Bexar tracks : the newsletter of the Bexar Audubon Society, Vol. 18, No. 08

• Main Author: Bexar Audubon Society
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: San Antonio, Tex. : Bexar Audubon Society, 2000
• Subjects: Birds > Conservation > Texas > Periodicals.; Ornithology > Texas > Periodicals.; Nature conservation > Texas > Periodicals; Clubs and Organizations; Science and Technology; Alabama; Arctic; Austin; Cara; Coates; Conway; Gonzalez; Grande Valley; Guano; Hayes; Hoskins; Hurley; Laurie; Nozzle; Pacific; Payne; Perez; Pillar; Pulitzer; Rodriguez; Scripps; The Nozzle; Toledo; Watchers; Global warming; polar bear; Tundra; Alaska; osprey
• Online Access: http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15125coll10/id/8025

Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). Tuesday, October 3, 2000-Chapter Meeting A lion for all seasons BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY First Place, 2000 National Audubon Society newsletter contest for large chapters The beautiful, sensuous, but deadly mountain lion Is topic of October chapter meeting 6:30p.m. - Social Time; 7:00p.m. - Program Free and open to the public Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway (Take Hildebrand exit off 281) For VIA public transportation: take Route 9 or 14 to the Broadway/ Pershing/ Toledo intersection The mountain lion was one of the most successful mammals in the Western Hemisphere. While there are healthy populations of mountain lions in Texas and many other Western states, the lion has been steadily eliminated from most of its former range in North America. In recent years the expansion of human populations into lion habitat in the West has resulted in a·n increasing number of lion/ human interactions and a growing concern that "something has got to be done." What could or should be done is the problem, a problem compounded by the fact that we do not know all. that much about mountain lion behavior in Texas and other places. BAS members will learn at the October meeting about the present condition of the mountain lion from Dede Armentrout, founder and chief executive officer of the Mountain Lion Foundation of Texas. The Foundation is a new non-profit organization that promotes conservation of mountain ,lions through acquisition and distribution of information, education, promotion of ethical lion research and by forging partnerships with landowners to provide economic benefits to those who are stewards of good habitat for mountain lions and their prey. Her presentation will include some beautiful pictures of mountain lions, an overview of what is known about their natural history, range, behavior, adaptations and plight, as well as the public policies and private actions that affect mountain lions. While the lions normally lead a rural lifestyle, it may well be that urban wildlife enthusiasts hold the key to lion conservation in Texas. Armentrout has a Ph.D. in physiological ecology from Texas Tech University. She has taught biology at Howard Payne University and Southwest Texas State. For 20 years she was regional Vice President for the National Audubon Society in the Southwest and was a co­founder and coordinator of Plan-it-Texas, an agriculture/environmental leaders' cooperative, and edited "A Landowner's Manual to Sus­taining Private Ranches in Central Texas." She has served on a number ot national and state environmental advisory committees. Talking turkey Thesday, November 7, 2000, Chapter Meeting Same time and place as October Meeting - see above It is the season, but these birds do more Than just grace our Thanksgiving table As every attentive school child knows, Benjamin Franklin suggested that the turkey would be the ideal national bird since the eagle was known to be a thief-ask any osprey-and has other unsavory habits. As usual Ben had insight into the future and, perhaps, could envision not only groaning boards at Thanksgiving but ringing cash registers as both turkey hunters and turkey watchers travel the country in search of an elusive and elegant bird. ~tour November meeting, BAS member will hear first hand of the decline and resurrection of this noble (ask Ben) bird, its important place in today's wildlife picture and its contribution to our economy. Our speaker will be Steve DeMaso, Upland Game Program Coordinator for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Austin. DeMaso has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Michigan State University and a M.S. in Range and Wildlife Management from Texas A& I University in Kingsville. Before coming to Texas he worked from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation on the nationally recognized Packsaddle Quail Study. DeMaso's presentation will include an analysis of the status of the Rio Grande turkey in central Texas and an indication of turkey population trends. We will learn the ecology and habitat requirements of these birds and the economic importance of both turkeys and turkey hunters. BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY Chapter of the National Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 78209 21 0-822-4503 GOALS The Chapter's primary goals are to promote species and habitat conservation and environmental education in the community. President Vice Pres. Treasurer Secretary Past Pres. OFFICERS Tatjana Walker ([e-mail]) . 532·2332 . . evening: 832·8681 Mike Macke ([e-mail]) . 344·3737 Rita Banda ([e-mail]) . 830 606·1946 Susan Hughes ([e-mail]) . 532·2332 Bill Sain . . . Moved to New Mexico BOARD OF DIRECTORS Term Ending 2000: Chris Dullnig . ([e-mail]). 830·980·8156 Bill Hurley . ([e-mail]) . 341·2676 Janis Merrit . . . . . 698·1 095 Bill Barker Harry Noyes Tom Wilson Term Ending 2001: . . . . . . ([e-mail]) . . . . . ([e-mail]) . 490·3124 . ([e-mail]) . 492·4799 COMMITTEE CHAIRS Aud. Adven. Betty Minyard . ([e-mail]) . . 344·6128 Birdathon . . . . . . . . available Conserv. Harry Noyes . ([e-mail]) . 