feb. 10, I had an ad. Golden Eagle flying northwest, high over my house (directly away from the peninsula)! A couple of Peregrines and 3-4 Merlins wintered, as usual. Bob Beckler found a controversial bird at Royal Palms--a hybrid American x Black Oystercatcher, which are common in Baja. This "Americanish" oystercatcher was probably the same bird Martin Byhower (MB) had there a year ago and is nesting on the breakwater with a Black. It was with 20+ Blacks, as large a total as we've ever recorded on the shoreline rocks.

Both Jaegers were recorded CW, and 2 Parasitic and 12+ Pomarine were offshore on the 3/9 LAAS trip. The most exceptional gull was the single Bonaparte's on CD.......ONE !!!!! This, for a bird with previous counts in the tens of thousands. We have only seen a few this year. Who knows where they went? The 3/9 LAAS boat trip covered 75 sq. miles, and found only 2! I counted at least 30 Royal Terns around the peninsula this winter. If they follow true to form, they will disappear about mid-March. We finally got Black Skimmer CD. A couple of Rhinoceros Auklets were off Point Vicente (PtV) most of the winter and were seen CW. At least a dozen were next to the boat 3/9, in breeding plumage! A Xantus' Murrelet swam into view on CD at sundown, just offshore at PtV, and 2 were 8 miles off Point Fermin on 3/9.

We missed Barn Owl CW, but Ron Melin (RM) had one just a few days before CW started. KL found a lone Burrowing Owl at Dominguez Hills in Parking Lot #5, where one was years ago. Perhaps a pair remains there, but why has the field not been recolonized??? I understand now that it was the CSU system's rodent eradication program (to solve a squirrel, rat and mouse problem) which did in the owls.

I photographed a very late female Black-chinned Hummingbird at Wilderness Park (WP), on 12/7, and watched it call. It wasn't seen again. I've had a hybrid male Costa's x Anna's here at my house for almost a year. We must presume an adult male Sapsucker at Peck Park on 2/23 was Red-naped. I didn't get a good enough look to be sure it wasn't a Yellow-bellied. Phil Swan heard a Nuttall's Woodpecker on CD in Rolling Hills (RH). An all time high of 9 Downy on CD reflects a local recolonization!

A Western-type (Pacific-slope?) Flycatcher, which my wife found at WP on 12/7, was probably heard CD (DM) and in January, by me. Eric Brooks found an imm. male Vermillion Flycatcher at the old PV Dump site on CD! After missing them on the CBC for the last 5 years, three separate parties found Cassin's Kingbirds CD! Poor El Dorado count: someone went over to see their Vermilions and found an adult male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher they had missed!! KL found a Barn Swallow at DH on CD (photo). The first big sign of spring was all the swallows at MM on 2/18; Tree, Violet-green and a BANK, our earliest spring record ever by 2 months.

John Esser found a Mountain Chickadee at his house off Crest Road in RH for the CBC! KL found another in Feb. on another part of the hill! 68 Red-breasted Nuthatches was a good total. The White-breasted present at Banning Park since Oct., and still present in Feb. (Jerry Zuniga), was missed on CD. JE had another a week prior to the count at his house, which may have been the one CC found in PB on the count!! I heard a Brown Creeper CW up Swafield Canyon in RH, which was with a flock of 4-5 Golden-crowned Kinglets (with which they regularly associate) the last day of CW (1/1). Both species were missed CD. I consider this an excellent showing for these more ortherly/montane/eruptive species (and wait till we get to Crossbills!), but it means something isn't right where they are normally found.

If you recall, my friend Jerry Zuniga had a Mountain Bluebird at HP on the second Thursday in Nov. Well, Jerry Johnson (JJ) had it 2 Thursdays later! Probably you have to be named Jerry, and go on an even week's Thursday, to see it, because it hasn't been seen since. Extensive searching for the "heard only" Wrentits, reported on the CBC, revealed no Wrentits, so we had to delete them. Observers unfamiliar with the dialects of PV birds, often misidentify them because they sound so different from their mainland SoCal relatives. A Varied Thrush was at HP on CD. The long-time resident California Thrasher up Klondike Canyon and above the Forrestal Quarries was recorded for the first time on the CBC! Missed Phainopepla though.

