Sarah Matsumoto is the GREEN Western Organizer for the Endangered Species Coalition. Based in Albuquerque, N.M., she works to protect wildlife and wildlands across the U.S. and especially in the West.

Monday, 9 Oct 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Monday mornings always remind me of a quote by E. B. White that I used to have hanging on my bedroom wall: “Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day.” Starting a new week working to protect our country’s wildlife and wildlands, I am torn between the important work that I do and a distinct desire to call in sick so I can go explore the beautiful lands in New Mexico.

I did have a chance this weekend to savor the world a little and celebrate the beginning of fall, my favorite season in the Southwest. The days are still hot and blessed with bright blue, almost cloudless, skies; the sunsets are starting to turn the clouds and the mountains orangey-pink; and the nights are cool enough that you can fall asleep with the windows open. In Albuquerque this weekend, one of our fall traditions began: the annual balloon festival with hundreds of rainbow-colored hot-air balloons taking to the skies and people coming from across the country to see them and partake of our green chile breakfast burritos. I also celebrated a personal fall tradition this weekend, hiking with some friends into the Manzano Wilderness, through one of the Southwest’s largest stands of maples, turning yellow, orange, pink, and red.

Refreshed from a weekend enjoying New Mexico’s natural beauty, I settle down at my desk to save some of it. I am the GREEN Western Organizer for the Endangered Species Coalition. The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC), powered by GREEN (the GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network), is a national network of over 400 diverse organizations working to protect and restore imperiled species and habitat. From environmental activists to church groups, from science associations to concerned individuals, the coalition is made up of groups as varied as the species we protect. Our mission is to both strengthen the Endangered Species Act and fend off the frequent attacks on endangered species protection.

The ESC exists primarily to represent local grassroots groups who are working to protect species and habitat in their regions, states, and towns. GREEN field staff are available to help with skills training, information gathering, coalition building, media work, and on-the-ground organizing on issues important to the coalition.

Here at the ESC, we had some very exciting news last week about a great endangered species bill in Congress. As readers may know, last Tuesday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced the Endangered Species Recovery Act. (A companion bill in the House was introduced earlier this year.) This bill would strengthen the current Endangered Species Act of 1973.

This is an extremely exciting step for imperiled species of New Mexico, the West, and the rest of the country! While the original Endangered Species Act (ESA) is helping to recover many important species, such as the bald eagle, our national symbol, there are still others that are slipping through the cracks. Even with the ESA, we are faced with the greatest rate of extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Here in New Mexico, the Gila trout, the silvery minnow, the Mexican gray wolf, and the mesa verde cactus are heading toward extinction. Certainly, the ESA needs to be strengthened and this new legislation is a great step!

A Mexican gray wolf.

Photo: USFWS.

The goal of the Endangered Species Recovery Act (ESRA) is to recover, and eventually delist, the nation’s 1,233 species now considered endangered or threatened. The bill would strengthen the ESA by protecting species in a common-sense way. One of the greatest aspects of the ESRA is that it would make recovery of species, not just survival, the goal of all conservation efforts. It would also provide many programs for landowners, such as financial incentives for those who manage their land in ways that promote wildlife conservation.

Most of my day will be spent talking with papers across the West about the introduction of the ESRA and working with our local volunteers and member organizations to spread the word about this great bill. I’m also continuing my work getting activists in many different states (California, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) to talk with their senators and representatives about the grassroots support for stronger endangered species legislation in the hopes that our congresspeople will cosponsor the ESRA.

In addition to working on national bills and campaigns, I also work with Endangered Species Coalition member organizations on local, statewide, and regional efforts to protect endangered species and the habitat they depend on. Maybe I will have a chance to talk about some of those local efforts later in the week.

At the moment, I have to stop staring out the window at hot-air balloons rising in front of the Sandia Mountains and get back to the nitty-gritty work of defending the Endangered Species Act and protecting our nation’s imperiled wildlife.