490·3124 Education Mary Kennedy . ([e-mail])698·7175x267 Dwight Henderson ([e-mail]) 496·5934 Hospitality . . . available Memb. Natural lnit. Outings Programs Publicity SAEN Coord. Bexar Tracks Editors Mailing TxAS Bd. . . . available Tom Wilson . ([e-mail]) . 492·4799 . . . . . . . : . available . ··············· . available Rita Banda ([e-mail]) . 830 606·1946 Mike Mecke ([e-mail]) . 344·3737 . . . . . . . . . available Tom Wilson . ([e-mail]) . 492·4799 Jill Sandeen . 830·980·3277 Qsondeen@ NetXPress.com) . Fax: 830·438· 7393 . available Tatjana Walker ([e-mail]) . 532·2332 Bexar Tracks is your newsletter. We welcome your contributions. Next deadline: Lay-up final deadline: Nov 3, 2000 Nov 10, 2000 Please fax Jill or email Tom as above; diskettes and hard copy should be sent to Tom Wilson, 13227 Hunters Spring, San Antonio, TX 78230. () Printed with soy ink on recycled paper. Visit Bexar Audubon's Web Site: http://www.audubon.org/chapter/tx/bexar/ Suggestions and contributions are welcome. Please contact Bill Hurley at billhurley@ msn.com October/ November 2000 Walker on the Wild Side Gas prices sure are high . Is it affecting you much? Changing the way you feel about driving? Or about fuel mileage? Some members of Congress feel the rise in prices justifies the opening of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil exploration and drilling. Is this a solution? No, and environmental groups, including National Audubon, are broadly aligned and working overtime to see that the ANWR is protected forever. The ANWR is the largest fully-functioning ecosystem in the United States. "Pristine" is an understatement. So is "fragile." Consider this: Tread-marks made 20 years ago, through snow, are still visible today on the tundra. I doubt most of the folks reading this newsletter need much convincing that the ANWR should be off-limits to oil exploration. But I have been hearing in the news lately the call to drill there. The rhetoric is always something like "unburdening the American people of these high prices and securing our future with increased domestic production." From what I have read, that concept is deeply flawed. Drilling advocate Sen. Frank Murkowski (AK) says it will take a decade to produce oil from the ANWR. The most recent U.S. Geological Survey estimates are that 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil are there. Environmentalists say this figure is optimistic, but if correct, would supply domestic needs for only six months. We could save that much oil by properly inflating our tires for a few years. The Coastal Plain represents the last 5 percent of Arctic coastline in Alaska. The rest is being drilled. The consequences for wildlife have not been good. Why not leave a little bit to share with nature? Over 200 species live in the ANWR. This includes polar bears and many migratory birds. (A female polar bear with cubs is very sensitive to disruption. They may abandon cubs if they feel threatened.) It also includes the 130,000 caribou in the Porcupine herd. This herd is not just amazing in its own right, it is relied upon by the Gwich'in people. The Gwich'in have been hunting the caribou and living sustainably for around 30,000 years. They consider the coastal plain where the caribou calve (and where the drilling would occur) to be sacred and they do not go there. They have united as a nation to ask the U.S. to protect this land forever and to help ensure their way of life can continue. It seems clear that calfs to open the ANWR in response to current oil prices are not well-reasoned. The cost to our environment is too great for a solution that is not sustainable. The cost to the Gwich'in is clearly too great. Perhaps some better solutions would be to invest more aggressively in solar energy. Or to raise the corporate average fuel economy standards (CAFE) for cars and light trucks. While these long-term, sustainable solutions may be further away than we'd wish, there is a solution for the ANWR available now. The Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act (HR 1239) and the companion Senate bill (S867) offer us the chance to see this area permanently protected as wilderness. San Antonio's U.S. Representatives Giro Rodriguez and Charles Gonzalez are cosponors. Getting this legislation passed someday is very important. There is another route we can pursue in tandem with congressional wilderness designation. We can ask President Clinton to designate the coastal plain a National Monument before he leaves office. It's the last 5 percent of America's Arctic coast. It is worth protecting. Please thank Rep. Rodriguez and Rep. Gonzalez for their leadership on this matter. Ask our other area representatives and Texas's Senators to support this legislation. Please contact President Clinton as well. Here is some contact information: U.S. Capitol Switchboard: [phone] Senate Address: US Senate, Washington, DC 20510 House Address: US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 Contacting the President: President William J. Clinton The White House Washington DC 20500 White House Comment Desk: [phone], Fax: [phone] -Tatjana Walker, President 2 Bexar Tracks SECOND SATURDAY PROGRAM Second Saturdays are co-sponsored by the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and the Bexar Audubon Society. Eisenhower Park is located at 19399 N. W. Military Hwy., about 2 miles outside of Loop 1604 on the city's northwest side. Take the FM1535 1 MilitaryHwy I Shavano Park exit, go north on FM1535, and the park will be on the left, just before you reach Camp Bullis. Saturday, October 14,2000 Saturday, November 11,2000 Deer and their Ethnobotany and You Place in the Ecosystem A discussion of human life on this planet would not be complete without considering the role of plants. A complete record of the many thousands of plant species used for human functioning would fill volumes. And that is where ethnobotany comes in. Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular culture and region make of use of indigenous plants. To discover the practical potential of native plants, an ethnobotanist must be knowledgeable not only in the study of plants themselves, but must understand and be sensitive to the dynamics of how cultures work. Deer are a part of our cultural and natural worlds. Many of us grew up with images of Bambi and visitors to our natural area parks often stop and watch with delight and wonder when they come upon a deer. However, as gardeners and wildlife managers will attest, deer can leave quite a mark on an area. So whether you are a romantic or a pragmatist when it comes to deer, the October Second Saturday Program is for you. Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist Robert Perez will speak on "Deer and their Place in the Ecosystem." Robert will discuss the different kinds of deer found in the San Antonio area as well as the impact deer have on the land. The program, scheduled for October 14 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Eisenhower Park, Pavilion 2, will also include some opportunities for hands-on experience. We here in San Antonio are lucky to have noted botanist, author, and consultant Patty Pasztor. With experience at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and Friedrich Wilderness Park, Patty has a special interest in ethnobotany and will be presenting the November Second Saturday program. Patty will explore how our native plants have been and are used for such things as food, shelter, medicine, clothing, hunting, and religious ceremonies. Reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations please call21 0-698-1057. A $2 donation is requested. Directions to the park are found at the top of the page. The presentation, scheduled for November 11, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Eisenhower Park, Pavilion 2, will include a walk in the park to see some of our own native plants. Reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations please call 21 0-698- 1057. A $2 donation is requested. MEMBER MEETING RECAP --~ --- ~-~ --- ~- Thesday, Au~ust 2, 2000, Meetin~ Recap You're an incidental, but consider yourself lucky Troglodytes can't go anywhere the sun shines A nearly full house of more than 50 people came to the BAS meeting on Aug. 2 to hear about the life down under. Dr. George Veni described the varied, albeit nutrient poor, balanced ecosystem that exists in caves. The fact that caves can't really support more than 30 - 40 species makes them an ideal laboratory to study a complete system that is naturally simple. There are four zones of life in caves. We ourselves would fall into that class of cave-inh?bitants termed "incidental." These might hang out near the entrance and use the cave as shelter from the weather. Incidentals are dependent on going out each day to get food. The next zone consists of creatures who spend part of their life cycle underground, but have to go out during some part of it. These creatures, like harvestmen, cave crickets, and, of course, bats, are dependent on light for their October/ November 2000 existence/ food supply. Then there are the "troglophiles," who complete their entire life underground. They · don't have to go above ground, but they can if something happens inside the cave to their environment. Finally, there are the "troglodytes," or obligate cave-dwellers. These have evolved to such a state (blind, skinny elongated energy-efficient bodies, non-pigmented) that they would not be able to exist outside of a cave. However, the bat guano and the micro-organisms and fungi that metabolize it and in turn become sources of food for the troglodytes originally came from outside bugs (although processed, if you will . ). Recently there have been a couple of caves discovered that have no known exit to the surface that have unique life forms t~at apparently live off minerals and oil. George described snot-like plants hanging from the ceiling that were rich in bacteria. 3 These are of interest to NASA exobiologists. Another interesting aspect of cave biology, is that from it you can tell about past life. For example, in the Pleistocene, once mainly tropical areas dried up. Animals apparently were driven down to the moist environment. In one cave up north, there is a species of earwig that is similq.r to one that lives in tropical Brazil, indicating that the environment once was more tropical. There is a growing trend to study the cave denizens right here in the Edwards ·Aquifer region. There are also a few caves in the Trinity Aquifer region, but not as many as in the Edwards. Cave species are very susceptible to pollution. If we can keep our cave dwellers healthy, then we are more assured that our water supply will be healthy. Here's another example where protecting endangered species ultimately helps maintain our own health. -Jill Sandeen Bexar Tracks WATER-THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN LIFE Drought is no longer an unusual phenomenon By JOAN LOWY, Scripps Howard News Service Editor's note: The following is the first in a series of articles on Water, the essential ingredient in life and an issue of increasing contention as population outstrips supply. This article comes to us courtesy of the Scripps Howard News Service and the TEXBIRDS listserv. Along with backyard barbecues and family vacations, it seems as if drought and water shortages have become a rite of summer for many Americans. This summer, much of the Southeast, parts of Texas, the Southwest and Hawaii are in the throes of . moderate to severe drought. Conditions in Georgia and parts of Florida, Louisiana and Alabama are especially harsh. "For parts of the Southeast, this was as bad a drought as they've ever experienced," says Michael Hayes, a climate specialist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska. In Texas and northern Mexico, the difficulty isn't so much the severity of the current drought but the cumulative impact of drought over five of the last six years. In the