We had 3 CBC Hutton's Vireos and missed one seen by KL on 2/8 that was probably wintering in HP's willow forest (NEW). He also saw the Plumbeous Solitary there that we missed CD. We missed several Solitary Vireos wintering in the circle, including one of the soon-to-be-split Cassin's Solitary Vireo.

New to the count, a Tennessee Warbler I saw on the HP Golf Course (special CBC permission) CD, was not seen again. A Nashville wintered at PP. Besides the HP Yellow Warblers, one returned for the second year to Cabrillo Beach, and MB found one 3/11 (way too early for a migrant) near a pond in Torrance. The 126 Townsend's is an all time high for the count. RM had a Palm Warbler two weeks before the count in RPV. The American Redstart we got at BP on the CBC, was still there March 9 (JJ). On Nov. 23, at PP, I found and photographed a Worm-eating Warbler (15 minutes later the Goshawk showed up!), which remained for the CBC (!), and, at least, into Jan. Many came to see this rarity, which was, of course, a new-to-count species. It's premature disappearance likely indicates cat predation, since it fed on the ground so much, and a cat colony is maintained there.

A waterthrush was chased out of the NEW at HP by the clear-cut logging operation on 1/29. I will presume it was Northern until proven otherwise. This is about the fourth wintering waterthrush found long after CW! A MacGillivray's Warbler was in uppermost Zurita Canyon on the CBC (Dick Norton and Jim Abernathy). Two of 4+ wintering Wilson's were seen CD.

KL found a Summer Tanager at Pacific Crest Cemetery, near El Nido Park, the last day of CW (1/1). It was the red/green admixed type, typical of adult females of the eastern rubra race, which is the expected wintering subspecies. I learned of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in RPV mid-Dec. (certainly wintering) when my LA Audubon newsletter got here on 3/11. Too bad no one knew of this bird for the count. Another was picked up dead in PB (fide MB) in mid-Nov., (specimen to LACNHM). 

EB found a Green-tailed Towhee on CD in lower George F Canyon. There were 2 Vesper Sparrows at Friendship Park in late Nov., and EB found one at the old PV Dump site on CD! One Gray-headed Junco was found on the count, for the second year straight. Now, why can't I find one? In December, I did see at least 7 individual Slate-colored at WP, TP, and BP.

The Great-tailed Grackle explosion continues, with 38 on CD. Too bad we can't remove this alien invader before it is firmly entrenched. Speaking of Grackles, I only wish Jack Smith were alive so I could call him and tell him that I photographed a COMMON Grackle in my yard! You've been vindicated Jack!! Now, LA County does have one for their list. I first saw it from my back porch, on March 3, with the local flock of Brewer's. It was outside for 5 minutes, and I got a couple ID shots. Since then, (to 3/17, at least) it has appeared regularly in the evening, at about 5 PM. It is commuting across Torrance, heading toward Dominguez or Victoria Golf Course or the Victoria Park area in the A.M., and passing by around 5, flying towards MM or beyond to roost. Incredibly, on its fourth visit, I saw a mystery bird with it, which I have been able to positively ID as a female Common Grackle. A pair!  I got one flight shot of the female over my house, on 3/12, and saw and heard it on 3/17. I know of no record of a pair in the state. On 3/7, I saw them at MM, heading west together at 5:35 P.M. Ironically, the previous two winter records in the state are from Carlsbad, in 1977, and Santa Barbara in 1987. Now Torrance in 1997! All showed up in Late Feb. or early March, the time when they move north in the East.

Georgene Foster had a Hooded Oriole two weeks before the CBC at her feeder. A male Bullock's wintered at the NEW, but was not seen after the cutting. A female was in Zurita Canyon. Spectacular was the Streak-backed Oriole in Huntington Beach, Dec.to March. Our new all time CBC high for Red Crossbills is 144! I think it's an accurate count of how many were really here, with most still being seen in Feb. In one previous invasion year, they were on the nest here in March! So, interesting is the male I saw feeding a female in RH in Jan. At the other end of the scale was our ONE CBC Pine Siskin!

The CBC species total was 176 (our average for the last six years), not counting the Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (formerly called Canary-winged), Mitred Parakeet (Conure), or Common Peafowl. We recorded 11 more CW species, for a CW total of 190. Outstanding! It is, I think our fourth time, and something NO OTHER LA County CBC has done, ever. You can be proud of yourselves! Thanks!!

