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At least 4 killed in Oklahoma tornado outbreak; 10 shot outside Florida bar; AZ receives millions of dollars for solar investments; Maine prepares young people for climate change-related jobs, activism; Feds: Grocery chain profits soared during and after a pandemic.

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Ukraine receives much-needed U.S. aid, though it's just getting started. Protesting college students are up in arms about pro-Israel stances. And, end-of-life care advocates stand up for minors' gender-affirming care in Montana.

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More rural working-age people are dying young compared to their urban counterparts, the internet was a lifesaver for rural students during the pandemic but the connection has been broken for many, and conservationists believe a new rule governing public lands will protect them for future generations.

Protecting Other Species from Fate of the Passenger Pigeon

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Friday, August 29, 2014   

BISMARCK, N.D. - Monday marks the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the passenger pigeon. The commemoration is being used to urge protection of other species that may face the same fate and for the law that protects them.

The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, but Jake Li, director of endangered species conservation for Defenders of Wildlife, said there needs to be a new commitment to keep it strong, since some in Congress are trying to dismantle key pieces of the act and eliminate or delay protections.

"These are species that have actually warranted listing for over a decade, and yet there are proposals to delay that for another five, 10 years - and oftentimes it's to avoid the perceived inconvenience of protecting endangered species," he said. "There are other proposals to actually undermine the science that's used in endangered-species decisions."

The passenger pigeon was once the most abundant bird in North America, numbering as many as 5 billion, but after decades of hunting and habitat destruction, the last one - named "Martha" - died at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept. 1, 1914.

Li said hundreds of other animals across the nation also could disappear if the act is not protected.

"There are about 1,500 species in the U.S. that are threatened or endangered with extinction," he said. "and about 95 percent of these species are threatened by habitat loss, many of the same factors that actually caused the passenger pigeon to go extinct."

In North Dakota, there are seven species on the list, although for a couple of them, said Marissa Ahlering, a prairie ecologist for the Nature Conservancy, it's been a long time since they've had any sizable populations locally.

"One of them is the black-footed ferret," she said. "The black-footed ferret hasn't been reported in North Dakota for at least the last two decades. And the other one is the gray wolf, which there are sort of spottings or sightings of gray wolves, but they haven't really been reported as a population that are breeding in the state for a very long time."

Among the other species listed in North Dakota are the pallid sturgeon and the western prairie fringed orchid.

More information on the passenger pigeon is online at defendersblog.org. Details of the Endangered Species Act are at fws.gov/endangered.


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