parched Rio Grande Valley, reservoirs have dropped to a record low of 19 percent of capacity. Experts cannot say whether rising global temperatures have already caused greater drought, but most agree that global warming will eventually create drier conditions in some parts of the United States, particularly the Southeast. One thing on which most weather forecasters, environmentalists and water experts agree is that it's becoming more difficult and more expensive for many communities to meet increasing water demands created by population growth and economic development. And, in times of drought, meeting those demands becomes even tougher. Although nearly three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered with water, freshwater is a finite resource that is increasingly in short supply. Only 3 percent of the world's water is fresh and two-thirds of that is frozen. By global standards, the United States is water-rich. It has 4 percent of the world's population, but 8 percent of the world's freshwater. But the availability · of freshwater varies widely by region and several trends have combined to make it increasingly difficult for many communities to expand existing supplies. Nearly all the nation's easily and cheaply accessible freshwater is already spoken for. Increasing public awareness of the environmental damage created by damming rivers and reducing stream flows has created virtually insurmountable opposition in many parts of the country to October/ November 2000 new water projects. Shifting population growth in recent decades to more arid Sunbelt communities has increased water demand in the regions least able to meet those demands. Population shifts are "putting a lot of stress on the ability to supply water to communities and that makes them more vulnerable to a drought situation than they might otherwise be," Hayes says. With new water sources harder to obtain, communities and utilities are increasingly stressing conservation as the main solution. Conservation efforts got a big boost in the early 1990s when Congress enacted national water use standards for toilets, showerheads and faucets. Some appliances like washing machines and dishwashers have become more water­efficient. And most utilities have public education programs that alert homeowners how to conserve when watering lawns. More than half of all residential water use in the United States is outdoor use, primarily watering lawns and landscaping. In some areas, conservation has had a significant impact. Water demand in Los Angeles, for example, has remained basically flat for two decades despite increased population primarily because of conservation, says Steven Erie, a professor at the University of California-San Diego and expert on water supply issues in Southern California. "The problem is that we're now talking about adding 2-1/2 new Chicagos (population 2.8 million) to Southern California. Just the sheer numbers are going to drive up demand even with all the conservation that we've had," Erie says. Consequently, thirsty communities in Southern California, Colorado and elsewhere are increasingly buying up water currently used for agriculture. Nationally, less than 10 percent of water use is residential. About 35 percent is agricultural and 55 percent is industrial, including power generation. But in California, 80 percent goes to irrigate crops. Some farmers are also conserving more water by using recent innovations in irrigation. Instead of sprinklers that spray water into the air with significant evaporation losses, more farmers are using drip irrigation and special sprinklers that carefully target water and keep it closer to the ground. Sometimes water transfers from agriculture to cities have serious 4 consequences. In eastern Colorado, when water has left prairie farms that have been irrigated for more than a century, the land has dried up and communities have evaporated. Conservation efforts in California's Imperial Valley were expected to enable a major water transfer to parched San Diego. Environmentalists now question whether conserving water that is normally lost through irrigation will wind up reducing water supplies to the Salton Sea, a key migratory bird sanctuary near Palm Springs. For years, Southern California has been significantly overdrawing water from the Colorado River. Seven states and parts of northern Mexico rely on water from the river, which now runs dry much of the time before reaching the Pacific. One potential solution getting greater consideration is desalinization. But desalinization has serious drawbacks. Plant construction is expensive, the process consumes vast amounts of energy and disposal of leftover salt is a serious environmental question. Desalinization accounts for only 0.2 percent of worldwide water consumption, and nearly half of the world's desalinated water is produced by plants in the Persian Gulf. "Essentially what they are doing is using their oil to make water," says Sandra Postel, a water policy expert and author ("Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Lasf?"). "Who else can afford to do that besides the Persian Gulf?" Still, technological advances have brought the price of desalinization down, although not enough to be competitive with urban water rates and a far cry from agricultural water rates. Some coastal communities, particularly in Florida and Southern California, are beginning to plan desalinization plants. Environmentalists remain skeptical of desalinization. "It reminds me of the way we thought about nuclear power 30 years ago-that it would become too cheap to meter," Postel says. "Of course, it never happened." Another serious supply problem is groundwater depletion. The Ogallala Aquifer, which spans parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming and covers 181,200 square miles, is one of the world's great aquifers. But with the introduction of Continued on page 5 Bexar Tracks WATER {cant) Continued from page 4 powerful centrifugal