Spring is afoot. Waves of birds will follow the waves of flowers,  with their waves of butterflies. So get out and enjoy, as you continue to think global and bird local.

Please submit your bird reports to me via e-mail at: birdfish@pacbell.net

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes has taken the first step toward implementing the Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP) Planning Agreement adopted in 1996 between the City and the California Department of Fish and Game. A contract has been awarded to Ogden Environmental and Energy Services to prepare a biological assessment of the PV area with a view to designing a habitat preserve which will permanently protect some of our rarest native species.

It will be the task of the consultants to evaluate existing biological data to determine which plant and animal species should be covered by the NCCP. To do this, the various vegetation communities here will be mapped and boundaries drawn to mark which areas contain the most diverse and characteristic species. Ogden will also provide guidance as to what additional survey work needs to be done to give the NCCP a sound scientific basis.

While this is being done, work will continue to persuade other relevant jurisdictions to take part in the NCCP process. The City of Rolling Hills Estates has expressed much interest since work first began on the NCCP, and may soon join. Rolling Hills and Palos Verdes Estates, each of which has important natural habitat, will, we hope, follow. Residents of these cities are urged to contact their city government asking that the city participate.

The result of all this work will be an extensive natural reserve containing large tracts of connected habitat. Funding for the reserve is to be identified as part of the NCCP design process. It is almost certain that the recently acquired Forrestal tract will play an important part in any reserve.

The goal of the State of California Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) Act of 1991 is to resolve environmental-economic conflicts over endangered species. Rather than deal with species conservation one at a time, as is done under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), an NCCP is a "multiple species" conservation plan. Under it, ESA standards are met for many species within specified preserve areas while development is expedited elsewhere. Instituted on a habitat or "natural community" basis, an NCCP "covers" a mix of both listed and declining, though as yet unlisted, species.

The NCCP program got off to a controversial start after being marketed by the Wilson Administration as a substitute for the listing of the California gnatcatcher, a resident of Southern California's coastal sage scrub habitat. Since the program was formulated to be voluntary for all parties, little progress was made during its first year and a half. However, ESA listing of the gnatcatcher as a "threatened" species gave backbone and impetus to the NCCP. In fact, the federal listing formally linked itself to the NCCP program via a "special rule" governing "take" of the gnatcatcher. (Editor's note: See Hummin' issues for 1992, #2 & 3; 1993 #3, 1994, #1 through 5 and 1996 #1 & 2, for full discussion of these matters.)

Under the NCCP umbrella, about a half dozen efforts are either completed or underway in Southern California. To understand why the NCCP has "taken off", it is necessary to understand what motivates each major participant. For conservationists, a comprehensive habitat plan based upon ESA standards may be the best hope of rescuing a decimated ecosystem. For developers, the assurances an NCCP provides against future listings are perceived as vital to a predictable business environment. For local governments, it is a way to retain autonomy over land use planning in the face of pending listings and to better balance natural open space preservation, which contributes to quality of life, against future growth. For the wildlife agencies, it is a way to improve upon the present system of project-by-project mitigation rulings and a way to avert the regulatory nightmare of a succession of overlapping listings. While the benefits of NCCP are thus quite different for each party, ranging from regulatory efficiency to land protection, there has been enough common ground to advance what is a very difficult political process.

Taken as a whole, the NCCP provides the most realistic option to salvage, connect, and manage the best remaining fragments of wildlife habitat on private lands within the vast, numbing sprawl of coastal Southern California.

What conclusions can be drawn thus far?

* The ESA can be leveraged to produce significant multiple species conservation, far beyond what would otherwise occur. But voluntary programs, in and of themselves, have proven to be no substitute for listings.

* The key advantage of an NCCP over the ESA alone is that local government is an active partner. The application of local land use authority allows accomplishments the ESA could not manage alone. For example, wildlife movement corridors unoccupied by listed species can be protected.

* The trade-off for this proactive planning, and, indeed, for the involvement of local government and landowners is assurances--assurances that in the event species "covered" by the plan either decline or require listing anyway, additional mitigation will be the responsibility of either the federal or state government.

