08-13-2008, 08:16 AM
Lack of current funding to study most of the species on the protected species list is one of the stated reasons why our current president has not signed on many (any?) species. The resources to study the critical habitat are fairly extensive & very few species have been funded.
Just to give an idea of the scope: even the effort placed on the Hawaiian Hawk, with many research studies, inc. student thesis studies over a long period of time (including quite a few pricy DNA studies), fairly small total range to study that is somewhat easy to access... yet there still are many unanswered questions....
The 'Io is one of the funded species that has had more than the ave. resources directed to it's study... & the fact that most species are not funded, have no university/student interest in studying & no volunteer groups calling for the study... & you can see how even protected species are still becoming extinct at a fairly alarming rate... and we really have no idea what they contributed to their environment, what they would have needed to succeed & what/how other species interacted with the species.... This is all part of the study that is technically REQUIRED for every species on the protected list, but has been only done on a very limited select few of the protected species...
There is no way to know if delisting the 'Io will absolutely allow more funds for another species (with a limited pool of funds, that is the ideal, but the funds can easily change from year to year & species to species...).... it is up to all of the agencies & volunteer groups & students that have worked on the critical habitat studies & initiatives that have helped the 'Io.... if they embrace other species with the same determination, yes, if not, no....
Just to give an idea of the scope: even the effort placed on the Hawaiian Hawk, with many research studies, inc. student thesis studies over a long period of time (including quite a few pricy DNA studies), fairly small total range to study that is somewhat easy to access... yet there still are many unanswered questions....
The 'Io is one of the funded species that has had more than the ave. resources directed to it's study... & the fact that most species are not funded, have no university/student interest in studying & no volunteer groups calling for the study... & you can see how even protected species are still becoming extinct at a fairly alarming rate... and we really have no idea what they contributed to their environment, what they would have needed to succeed & what/how other species interacted with the species.... This is all part of the study that is technically REQUIRED for every species on the protected list, but has been only done on a very limited select few of the protected species...
There is no way to know if delisting the 'Io will absolutely allow more funds for another species (with a limited pool of funds, that is the ideal, but the funds can easily change from year to year & species to species...).... it is up to all of the agencies & volunteer groups & students that have worked on the critical habitat studies & initiatives that have helped the 'Io.... if they embrace other species with the same determination, yes, if not, no....