{"id":19139,"date":"2021-05-27T22:41:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T03:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/endangered-bumblebees-need-protection\/"},"modified":"2021-05-27T22:41:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T03:41:41","slug":"endangered-bumblebees-need-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/endangered-bumblebees-need-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Endangered bumblebees need protection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PIERRE \u2013 Charlene \u201cCharlie\u201d Bessken led outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers like herself in a virtual tour of South Dakota\u2019s honey bee habitat on Endangered Species Day May 21. The tour, in an online forum, highlighted ways \u201ccitizen scientists\u201d can take part in protecting a number of\u00a0 critters here in the Great Plains from global-scale extinction threats.<\/p>\n

South Dakota\u2019s rusty patch bumblebee is the first bee on a list of endangered species that is growing longer, said Bessken, who represents the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Field Office in Pierre. \u201cThe number keeps going up instead of down,\u201d she noted, referring to additions made of animals and plants that are vanishing from the landscape. The service listed the bee as endangered in 2017.<\/p>\n

The state has 19 of the species that are listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The law is the primary legislation to preserve imperiled fauna and flora in the United States.<\/p>\n

Worldwide, authorities have recognized for more than five years that contemporary extinction rates<\/a> are 1,000 times higher than natural background rates, and future rates are likely to be 10,000 times higher.<\/p>\n

To slow the exponential increase of biodiversity loss, international negotiators for the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity suggest protecting 30 percent of the planet\u2019s land and ocean water by 2030. The White House under U.S. President Joe Biden bought into this so-called 30\u00d730 target scheme \u00a0with Executive Order 14008 on climate justice Jan. 27.<\/p>\n

Opposing it, American Stewards of Liberty has garnered support from South Dakota U.S. Sen. John Thune and state Rep. Julie Frye-Mueller for labelling the proposal \u201ca land grab.\u201d As\u00a0 a result of ASL\u2019s alleged lobbying for legislation opposing the 30\u00d730 plan, the watchdog group Accountable.US<\/a> recently filed a complaint with the IRS for violation of the group\u2019s tax-exemption status rules.<\/p>\n

Nancy Hilding, president of \u00a0Prairie Hills Audubon Society, which co-sponsored the virtual tour, said she is \u201cthankful\u201d that Biden issued the order directing federal officials to take charge of 30\u00d730. It is \u201cpart of an effort to slow the wildlife extinction crisis and curb global warming,\u201d she told the Native Sun News Today.<\/p>\n

Prairie Hills Audubon Society recommends Congress support private landholders, whose role is \u201ccritical\u201d in achieving the 30\u00d730 goal of species threat reduction. She advocates \u201cdramatically increasing funding for the Habitat Conservation Plan program of the Ecological Services Division,\u201d where Bessken works. In a March letter to Congressional leaders, dozens of organizations called for a threefold increase in Habitat Conservation Plan funding over the next five years in response to mounting demand.<\/p>\n

Supporting the 30\u00d730 initiative nationally is the Center for Biological Diversity. It notes that habitat degradation remains the largest driver of extinction. The United States loses a football-field worth of natural area every 30 seconds to human development, severely affecting wildlife, fresh water, and clean air, it says.<\/p>\n

The rusty patch bumblebee is the first bee species listed as endangered in the continental United States. Some 28 percent of bumblebee species are in population slump, and 19 percent of butterflies in the country are categorized as \u201cat risk of extinction,\u201d according to the non-profit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.<\/p>\n

The winged pollinators are especially important for humans to defend because \u201cmost of our food is pollinated in some way,\u201d Bessken said. In other words, reduced pollinator populations result in lowered crop yields and can lead to food scarcity. Pollinators are vital for Great Plains grasslands that provide forage to livestock and game, putting meat on the table, she said.<\/p>\n

So far, she knows of 22 bumblebee species that frequent South Dakota, North Dakota and Kansas. \u201cThey are disappearing, probably due to pesticides, habitat destruction, disease, and herbicides,\u201d she said. Neonicotinoids are an agrochemical infused right into seeds, negatively affecting pollinators as they extract nectar from blossoms, she noted. The Ecological Services Division also blames climate change.<\/p>\n

She enlisted participation in a novel bumblebee atlas that the division is compiling. Based on a model developed and funded by the Xerces Society, the atlas will join one completed for Nebraska. It will eventually contribute to an atlas for the entire Great Plains, if all works out, Bessken said.<\/p>\n

To date, the division is short on documentation for the South Dakota project<\/a>, she said. She encouraged \u201ccitizen scientists\u201d to \u201cget out there and find some bumblebees so you can add to our iNaturalist<\/a> page\u201d by submitting photos for identification. She credited Gary Marrone for his Field Guide to Butterflies of South Dakota<\/a> (2002).<\/p>\n

She invited listeners to prop up the waning population of butterflies by planting flowers that sustain them throughout the spring-fall migration season. Particularly good long-season choices are marigolds and zinnias, she noted. She also recommended asters, bee balm (bergamot), and anise (hyssop).<\/p>\n

The South Dakota Butterfly Garden holds its annual \u201cLittle Wings on the Prairie\u201d festival in 2021 on July 17, she pointed out. \u00a0\u201cWe have goodies for the kiddies, and we tell adults how to develop a garden,\u201d she said. The event is set for 9 a.m. to noon at the Oahe Downstream Recreation Center, located five miles north of Fort Pierre.<\/p>\n

In order to obtain Endangered Species Act protection for perishing animals or plants, any person or group can petition the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Authorities are required to provide a public response. However, the process of listing a species is long and the budget for protective measures is too limited, Bessken and Hilding explained.<\/p>\n

In addition to volunteering in community-level efforts on behalf of the birds and bees, constituents also can tell elected officials to expand the resources available to the Fish & Wildlife Service, Hilding said. It needs a budget of at least $592.1 million distributed across five programs starting in FY2022, she said.<\/p>\n

More than 1,900 scientists signed a letter originally published in the prestigious journal Science in November 2019, entitled \u201cSolve the biodiversity crisis with funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sponsoring and promoting yearly Endangered Species Day celebrations for Western South Dakota are Prairie Hills Audubon Society,\u00a0 Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, the Rapid City Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, the Norbeck Society, Western Watershed Project, and\u00a0 Black Hills Chapter Dakota Rural Action.<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The post Endangered bumblebees need protection<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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PIERRE \u2013 Charlene \u201cCharlie\u201d Bessken led outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers like herself in a virtual tour of South Dakota\u2019s honey bee habitat on Endangered Species Day May 21. The tour, in an online forum, highlighted ways \u201ccitizen scientists\u201d can take part in protecting a number of\u00a0 critters here in <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> May 27, 2021<\/p>\n

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