For a little bird often described as a flying potato, the federally listed marbled murrelet is getting a lot of well-deserved attention these days. Why? Mainly because of Cascadia Wildlands et al. v. Kitzhaber et al. our suit against the state of Oregon to halt harm to this soaring spud with our co-litigants Center for Biological Diversity and Audubon Society of Portland with legal power provided by Daniel Kruse of Eugene, Tanya Sanerib and Chris Winter of the Crag Law Center, Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands, Scott Jerger of Field Jerger LLP, and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center.
Here is a sampling of the media love:
The Eugene Register Guard | The Oregonian |
KATU | The Tillamook Headlight Herald |
KVAL | The World (Coos Bay) |
The Eugene Weekly | TDN |
Seattle PI | The Olympian |
Seattle Times | KLCC |
You can read the articles and get to know the issues surrounding this lawsuit and why it is so important to preserve forest interior habitats for the disappearing bird. And do what you can to help us by contributing to the Marbled Murrelet Legal Defense Fund or attending the July 26, 2012 event at Cozmic to support our legal efforts (and bring your flyer).
“And yet biodiversity — the sum total of all linivg species — is what gives us air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat…”Biodiversity is not just the “sum of all linivg species . It includes genetic diversity, ecosystems, and the natural cycles and processes that support life such as oxygen production, air and water purification, and soil formation. Biodiversity must include the conditions that support life; otherwise, there would be no life. We humans just one of an estimated 30 million species are part of biodiversity. Biodiversity is our life support system. If we lose 25% of species, we lose 25% of our life support system; yet, we continue to refer to biodiversity loss as though it somehow does not affect us.As predicted, the economic crash has preceded the ecological crash, which, when it happens, cannot be bailed out by financial institutions and governments. A loss of natural capital can only be “financed” with natural capital. The world had better start to take this VERY seriously VERY immediately, or we’re toast.It has been estimated that the value of the natural services provided by biodiversity amounts to $33 trillion a year: a sum not all the world’s nations acting together could afford because the global GDP is only $18 trillion.