* Since the early dissolution of an NCCP scientific panel, the plans have suffered from a serious deficiency of independent scientific input and review. While it should not be inferred that the plans are necessarily unsound, neither are they as yet fully credible. The biggest obstacle to independent scientific input has been the wildlife agencies themselves.

* A critical unresolved issue is that of standards. These regional plans are, de facto, ESA species recovery plans. Therefore, they must assure viable populations, which goes far beyond the "not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery" standard typically applied to smaller individual projects. The NCCP is, so far, ambivalent about standards. This failure to address the recovery objective of the ESA is probably the most persuasive conservation criticism of the NCCP to date.

* Specific deficiencies of current plans are often due to irremediable project approvals by local governments. It must be emphasized that, as a practical matter, neither the ESA nor state and federal agencies can undo bad local General Plans or anti-environmental land use policies. In truth, the local land use authorities create the legal and economic parameters within which everyone else operates. Habitat conservation plans are all too frequently the result of negotiations in which, figuratively, the wildlife agencies have been dealt a pair of deuces and the developer a full house.

* Funding for land acquisition is essential for most programs. Such funds are not now available, and will not be unless political roadblocks to meaningful conservation funding at both state and federal levels are reversed. The lack of acquisition funds early in the planning process is a potentially fatal flaw.

Finally, the most important conclusion, and one we must constantly bear in mind during the ongoing debate over ESA reauthorization, is context. An NCCP, which by definition is based upon minimal ESA standards, should only be employed in certain narrow circumstances. Coastal Southern California, with its highly depleted ecosystems under great threat from continued population growth, and governed by local jurisdictions which have not protected these lands on their own, is a case in point. But in more intact landscapes, where good planning can still protect rural and natural open space, NCCPs are not the appropriate way to determine the shape of future development.

Growth management, good General Plans, and strong ordinances should come first. Land use authority is not only more powerful than the ESA, but has broader mandates. NCCP, as an extension of the ESA, can only ask "what is adequate" for a particular species, not how the world should be, nor what is best for a community.

The annual weekend camping trip to Audubon's Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County is set for the Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26. Activities for our Audubon YES! students will center around the role of Starr Ranch as a study center for the coastal sage scrub habitat. We will explore the back areas of the Ranch to see its native riparian and chaparral habitats. Nature study walks, training sessions, evening barbecues with group entertainment and other activities are scheduled.

The weekend is open to all students participating in the YES! program. Students must provide their own camping gear and transportation. Each group of 3-4 students must be accompanied by an adult. Adult chapter members are needed to help with the weekend. The cost of the weekend is $25 per person. Call Jess Morton at 832-5601 for information.

The last issue of Hummin' contained remarks by Dan Taylor, Executive Director of Audubon-California, about a meeting with Senator Dianne Feinstein in which blame for the winter floods in the Central Valley was laid on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). What is sad about such nonsensical ideas is that anyone takes them seriously. However, because they are taken seriously in some quarters, a special effort was made to rally California's Audubon chapters to the defense of ESA. In a first of its kind effort, the Audubon legal staff in Washington D.C. drafted the following letter to Senator Feinstein. It was signed by every single one of the 53 chapters in California.

March 6, 1997

Dear Senator Feinstein:

The undersigned California chapters of the National Audubon Society, representing more than 65,000 Californians, are writing to you regarding your position, votes, and public statements on the Endangered Species Act.

In what is otherwise a commendable environmental record in Congress (LCV-89 %), your recent voting record indicates a notable lack of support for the federal Endangered Species Act. In 1995, for example, you voted in favor of a moratorium on ESA listings. Although this moratorium was ultimately repealed, a significant number of species were denied timely protection. In another example, last year you supported a waiver of the ESA for certain Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) activities along the U.S. borders. We oppose such situation-by-situation waivers of the ESA which chip away at the very foundation of the Act.

We are also extremely concerned about your recent statements that the ESA has interfered with levee repairs and maintenance in California's Central Valley. Experts who have examined those concerns have concluded that the ESA was neither the cause of the flooding nor a barrier to repairs going forward after consultation. We seek your commitment to vote against any legislation that would weaken or waive the ESA in the context of the recent flooding in California.