Tuesday, 10 Oct 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Driving to work this morning, I heard on the radio about a clash in Denver yesterday surrounding a Columbus Day parade. The conflict was between the Italian community that was celebrating Columbus Day and Native Americans who blocked the parade route for an hour and a half to call attention to native genocide and environmental destruction since the arrival of Columbus to this continent. This started me contemplating the historical loss of native people, plants, and animals in this country and the continuing attacks on imperiled cultures and species.

The topic is appropriate today because I am attending a meeting to discuss cross-cultural aspects of conservation work. Several community activists in New Mexico are planning cross-cultural trainings for environmentalists on how to work with Hispanics, Native Americans, and other land-based communities. We are planning a training today for people who work on wildlife issues (such as endangered species) so that we can work more effectively with others in New Mexico and the Southwest.

A few months ago, an environmentally conscious rancher mentioned to me a book by Gary Paul Nabhan called Cultures of Habitat. The book’s main premise is that places with high cultural diversity have correspondingly high biological diversity. This alone is a great reason for us, as a conservation community, to begin building alliances with organizations that are focused on cultural issues. Working for a coalition that includes scientific societies, businesses, sportspeople, religious and Native American groups, and conservation organizations, I have come to understand the importance of cross-cultural communication and alliances.

The silvery minn
ow.

Due to New Mexico’s complex history of land grants and water rights, we need to be very conscious of this issue. For example, working with environmental organizations here to protect the silvery minnow, a small endangered native fish, and keep the Rio Grande flowing, I have learned much about the rich cultural traditions in this state. Native American tribes and Pueblos actually have the original water rights to the Rio Grande and have been good stewards of the river ecosystem. When Hispanic people settled the Rio Grande valley, they set up village irrigation systems called acequias that irrigated their gardens and fields in a sustainable and efficient way. Later, white settlers moved here and began to divert water for their irrigation, drinking water, and towns. The cultural landscape of the river is as varied as the natural one.

The Rio Grande, dried up near San Marcial, NM.

Photo: Jeff Whitney.

Today, there are more water rights on the Rio Grande then there is actual water in the river. With an over-appropriation of water and a drought, like we had this year, the river is likely to go dry in places. This summer, the Rio Grande dried up along a stretch that’s critical for the silvery minnow. Of course, when the river dries, the minnow isn’t the only one to suffer; endangered species are often symbols of an ecosystem in trouble. The river ecosystem, over-drawn, straightened into a channel, dammed and unable to flood, clogged with debris, and polluted, is an ecosystem in trouble. The native cottonwood trees are dwindling because there is no flooding to spread their seeds. Many native fish are dying because the river lacks backwaters in which they can spawn and lay their eggs. In addition, humans are hurt by lack of clean drinking water, lower water tables, and increased fires because of clogged debris.

Solutions will require communication between all of the “stakeholders” in the Rio Grande valley. There are many local collaborative efforts up and down the river to restore the bosque (the surrounding riparian area), recover important habitat for native plants and animals, and establish a more natural flood plain, while at the same time protecting cities from flood and fire. Environmental organizations, such as the Alliance for the Rio Grande Heritage, have begun to have conversations with Native American tribes, acequia societies, farmers, businesspeople, and others who live along and care about the Rio Grande.

Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande.

Photo: Jim Bones.

The Rio Grande is often said to be the heart and soul of New Mexico. Most New Mexicans want a free-flowing river and a healthy riparian environment. We deeply care about the bosque, the surrounding cottonwood trees, and the resident fish and wildlife. Because of our diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, finding a common solution for the Rio Grande will take much time and energy. However, many people are dedicated to finding ways to recover the river, protect fish and wildlife, and restore the lifeblood of our communities.

Hopefully, today’s cross-cultural training will be another step in the right direction to protect New Mexico’s rich cultural and biological diversity.

Wednesday, 11 Oct 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Many people following the presidential election buzz might think that George W. Bush and Al Gore are competing for the illustrious title of “Mr. Green.” You also might be led to believe that the Republican and Democratic parties have had a recent spiritual enlightenment about protecting Mother Earth. While they pat themselves on the back for their green credentials, both parties are spatting with each other over which side is holding up “the work of the people” in Congress. Truth be told, both parties are probably responsible. In the waning days of this session, Congress has already had to pass two “continuing resolutions” to keep the government running because they missed the Oct. 1 deadline to pass the bills that fund the federal government.