pumps after World War II, farmers and communities have been draining water from the aquifer far faster than it can be replenished. That has caused water levels to drop precipitously, making · water withdrawal more difficult and more expensive. As a result, in some parts of the aquifer-particularly northwest Texas­farmers have begun to shift to more dry land farming, to less thirsty crops or to abandon farming altogether. That shift is expected to continue for another 20 to 40 years. In some areas, farmers are irrigating one-third less crops than they did 20 years ago. "While they have been doing a good job of improving their efficiency; they are still not in a balance situation with the aquifer, they are still depleting it, and in a drought year they have to pump even more," Postel says. Groundwater depletion in some parts of Florida has allowed saltwater to seep into freshwater aquifers, forcing communities to turn to small . desalinization plants to treat contaminated water. Groundwater depietion to quench development and agriculture has also caused serious environmental problems. Water woes aren't limited to the Sunbelt. The record drought that crippled Middle Atlantic states last year has also focused more attention on water supply and conservation. "The Eastern Seaboard is now so heavily concentrated with population that it's difficult to reach further and further out for water because you just reach further into populated areas," Postel says. "We are seeing some limits." The Northeast is also beginning to experience the kind of legal battles over water that have been commonplace in the arid West for decades. For example, Waterbury, Conn., was successfully sued by residents concerned that plans to increase water withdrawals from the Shebaug River woufd harm stream flows, fisheries and recreation. Boston's plans in the mid-1980s to divert more water from the Connecticut River were abandoned in favor of greater conservation after environmentalists' protests. Ironically, as conservation becomes more widespread and effective, rationing becomes a more painful tool ·for coping with drought because the cushion is reduced. The bottom line, says Hayes, is that "droughts have always been a problem in the past. They are a problem now and they will continue to be a problem regardless of what the climate is going to be in the future, and so we need to take steps to prepare for that." October/ November 2000 MEMBER FIELD TRIP RECAP Millions of aiiinials: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 field trip recap Almost all human senses rewarded At Bracken bat cave BAS outing The visual spectacle was all it was billed to be, but it was the ~ sensations no one had ~ mentioned that struck me most: ~$'to impact cannot be ignored. Many species of bats around the world are endangered by human ignorance and greed-through The pungent smell of guano, habitat loss, persecution, and of course, but more surprisingly the quiet insistent humming and soft downward breeze off thousands of rapidly beating leathern wings. A narrow, twisting river of bats writhed just above the low trees above our heads, not more than 15 or 20 feet off the ground­close enough to see the tiny heads projecting in front of the pulsing wings. SoQn those tiny heads would be chomping down on myriads of moths with the gusto of velociraptors. Some 200 tons of insects die in those sonar-guided jaws nightly. So massive are the fleets involved in this nightly air battle that human radar can pick up the scene as the stream of bats . closes with the stream of bugs 5,000 feet or more up in the Texas sky. No one really knows how much money the bats save Texas farmers, in crops not eaten by caterpillars atld in pesticide costs avoided, but a figure of $100 mil lion a year is sometimes bandied around. That night more than 30 million bats would boil out of Bracken cave, a few miles north of Loop 1604 on the road to Natural Bridge Caverns. Some 20 million Mexican free-tail bat females arrive each spring­for Bracken is a maternity cave, where male free-tails a_re not welcome-and give birth to about one pup each. By this late August evening, the maximum summer load had already been trimmed as some of the bats had dispersed from the ja:m-packed cave to other roosts. Others had succumbed to nature's rigorous winnowing. A hawk swooped through the chiropteran flow this dusk and returned to a nearby tree, presumably with a small wingy corpse to shred and swallow. One observer saw the snake that hangs around the mouth of the cave grabbing bats that fly too low. E;!ut the huge population of bats­believed to be the greatest single concentration of mammals of any kind at any place upon the Earth-hardly notices such losses. Unfortunately, other bats in other places suffer unnatural losses whose 5 even hunting for food. Americans may not eat bats, but many of us are no less superstitious about them than the peoples of developing lands. Just recently, many local people were thrown into near panic by inaccurate TV reports suggesting that rabid bats were fluttering everywhere. The truth is that, while bats can get rabies, only a tiny percentage do and rabid bats typically avoid human contact. Virtually the only humans who ever get rabies from bats are people who foolishly handle bats they find lying on the ground. There are many reasons besides rabies for bats to fly around in daytime, especially at this time of year when many young ones are just learning to fly and hunt and may get lost trying to return home at dawn. Certainly the tiny risk of rabies from bats is far outweighed by the human lives they save, through consumption of disease­bearing insects, through crop-protection that reduces pesticide use, through pollination and seed-dispersal by vegetarian bats that preserves crucial plant species. The 65 or so members and guests of BAS who visited Bracken Cave on Aug. 23 learned things like this, and much more, from their hosts. One of South Texas' most important ·conservation leaders, J. David Bamberger, and wildlife expert (and BAS member) Kim Hoskins welcomed the v.isitors on behalf of Bat Conservation International (which owns Bracken Cave) and shared their voluminous knowledge. But ultimately, it was the bats themselves that taught the most important lessons, about the beauty, the majesty and the sheer incre,ldible vastness of life on Earth. The several dozen fortunate folks who stared upwards at that seemingly endless river of bats, open-eyed and sometimes open-mouthed with awe (despite warnings that guano has to start somewhere), left with a clearer appreciation of this wonder of the biological world and how much we stand to lose if we do not safeguard places like Bracken Cave and the creatures who reside in them. -Harry Noyes Bexar Tracks CONSERVATION NEWS Attwater's prairie chicken hangs on, ***Action Alert*** It's Now or Never forCARA But just barely; survival still in doubt Editors note: the following report was provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife. The Attwater's prairie chicken, Texas' most endangered bird, is showing a slight increase in numbers this year, according to recent surveys, though the recovery is small and the population still fragile. This once abundant bird, which numbered more than a million along a coastal belt across Louisiana and Texas, had declined to only 42 birds in two Texas counties last year. The main cause for this decline, according to state wildlife biologists, is the loss of specialized coastal grassland habitat these birds require. The good news is that census data this year show 50 wild birds in those same two counties. The slight recovery last year can be attributed in no small part to captive breeding efforts at five facilities across Texas. Last year these facilities were able to rear more than 1 00 birds for release in the wild. "Once released on the range, these young birds have to contend with all the same environmental concerns as other wildlife, including predation, disease and harsh weather," said Mark Klym, coordinator of the Adopt-a-Prairie-Chicken program at Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW). "Last year we had a particularly hard drought and many of the young birds died from starvation. We held some of the captive bred birds back and released them in late winter. All things considered, the increase in numbers is promising, and it shows that captive breeding and release can have a positive effect on this population." As with most ground nesting birds, Klym explained, the Attwater's suffer significant losses of young each year. The birds rely on young from areas that experience fewer losses to reinforce the existing population. The captive-breeding program has essentially served as reinforcements. This year, there a number of promising signs for the Attwater's recovery effort, said Klym. A new brood facility, the Abilene Zoo, is producing eggs from its captive birds. Several of the established breeding sites are reporting good egg and chick production and, for the first time in recent years, wild chicks fledged and dispersed from nests on the release ranges. Biologists hope 150 or more young raised in captivity will be released to the wild this yaar. If some of October/ November 2000 the young hatched on the site also survive, numbers should increase again in the next census. "We are still learning a lot about this bird and its environmental needs." said John Herron, TPW Wildlife Diversity program director. "Unfortunately we have to learn it quickly if we are going to save the Attwater's prairie chicken from extinction. The number of survivors is not surprising for this type of bird-in natural reproduction most of the year's hatch would be lost. When you are dealing with only 50 birds in the wild, however, losing most of the birds without a means of producing more than you lose could be catastrophic to the species." In 1993, biologists began breeding Attwater's prairie chickens in captivity as insurance against extinction. Captive populations now exist at several locations: Sea World San Antonio, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center near Waxahachie, the San Antonio Zoo, the Abilene Zoo and the Houston Zoo. A research facility at Texas A&M University serves to provide information about diseases with the captive population of prairie chickens. Ranchers and landowners also are working with state and federal scientists to restore the bird, Herron added. Earlier in this decade, TPW biologists bought grazing leases on private land with prairie chicken populations near the Attwater's Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and worked with landowners to improve habitat and gradually reintroduce grazing. Herron said continued funding for the recovery program is crucial. "The public can help this highly endangered species," he said. "Raising these chicks is costly, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has established a program to help." A donation of $25 will help raise one chick to release to the wild, Herron said. Donations are used in full to support the care and feeding at Attwater's prairie chicken chicks in the captive breeding programs. Donations payable to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation should be mailed to Adopt-a-Prairie-Chicken, Texas Parks and Wildlife, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin TX 78744. For more information about the program, call Mark Klym, Adopt-a-Prairie Chicken coordinator, at [phone]. 