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Report: 'hot spots' key to endangered species debate
January 24, 1997
Web posted at: 11:55 p.m. ESTWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vanishing plants and animals in the United States are clustered in "hot spots" that will likely become key battlegrounds between conservationists and developers.
As little as two percent of the nation's land supports nearly half of all its endangered plants, according to a new report published in Science, the Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The county-by-county study of 924 endangered plants, birds, insects, mammals and fish concludes that the highest concentrations of endangered species are found in Hawaii, California, Southeastern coastal states and parts of southern Appalachia.
"The good news is that it means we can protect an awful lot of endangered species on a small amount of land," said David Wilcove of the Environmental Defense Fund. "We can identify key areas and by protecting them, we can protect great numbers of our plants and animals."
Landowners concerned
But many of these clusters of endangered species are sought after for future development, and some landowners express concern about what the findings mean for them.
"If we're just talking about more intense regulation, that's bad news for landowners," said David Ivester, attorney for landowners. "If we're talking about a balanced approach, where the government is going to provide financial incentives to the landowner, that may be good news."
The key to resolving this potential conflict is planning and discussion, said Mark Roberts, one of the Princeton University researchers involved in the project.
"These areas (of species concentration) where human activities are currently high are still very important areas of wildlife," Roberts said in a telephone interview. "That means we have to enter into a dialogue ... in such a way that we can arrive at a method to conserve species while minimizing impact."
Researchers identified "hot spots" as those counties where endangered species concentrated and clashed with development or agriculture.
Regional hot spots
More than 200 plants native to Hawaii face extinction, along with 15 species of songbirds. The culprit: development, researchers said.
Only a massive and expensive effort brought the California condor back from the brink of extinction. But development in the Southeast continues to threaten the gnat catcher and a dozen other bird species.
In Monroe County, Florida, agricultural development and a growing population of people threaten seven mammals, including the Florida panther and manatee.
The research comes as Congress faces growing pressure from property rights groups for an overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow more development.
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