An op-ad by TomPaine.com.

Why the holdup? Because our elected representatives are busy assailing our critical environmental laws by attaching anti-environmental riders to key funding bills. Riders are pieces of legislation, tacked onto unrelated appropriations bills, which attack key environmental laws, programs, or funding. They are a favorite tactic of anti-environmental congresspeople because they aren’t debated in Congress or in the court of public opinion. It has been said that anti-environmental riders are like mushrooms: They grow the best with little light and lots of manure.

This year there are more than 40 such nasty little provisions stuck onto the bills that fund the federal government. For example, riders would allow grazing on public lands without environmental review, use our tax dollars to needlessly slaughter Yellowstone bison, delay reintroduction of the endangered grizzly bear into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, stop endangered gray wolves from migrating into Oregon, and limit the amount of money that can be used for two key programs for endangered species recovery. Other potential riders could block recovery programs for Stellar sea lions in Alaska, which are starving because of overfishing in their habitat, and weaken the “dolphin-safe” tuna label to allow more killing of dolphins.

A Stellar sea lion.

Photo: Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

These riders are not only objectionable because of their effect on environmental protection; they are also a direct attack on the democratic process. Like most Americans, I would like to believe that our democracy is working and that our congressional representatives are doing their job representing us. However, I realize that more often they are working against our best interests and purposely hiding their worst legislative handiwork from the eyes of the public. That is why these anti-environmental riders make me so angry — because they directly subvert the public process by attaching unrelated amendments to must-pass funding bills. Our elected representatives should not be afraid of democracy and public rule. But often they act as if they are. The mindset of many of our elected officials is summed up in a quote by an Arizona state representative talking about the laws of her state. “We live in a republic, not a democracy. We have to really watch too much democracy because it’s mob rule,” explained Arizona state Rep. Barbara Blewster.

At the Endangered Species Coalition, we believe that what you really have to watch out for are anti-environmental and anti-democratic elected officials. And we are fighting as hard as we can to stop these undemocratic attacks on our critical environmental laws. The conservation community has already had a few victories so far against anti-environmental riders this Congress, actually one of our most successful years ever. Earlier this summer, in the middle of a drought year on the Rio Grande, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) introduced a rider that would block any emergency water from being released for the endangered silvery minnow. While Domenici’s motives may have been honorable, his rider deeply interfered with local collaborative processes on the river and spelled
almost certain extinction for the minnow. After much pressure from New Mexicans and people across the country, and negotiations with Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Domenici agreed to withdraw the amendment from the funding bill. A few months later, Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) added his own anti-environmental rider that would spell disaster for salmon in the Northwest. Gorton’s rider attempted to block the study of the removal of dams along the Snake and Columbia rivers. It took a presidential veto threat, angry letters from his fellow congresspeople, Buster the Salmon (an activist dressed in a salmon costume) lobbying on Capitol Hill, and intense pressure from citizens across the country before Gorton agreed to modify his amendment.

The piping plover.

Photo: C. Perez, USFWS.

Although we have had some great victories so far in shedding light on a few of the worst riders, there are many still lingering on must-pass funding bills in Congress right now. For example, a rider affecting three endangered species — the least tern, the piping plover, and the pallid sturgeon — has been at the center of a controversy about an energy and water funding bill. Sen. Kit Bond’s (R-Mo.) rider would block efforts to restore habitat vital to the survival and recovery of the piping plover, the least tern, and the pallid sturgeon on the Missouri River. The president actually vetoed the Energy and Water Appropriations bill because of this and other anti-environmental riders. And now the bill has been sent back to Congress, which will decide whether to try to override the veto or strip the riders from the bill. This is a test for many members of Congress on whether they will continue to allow undemocratic attacks on our critical environmental laws or will stand up for endangered species and the American public.

Americans can only hope that our elected officials will have enough respect for democracy, public opinion, and our environmental laws to strip the anti-environmental riders and get on with the real “work of the people.”

