Out of the Woods and into the Cities:
A perspective on endangered species recovery
by Charles Bier
Director, Natural Heritage Program

A dire history

Late in the afternoon, the entire room must have been filled with bleak faces, not a pleased or encouraged crowd. Can you imagine the demeanor and atmosphere on that day in 1965 when a worldwide gathering of biologists and conservationists at the University of Wisconsin had to file their conference report on the status of certain “top of the food chain” bird populations in North America and elsewhere in the world? Cooper’s hawk populations: reduced in many areas. Bald eagle populations: critically low in the lower 48-states of the U.S. Brown pelican populations: on the verge of extirpation in many areas from California to Florida. And the main focus of the conference, the peregrine falcon: crashed in sections of Europe, no nesting at any of 150 historic U.S. sites east of the Mississippi River, and, for all practical purposes, fitting the description of a species destined for extinction. In 1965 these findings were a mystery, and were accompanied by no clear explanation.

That’s all history now, and as we look at the present and the future of species like the peregrine, we need only revisit that benchmark time momentarily. Certainly since that time, after a slow start in the 1970s and 1980s, the results of our reaction to the plight of the peregrine and other birds has been an apparent success. The keen research that followed Rachel Carson’s plea for action in the 1960s identified the DDT-family of pesticides as the causal factors, with many of those chemicals banned or restricted from widespread use in the environment beginning in 1973. Important accomplishments supported by a groundswell of public concern. Those regulations and the subsequent recovery programs for the peregrine and other species, brings us to more recent reports of success on several fronts. As evidence is the impressive increase in peregrine falcon populations prompting its removal from U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in 1999. So now what, on to the next environmental crisis in the nick of time?

Charting the future

Although the peregrine falcon and other vulnerable birds might appear to be out of the woods, our work as stewards and conservationists is not over for them. Certainly the final chapter in their recovery has not yet been written. Take the situation in Pennsylvania for example. There are both federal and state laws and programs regarding endangered species. While the peregrine falcon is no longer listed as endangered in the United States, it remains listed as endangered or threatened by numerous state wildlife agencies where recovery is not complete; including Pennsylvania.

The historic records show that the peregrine nested in at least 44 locations over 21 counties in our state, and these were all “natural” cliff-ledge sites. A quandary for biologists has been that while recovery has seemingly gotten underway in Pennsylvania with the total number of nesting pairs having reached 13 in 2003, only beginning last year were two of those aeries located on native cliffs, with all the others situated on bridges and buildings in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh. Why the regal peregrine has selected city territories instead of more pristine haunts is puzzling, although expert speculation is that many of the recovery program releases of young falcons have been from city sites (in order to avoid the predation of great horned owls), and as such there might be some imprinting of the young to city habitats. Therefore, they return to nest in the more familiar urban settings.

Nonetheless, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has determined that the peregrine falcon will remain a state endangered species until half of their historic cliff sites are again occupied by nesting pairs, and until Pennsylvania’s peregrines are reproducing more successfully. As it turns out, the data shows that since the peregrine returned to breed, the number of young produced per nest is not indicative of a viable population. Even at the most successful state nesting site at the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh, where an impressive 13-year average is just above 3 young per year, questions have arisen as to the overall health of the peregrines. The founding female of that nesting pair showed a declining nesting success in terms of number of unhatched eggs and fledged young, and then went missing short of the usual adult life expectancy. And this was all taking place while fish consumption advisories for humans in the Pittsburgh region included warnings based on the residues of some of the same pesticides that were known to have originally impacted the peregrine decades ago.

What is the message?

So long as the activities of humans continue to have such pervasive and intense implications on planet Earth, we will forever have to be watchful and questioning about environmental health. We all will have to continue the type of vigilance that 45-years ago caught the peregrine on the precipice of disaster, albeit hopefully not as last-minute realizations. Environmental education has to be supported as a central tenet of general education at all levels, and it must develop ecological insight and understanding as part of the public cornerstone. This understanding will facilitate each person’s ability to act on a variety of levels.

You can rest assured that conservation organizations will continue to advance the multi-faceted cause and will need your support. There are many arenas: biodiversity inventory, environmental assessment, education, protection, management and stewardship, community issues, and so on. Perhaps one of the most critical needs is for an informed public to take action on environmental policies and related issues. Taking action does not have to be a painful thing. It can simply mean being involved - involved at the local, state, national and global levels. Conservationists should seriously consider being a squeaky wheel for the environment by making sure they are informed, speaking their minds and drawing attention to their own values by supporting causes. Write a letter, attend a meeting, talk to a neighbor, support a like-minded organization that shares your interests and, of course, vote.

Vital environmental issues are not always as do-or-die as that presented to us by the plight of the peregrine falcon 45-years ago, yet they are just as important in the long run. People deserve continued improvement in our shared environment, with all of us taking little steps of involvement leading to significant gains. Gains that will not leave us second-guessing our arrival at success, such as a future time when we’re clear that environmental quality indicators, like the peregrine falcon are, in fact, “out of the woods.” Make it clear that you, for one, understand the meaning of “public” in the development of our public policies. It often all comes down to just that.

To see a live shot of the peregrine nest atop Pittsburgh's Gulf Tower, click here.

Charles Bier can be reached at cbier@paconserve.org.

Go to the next article...