Additionally, since 1992 opponents of the ESA have been waging national public relations campaigns and political lobbying efforts to weaken the law during the reauthorization process. You have undoubtedly heard a tremendous diversity of opinions on the ESA, and have been presented with anecdotes, studies and numerous proposals for reform of the law. What we ask of you is simple: recognize the basic integrity and sound scientific approach of the Endangered Species Act. We seek your vote to strengthen the ESA, and to increase significantly funding for ESA implementation.

The ESA currently receives less than $70 million annually for its operation. National Audubon and other conservation groups have recently completed an analysis which demonstrates that our national endangered species program needs approximately $278 million annually to protect currently listed and candidate species from extinction. We have included this analysis for your review. We seek your active support for increased funding for the ESA.

Finally, we understand that Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) is working to build a coalition of Senators to support his ESA reauthorization bill. We have grave concerns that this draft bill will not preserve the fundamental strength and purpose of the ESA, and we strongly urge you to consult with Audubon and other environmental organizations before forming an opinion regarding reauthorization of the Act. Weakening the ESA will not resolve endangered species conflicts nor will it protect species from extinction.

Your leadership in strengthening the ESA during reauthorization is very important to the undersigned. Feel free to contact either John McCaull in our Sacramento office (916-444-5557) or Kathleen Rogers in our national public policy office in Washington, DC (202-861-2242) if they can be of assistance in the future. We look forward to discussing these issues with you at your earliest convenience.

There are two main categories of oceanic plankton: phytoplankton (plant plankton) and zooplankton (animal plankton). Both are relatively small and both are food for a variety of creatures. In communities of animals that are frequently preyed upon, the habitual activities of the community members are very often strongly influenced by the threat of predation. Studies of zooplankton have surprisingly indicated that the previous sentence applies to those little animals. In referring to a frequently repeated sequence over a 24-hour period, the adjective "diel" is used by ethologists (those who study animal behavior). The aforementioned studies found that there is a diel vertical migration of zooplankton. During the daylight hours, when flying and swimming predators can most easily see the zooplankton, the latter migrate downwards. Because the larger the zooplankton the more easily they are seen, the larger they are the further down they go. Not all individual members of each zooplankton group behaved in exactly the same way, so this and other discoveries suggest that the diel migration actions are genetically based rather than based on learning. Future studies will add fascinating information.

Now we'll shift from prey to predators. It is known that, when trying to catch their prey, some whales swim in a circular pattern, and create a wall of bubbles around the victims-to-be. White pelicans form circular patterns to trap their prey. Very recent studies have found that phalaropes use spinning motion to gain food. High-speed photography and other observational techniques have shown that red-necked phalaropes whirl many fathoms deep, and the water motion which results primarily from their leg movements concentrates and upwells prey, such as brine shrimp. Phalarope species that twirl on the surface kick the water so rapidly that the surface right there is lowered, and deeper water rises in a sort of jet stream to fill the depression. The spinning motion concentrates certain prey, such as types of plankton, and the upwelling brings the prey to the surface where it is caught by the bird's quick pecking. Those surface-feeding phalaropes are believed to be the birds which feed the most rapidly of all birds. The factors which prevent those phalaropes from surface spinning are strong winds and large waves.

Dr. Mini Nagendran, the new Bird Conservation Director for California Audubon, was the guest speaker at our March meeting. An internationally known crane specialist, who has worked on the many species of cranes throughout Asia and North America, Mini's program, titled "Cranes of the World", helped us become acquainted with some of our best-loved birds.

Cranes date back to at least 38 million years. Today, there are 15 species of cranes and of these extremely charismatic species, 11 are in trouble. Mini has worked on six species of cranes in the wild, two of which, the Whooping Crane and the Siberian Crane, are the most endangered of all. Mini's work has involved behavior, conservation and captive release efforts, radio and satellite tracking, migration studies, training people in the field, teaching people good field and conservation techniques, learning from native people their own invaluable techniques, sharing technology, influencing technology transfer, helping bridge communication gaps, working with professional and lay people, and a myriad other aspects of field conservation biology.

In her talk on Crane Research and Conservation, Mini showed the beauty that is cranes. She described their biology and the problems that hound these wetland obligate birds. The slides she showed illustrated her research and conservation efforts and the people that play a major part in the international efforts that go into the conservation of these birds. Since these birds do not recognize political boundaries, they face incredible challenges, as do those trying so desperately to conserve them.

This page is part of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society website.