Thursday, 12 Oct 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

One of my favorite parts of this job is getting to know and talk to people working to protect imperiled species and the habitat they depend on. There are so many great people who are committed to saving and recovering wildlife and wildlands, and it’s extremely exciting to be able to work with and learn from these dedicated individuals. A large part of my job is reaching out to local activists and organizations and helping to build a strong national network of grassroots activists working together to promote better endangered species protections. Our field staff across the country (including myself in Albuquerque) work with activists and organizations on local, state, and national projects to strengthen endangered species protection.

However, keeping in touch with all these different organizations and individuals across the 13 Western states that I work in can also be the most challenging and difficult part of my job. As I sit at my computer this morning, trying to write this diary entry, the phone keeps ringing and email keeps popping up on my screen about different species, events, alerts, and campaigns.

This tortoise is in a hairy situation.

Photo: USFWS.

One call I received early this morning was from a person in Nevada concerned about the fate of the desert tortoise in that state. The tortoise was once a common resident of the Southwestern desert, stretching from southern California through Nevada and into Utah. However, loss of habitat because of increasing development, combined with habitat degradation by livestock grazing and off-highway vehicle use, has caused a decline in the tortoise population of as much as 90 percent in some areas. In Nevada, most of the desert tortoises live in the southern part of the state, near Las Vegas. Anyone who has visited Vegas in the past few years will understand the threat to the tortoise because of massive development in that valley.

This past August, the Las Vegas Review-Journal broke the story about Nevada’s most powerful casino lobbyist, Harvey Whittemore, planning to build the state’s largest master planned community in one of the most pristine valleys left in southern Nevada. The Coyote Springs Valley, about 60 miles north of Las Vegas, is the home of one of the largest and most stable tortoise populations left in the state. It is also on the migration route for big horn sheep, and is surrounded by five Wilderness Study Areas. Mr. Whittemore plans to build up to 50,000 homes and 10 championship golf courses on about 42,000 acres of land in the valley. Local conservation groups are extremely concerned about the impact the development would have on the tortoise, the big horn sheep, and several endangered fish in the area. They are also concerned about Las Vegas sprawling into one of the last unspoiled valleys in southern Nevada. Local groups are working together to fight this horrendous development that would spell disaster for the tortoise.

Salmon have nowhere to run.

Image: USFWS.

A letter came in today from some salmon activists in the Northwest about the draft salmon plan from federal agencies which is supposed to restore salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The draft plan made news when the Clinton administration announced that it would delay a decision on whether to breach dams along the Snake and would instead concentrate on habitat improvement and trucking young fish past the dams. As most readers probably know, salmon populations in the Northwest have been decimated by overfishing, habitat destruction, water pollution, runoff from logging and development, and dams blocking their key spawning sites.

Many business, fishing, and conservation groups were very disappointed with the government’s plan, saying that it threatens Snake River salmon with extinction, fails to make real decisions and take real actions based on science, and sidesteps public demands for leadership to save salmon. Over 200,000 Americans have called on the administration to recognize the weight of scientific, economic, and popular support for Snake River dam removal and to make this decision now. Groups such as Save Our Wild Salmon are continuing to call on the administration to improve the plan and include real actions to save the salmon such as breaching the dams.

Endangered flora: the pitcher plant.

Photo: USFWS.

I receive calls and letters such as these every day from concerned people who are working to stop habitat destruction and species extinction. Despite the fact that 84 percent of Americans want stronger protection for endangered species, we are facing the greatest rate of extinction since the time of the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, our local, state, and national elected officials are not taking the initiative themselves to pass stronger protections for imperiled species and habitat. This is why we need strong grassroots support to strengthen and improve biodiversity protections across North America to turn back the tide of extinction.

Any U.S. organization working on wildlife and habitat can become a member of the Endangered Species Coalition and join
our efforts to protect imperiled species and habitat. Our tools are public education, scientific information, and public participation in all decisions affecting the fate of endangered and threatened species. We would love to include new people in this national network of grassroots activists and organizations working together to promote stronger endangered species protections.

