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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 4, 2002
CONTACT:
David Ellenberger, Sierra Club, (406) 539-7733 cell
Kathleen Casey, Sierra Club, (206) 378-0114 X 305
Allison Davis, (206) 374-7795 x426
What's Lost, What's Left?
Sierra Club Report Reveals America at Risk of Losing Treasured Species and
Wildlands Documented by Lewis and Clark 200 Years Ago
Seattle, WA -- Today the Sierra Club released a new report examining the
condition of some of the West's most symbolic plant and animal species,
using the Lewis and Clark journals as a historical guide. "What's Lost,
What's Left: A Status Report on the Plants & Animals of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition" provides a snapshot of the current status of plants and animals
that Lewis and Clark studied and documented almost two hundred years ago.
The new report is a critical component in the Sierra Club's 7-year
Bicentennial campaign to protect the wildland legacy of Lewis and Clark.
"Future generations should be able to explore our wild lands with the same
sense of excitement Lewis and Clark felt 200 years ago," said Carl Pope,
Executive Director of the Sierra Club. "Using Lewis and Clark's journals
as a historical gauge, the report illustrates the contrast between what our
country looked like 200 years ago and what it looks like today. It sets
the bar for habitat protection and gives us a blueprint for protecting the
lands explored by Lewis and Clark."
The report covers more than forty species, from those in critical
condition, to a few success stories of recovered populations. The report
also makes recommendations for habitat protection that would help ensure
the survival of these historic species in the American West.
Highlighting three territories of the American West, the Great North
American Prairie, Northern Rockies, and Pacific Northwest, "What's Lost,
What's Left" examines 11 "Species in the Spotlight," profiles 31 others,
and contains an index of many species in Lewis and Clark country, including
those Lewis and Clark were the first to describe scientifically. The
report finds many of the species discovered by Lewis and Clark have either
lost their historic habitat, have dwindling populations, or are near
extinction.
· Of the 122 animals discovered by Lewis and Clark, at least 40 percent
have a form of official designation warranting concern and protection.
· Grizzly bears currently number about 1,000, down from a population
that once topped 100,000.
· Of the 70 million bison that used to roam western plains, only 20,000
still exist in the wild.
· Cutthroat trout, which were once the most common salmonid in many
places, now occupy only two to four percent of their traditional habitat as
unhybridized (not mixed with introduced species) cutthroat strains.
· Prairie dogs, which used to inhabit 100 million acres, now are found
on only one percent of their former range.
· Black-footed ferrets, woodland caribou, and whooping cranes are each
down to only a handful of individuals, at the brink of extinction.
· Some species, like the passenger pigeon, Audubon's bighorn sheep, the
plains gray wolf and the colorful Carolina parakeet, are already extinct.
The report also profiles some success stories of species that have been
brought back to healthy numbers. Healthy species include elk, beaver and
pronghorn, which were far worse off at the turn of the 20th century than
they are today. The good news is that most of the species discovered by the
explorers still exist, though in lower numbers, and can be saved for
centuries to come through increased protection.
"There is no better way to commemorate the upcoming Lewis and Clark
Bicentennial than to protect and restore wild America," said Mary Kiesau,
Coordinator of the Sierra Club's Lewis and Clark campaign. "This
anniversary is a wake up call to America to protect our special places.
The Sierra Club wants to ensure the Lewis and Clark journals are not a sad
historical record of vanished landscapes and extinct species, but that they
provide a proud, living natural heritage."
Today the campaign also unveiled a national magazine and television ad
campaign and an interactive campaign website.
Website: www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark
The Sierra Club's website will provide resources for Lewis and Clark
enthusiasts, travelers and on-the-ground wilderness supporters. It will
offer information on specific animals, plants and issues in states along
the Lewis and Clark trail. Up-to-the-minute action alerts will help
advocates send their comments to public officials. The site will also
provide background on the cultural history of Lewis and Clark.
Television and magazine ads
The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Campaign ads will appear on cable and
broadcast TV and in regional magazines over the next several months.
Digital copies of the print ads and tapes of the TV ads are available to
the media.
Launched in 1999, the Sierra Club's campaign to protect the lands explored
by Lewis and Clark encourages people to visit the dramatic landscapes the
Corps explored and to save remaining native species and special places.
The campaign is operating in nine western states.
To download a copy of the full report, go to
http://www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark.species/index.asp
For more information on the report or the Sierra Club's Lewis and Clark
campaign, please contact David Ellenberger at (406) 539-7733 cell, or
Kathleen Casey at (206) 378-0114 x 305.
The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots environmental
organization.
For the latest news, please visit http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/
Erin Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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