6 Despite strong support, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) is still very much in danger of slipping through the cracks in the Senate, with the limited amount of time remaining in the congressional schedule. Congress has just returned to work, and we need to show the Senate and the White House the widespread and diverse support CARA has. It's "now or never" for CARA. The federal government receives over $4 billion annually in royalties from oil and gas drilling from offshore reserves, some of which is supposed to be deposited into the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). In turn, the LWCF is supposed to fund local, state, and federal conservation programs. But Congress has diverted more than $11 billion from LWCF over the last 15 years. CARA would correct that. CARA already has been approved overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives and has been passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. But opponents are doing their best to block this landmark legislation. Several senators are circulating a letter to their colleagues asking the Senate leadership to bring CARA to the Senate floor in September. This is a very important effort -11 Senators have signed the letter so far, . and our goal is have at least 60. Senate rules prevent traditional "co-sponsorship" of the bill at this stage, so this is the best way to send a strong signal to the Senate leadership that CARA can pass the full Senate if brought to the Senate floor. The next few weeks are critical. Your calls, letters, and faxes made a huge difference in getting CARA through the House and the Senate Energy Committee. Now we need your help to get as many Senators as possible to sign on to the "CARA Letter" to convince the Senate leadership to move CARA forward. Go to http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/cara- 0901 OO.htm to take action, or call your Senators (where you vote) at (202) 224- 3121 (Capitol switchboard). CALLS ARE BEST RIGHT NOW! Ask your Senator to sign on to the "CARA Letter to the Senate leadership" to bring the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (known as HR 701) to the Senate floor. Bexar Tracks BIRD TALES --~-- Tales from the Sandwich Bar "All Day They Face the Barren Waste" By Mari Bailey The Bar has become an oasis in the semi-arid region that now is most of my neighborhood. In this time of severe drought, drinkable water for wild birds is scarce-even more so than food. At the Bar, there is always fresh cool water-in a low aluminum pan and in a manmade concrete "puddle." . The latter idea came from a "How To Help Birds" suggestion which read : Buy one bag of 'readymix' concrete. Dig a SHALLOW depression about 2 feet l~ng and 1 foot wide in the ground. It will need to graduate in depth from about 1 to 3 inches. F1ll the depr~ssion with the wet concrete, pressing it up against the sides and as a lip around the nm. Put stream-tumbled smooth stones on this lip for 'effect' (even after the c~ncrete is dry). While the ideal is to run a small pipe with a very slow drip to this "puddle" (b1_rds ar~ attracte~ to the sound of dripping water), it is just as easy to just fill it once or tw1ce da1ly--occas1onally sweeping out any leaves or other debris with a broom. Bi_rds b~the in the waters; birds drink the waters; and clever grackles soften hard dog food kibble 1n the waters. As the drought worsens, it is becoming all too apparent that the birds not only LIKE these water sources, they NEED them. . . . Whil~ these activities go on in the FRONT yard, the BACKyard birds are now regularly nskmg d~1nk~ from th_e dogs' oft-guarded watering tubs and bowls. It is easy to surmise d~sperat1on 1_n the_ a~t1ons of these birds. Interestingly, such large flocks gather now that no b~rds are fall1ng ~1ct1m to the 'canis familiaris' lurking in the yard. With that many pairs of ?1rd eyes watchmg (there IS safety in numbers!), it is simply impossible ·for the dogs to 1nvoke the element of surprise for an ambush. A heartbreaking (for me, anyway) wild-bird-and-drought experience occurred last week. I l~ft a garden hose on 'mega-slow' drip at the base of a clearly thirsty young hackberry. In ~p1te o~ the meager water output, the hose nozzle became a 'Wild Bird Magnet' almost 1mmed1ately. S~ many birds happil~ shared the end of that hose that 1 had to muster strong resolve to turn 1t off after a short t1me of watering. For literally 2 hours, birds flew to the nozzle and peered within, hoping in vain for a renewed flow of water. A few even showed up the next day, "just in case." Perhaps I am "preaching to the choir," but I ask that you remember to 'water' the birds in your yard. Peanut-butter-and-seed-sandwiches-on-wheat-toast taste FAR better AFTER you've "wet your whistle" --or so I THINK the birds would say . Rare doves in Arkansas Editors note: This dispatch comes from the Petit Jean Audubon Society Newsletter, summer edition. Will these rare birds ever show up in San Antonio? This is a year for unusual doves in Conway [Arkansas]. Martha Johnson reported at white-winged dove at a back yard feeder on May 3. Two days later, a white-winged dove was seen in the yard of Bob and Betty Hambuchen. A check with Max Parker, Curator of bird records for the state, produced from him a chuckle that there had been a white-winged dove 1n his yard in Malvern several weeks earlier. The Conway report was the farthest north-east record for this species in Arkansas until Parker was contacted by a man who saw one near his home in Searcy County. The white-winged dove is new to Faulkner County records. October/ November 2000 No paint involved Green homes and buildings Symposium set for Sept. 22 Find out about the increasing trend across the country of "green homes and green buildings" at the September 22, 2000, "South Texas Green Home Symposium," developed by Solar San Antonio, a local non-profit organization, chaired by Bill Sinkin. The Greater SA Chamber of Commerce is a co-host of the symposium, which is sponsored by Bexar County, the City of San Antonio, City Public Service, ICF Counseling and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tickets for the 8:30 - 2:30 p.m. symposium at Magnolia on Main are $25, which includes lunch. E-mail Bill Sinkin at [e-mail] - 7 September 29,2000 National Public Radio's Steve Curwood to speak in San Antonio Steve Curwood, host of Living On Earth, National Public Radio's award­winning program ori the