Not to be too cynical, but Golden-winged Warblers are pretty common in northern Minnesota. There is no shortage of the aspen regeneration they nest in. In fact, aspen regeneration, lowland brush, and abandoned fields are undoubtedly more abundant now than in presettlement times. (This does not diminish the effects of cowbirds and hybridization mentioned in Jim's article.) I find it hard to believe that a relatively rare species like Northern Goshawk which relies on large tracts of mature to old forest cannot get protection under the ESA, but a logging-friendly species like Golden-winged Warbler that is easy to find within its range is up for consideration.
I'm not saying that Golden-winged Warbler isn't an important species (I love them!) or that their local abundance necessarily correlates to a stable population. What I AM saying is that they (and other early-successional forest species) do not need the habitat protection afforded by ESA listing like old-growth dependent species do, nor should political / industry palatability be a factor in determining what species are listed for protection. Shawn Conrad On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 8:48 PM, Jim <[email protected]> wrote: > The Golden-winged Warbler, with 40 percent of its world population breeding > in Minnesota, is being considered for 'threatened' or 'endangered' status, > according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information, go to > www.startribune.com/blogs/wingnut > > Jim Williams > Wayzata > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