Friday, 13 Oct 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

It’s Friday the 13th! And it’s also a full moon, which is very exciting. One of my friends was born on a Friday the 13th and she says it’s always a lucky day for her. Hopefully, this Friday will be a lucky day for me, because I have a lot of work to finish up before I can enjoy the weekend. Fridays are always catch-up days for me, when I frantically try to finish everything I started during the week and meet all of the optimistic goals I set for myself.

To top it all off, I’m very tired this morning because I stayed up late last night reading a book called Where Bigfoot Walks by Robert Michael Pyle. Complete with historical accounts of bigfoot sightings, in-depth analysis of bigfoot hunters, and his own personal encounters with something large and mysterious, the book is a fascinating account of the history and continuing phenomenon of the man, and woman, of the woods. The evidence pointing to a large hairy ape or hominid living in the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest is actually quite convincing. However, the main premise of the book, I think, is that people need the idea of wilderness, wildlife, and something larger than ourselves.

Florida manatee — bigfoot of the sea.

Image: USFWS.

As Pyle argues, people depend (emotionally, spiritually, physically, and economically) on natural resources and biological diversity. Just as the buffalo has helped to save the prairie and the manatee is helping to restore the Everglades, perhaps Bigfoot, real or imagined, can help people understand the importance of ancient old-growth forests. Bigfoot, like many endangered species such as the spotted owl, the wolf, the grizzly, or the fairy shrimp, can be seen as a symbol of vanishing wildlands in our contemporary world and an endangered ecosystem in need of restoration.

As Stewart Udall, former secretary of the interior, wrote in The Quiet Crisis: “History tells us that earlier civilizations have declined because they did not learn to live in harmony with the land. [People] need to learn from nature, to keep an ear to the earth, and to replenish their spirits in frequent contacts with animals and wild land. And most important of all … [recover] a sense of reverence for the land.”

Spotted owls keeping an eye on the earth.

Image: USFWS.

If you would like to “keep an ear to the earth” by getting news about wildlife and wildlands, we at the Endangered Species Coalition have many publications that provide interested folks with up-to-date information. In fact, one of my tasks for today is gathering articles for our quarterly news magazine, ESA Today. For this edition, there are several Endangered Species Coalition members who are writing articles about endangered species in the West. A wildlife rehabilitator in Colorado is writing about her experience saving a Preble’s meadow jumping mouse who got her tail caught in a trap. In California, someone is writing a story for us about an Army base that wants to expand its “war games” training facility into critical desert tortoise habitat. In addition, an expert on land exchanges is writing an article for us about swaps of government and private lands in Utah that have made developers into millionaires by ripping off taxpayers and endangered species.

We also have great email publications about species issues. GREENLines is a daily news digest about endangered species, biodiversity related issues, and people working to stop extinction. It’s read every morning by thousands of interested students, scientists, reporters, and environmental activists. To subscribe to GREENLines, send an email to greenlines@reply.net with “subscribe” in the subject line. For those of you who crave even more news and action, we also have an activist package that includes GREENLines, periodic action alerts, weekly publications about important wildlife and wildlands bills in Congress, and a weekly digest of Federal Register notices on endangered species programs. To subscribe to this full package, send an email to actgreen@reply.net. It’s all free of charge.

For more information, or if you would like to become an Endangered Species Coalition member, send an email to esc@stopextinction.org. Any U.S. organization can become a member and we would love to include more people in our network working for strong biodiversity protection. We also have a sister organization in Canada, the B.C. Endangered Species Coalition. On their website, you can make a beast of yourself by sending a letter to the prime minister about weak endangered species legislation proposed in Canada.

I am kind of sad to be writing my last diary entry. Grist Magazine is a great publication and I’d like to thank them for letting me share my week with all of you. I’ve enjoyed hearing from people across the country about your experiences with wildlife and wildlands. If you would like to contact me, send an email to smatsumoto@stopextinction.org.

I think I’ll end the week with a quote. As the Dalai Lama said, “Change only takes place through action. Frankly speaking, not through prayer or meditation, but through action.” Please join us in our actions to save endangered species and promote strong biodiversity protection. For the Wild!