environment, will speak in San Antonio on "Water: Global Issues, Local Perspectives" at noon Friday, September 29, in the Fiesta Room of the Coates University Center at Trinity University. Call 210-614-8977 for more info. Trinity University professor Dr. Char Miller, author of Fluid Arguments: Water in . the American West and Water in the West: A High Country News Reader, will also speak during the lunchtime program. Environmental groups from throughout the area will also have special displays in the foyer of the lecture hall. Box lunches will be provided. Living On Earth (LOE), heard at noon on Tuesdays and again at 9 p.m. Thursdays on KSTX 89.1 FM, delves into the leading issues affecting the world we inhabit. As the population continues to rise, the management of our resources becomes even more critical. LOE examines the issues of an increasingly interdependent world by presenting multifaceted featl,Jres; reports, and commentary on culture, economics, fashion, health, the law, medicine, environment, politics, society, technology, transportation, recreation, and food. This dynamic program covers topics from the small challenges of everyday life to the future state of our environment, our health, and our well-being. Curwood is the executive producer and host of Living On Earth. His relationship with NPR goes back to 1979 when he began as a reporter and host of Weekend All Things Considered. Curwood has also worked as a print and television journalist and is the recipient of a shared Pulitzer Prize for his work while at The Boston Globe newspaper. .-;;,,,&_yfy.,4'/.~·A~Ii~ ' -<!~,_, ., ,,. . "·'J "·•JiX' t;;~p ~'" " - k ·."'," '-'1 O~ ,p, ''<f'.Jl' I •.; Memorials have been received from Alamo Bobbin Lacers and from Dr. & Mrs. Henry T. Lippert in memory of Bexar Tracks r --- ~ . Membership Form Bexar Audubon Soc1ety, Inc. Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid San Antonio Permit #590 National Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6084 Bexar AudubonSociety San Antonio, TX 78209 (Chapter Code W19) Membership rates are: Address Service Requested Student/Senior $15 Introductory 1-year $20 (2-year: $30) Basic $35 Lifetime Individual $1000 Dual $1500 Name ____________________ _ Address. ________________ _ City ____ State _Zip __ _ Phone: ) ____ ___ _ For a new membership, mail this coupon and your check-payable to "National Audubon Society, Chapter W19" to: Bexar Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6084 San Antonio, TX 78209 W19, 7XCH . --- . Note: For a look at the draft regional water plan for our South Central Texas Area, see www.watershedexperience.com. A publ ic hearing on this close to final plan will be at 7 pm, September 27, in San Antonio (Trinity University, Laurie Auditorium). Hard copies are available at the public libra.!".!. ·':- !"· .:::; _ ":t {"Ci.:.•.J .,# •.:) September 23. 2000 Range & Wildlife Management Field Day You have an opportunity to attend a Range and Wildlife Management Field Day, Saturday, September 23, 2000. The Edwards Region Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) will provide technical information for landowners on how to apply Best Management Practices on Grazing and Wildlife lands. Approaches will include White-Tailed Deer Management and Genetics, Water Conservation, Grazing Techniques, Wildlife Management, Brush Management, Endangered Species Management, Watershed Management, Prescribed Burning, and more. Call the Alamo RC&D office at 21 0-735-3391 or emai I for info. This day will earn approximately 4 Continuing Education Units for the TDA Pesticide Applicators License. Cost is $15 dollars. The bus will depart from the 1604 and 1-1 0 Park and Ride at 8 AM and return by 5 PM. The Edwards Region GLCI is a partner in Bexar Audubo:1's South Texas Farm and Range Forum. : October/ November 2000 II, t t II t ,j,,,},fiL ttlt itlltllt!ltttttl al,J,j,llltlttltlllutl UPCOMING EVENTS October 20-21-22,2000 Sth Annual Butterfly Festival To be held in Mission, Texas Novembe'r 8-12,2000 Rio Grande Birding Festival in Harlingen The Fifth Annual Butterfly Festival will The 71h Annual Rio Grande Birding be held in the Lower Rio Grande Valley city Festival, which attracts birders from all over of Mission, Tex:as, October 20-22. This the world, wi ll be held Nov. 8 -12 in festival, in one of the most biodiverse Harlingen, Texas. regions of the country attracts nature lovers The festival features a wide variety of from all over the world. speakers, seminars, workshops, field trips The festival features a wide variety of and information exchange activities for activities, speakers and social events. At beginning to veteran birders. Birders' least eight speakers and 13 fie ld trips are equipment needs can be met at the Birder's scheduled. A pre-festival tour, Oct. 16-19, Bazaar which will have 75 vendors of birding is expected to expose participants to related materials. between 150 and 200 species of butterflies An example of the diversity of the in the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. Festival can be seen in the types of field For information and/or registration trips offered. Field trippers will tour the South forms call 800-580-2700. You can register Texas coast-one of the world's premier on-line at www.texasbutterfly.com. Mail birding areas-by bus, boat, boot and even registrations are due Oct. 13 and on-line by canoe. Oct. 17. A specially priced reg istration Details on the Festival may be obtained package costs $45 and provides admission by ca lling the Harlingen Chamber of to all seminars (except photography) ;:tnd Commerce at 1-800-531-7346 or on the all workshops. Most events also are Internet at www.rgvbirdfest.com. individually priced. . Mitchell Lake Access-:-Dates will be available on San Antonio Audubon Society w~bsite at http://etex.electrotex.com/saas/. Additional access can be arranged by cal ling in advance to Georgina Schwartz at 210-342-2073 or Ernie Roney at 210-656-4239. . 8 Bexar Tracks