fish and wildlife. john muir's known as the creator of the sierra club, it's roosevelt that realized the federal government has an obligation to save species of birds and animals, to save plants and trees, and to be the -- the president has an obligation to make sure that we put aside for generations unborn natural wonders like roosevelt did, like, you know, the grand canyon or mt. olympus or the petrified forest. and they turned this training center for conservation into a museum almost for theodore roosevelt. >> that training center is the national conservation training center, one of the many places doug brinkley went to research his book. >> we talked about the eagle's nest in our discussion with doug brinkley about his book on conservation. it's right over your shoulder there. when did that start? >> well, about five years ago we had a pair of bald eagles that came in, started trying to build a nest. the first season they didn't do a very good job. but the second season they came back, tried again.

and has been at the forefront of efforts to combat the illegal trade in wildlife. seitz regulates trade in around 35,000 species to be sure that such trade is legal, sustainable and traceable and there is a high volume of legal trade, which is a multibillion dollar business, but today, we're here talking about another aspect and that is tackling illegal trading of wildlife and this is a growing problem worldwide. the value of this illegal trade is now estimated at being between 5 billion and $20 billion per year, that excludes timber and marine resources and the state of illegal trade and wildlife is further reenforced when you look at the published results of specific operations undertaken by organizations such as interpol and the world customs organization and chair and committee members, it is clear organized crime is actively involved in the illegal trade of wildlife. this has been made clearly interpol, both by its secretary at and governing body and the u.n. office of drugs and crime and there is no doubt that organized crime is involved in the illegal trade

wildlife conservation network, nature conservancy and african wildlife foundations and many others. we have been here before with this crisis. if you go back long enough, elephants were nearly exterminated in the victorian era and it was only in the early 20th century that they were able to recover when new game laws came in. this culminated in the 1960s, which was a golden era for the national parks where animals for the first time became tame and approachable and exposed to tourism. unfortunately the ivory trade surged in the '70s and '80s. this caused massive losses. 700 tons of ivory a year on average representing about 70,000 elephants left africa annually for the best part of a decade. the estimated elephant population droppeded from 1.3 million in '79 to half that number by the mid '80s. and in most of east africa, central africa, with a few exceptions in southern africa, there were massive drops in numbers. the evidence now is that strong demand for ivory has researched again. i would like quickly to talk about a case study which is in northern kenya, where the save the elep

the penalties associated with wildlife crime are lower than other crimes. and the risk of incarceration are lower than others. so that's pretty much a general statement. and we then see examples where wildlife commerce is perhaps taken more seriously. i just gave south africa as an example where very long custodial sentences were given to individuals stealing the wildlife of south africa. i'd say it's a bit of a mixed bag in most parts of the world, with respect to the sorts of measures that are in place. one thing we have noticed is what i said before, that seizure is sometimes seen as a success. seizure is in fact a failure. that animal is dead. you've seized the contraband, but the person who wanted it is still wanting it. you know, that's why we've put in place this training and controlled deliveries and other more effective techniques in dealing with crime, whether it's wildlife crime or not, because we have to get to the perpetrators, those who actually are driving the demand. and i would say in those countries where demand is driven, they have quite

fish and wildlife. the creator of the sierra club it's roosevelt that realized the federal government has an obligation to save species of birds an animals, to save plants and trees, and to be the president has an obligation to makes sure that we put aside for generations unborn, natural wonders like roosevelt did like the grand canyon or mount olympus or petrified forest, and they turned this training center for conservation into a museum almost for theodore roosevelt. >> when did you first get interested in theodore roosevelt. >> i loved him since childhood, liked reading about him. liked edmond morris' biography, david mccullough, i got interested in him in 1992 when i had a program "the magic bus" bring students across the country went to the badlands of north dakota, that is where he spent his ranching days as a cowboy, where he did some of his hunting but wrote these incredible books, a book i particularly like called "the wilderness hunter" many people came in on the hunting part in between was w

wwf, wildlife conservation society, i4, wildlife conservation network, nature con ser vansy. among others. we've been there before with this elephant crisis. elephants were nearly exterminated in the victorian era and it was only in the early 15th century. where animals for the first time became tame and approachable and exposed to tourism. unfortunately, the ivory trade surged in the '70s and '80s driven by prosperity in the far east. this caused massive losses. 700 tons of ivory a year on average representing about 70,000 elephants left africa annually for the best part of the decade. the estimated population dropped to nearly half that in the mid-80s and in most of the savannahs of east africa, central africa and with a few exceptions in southern africa, there were massive drops in numbers. the evidence now is that strong demand for ivory has resurged again. i'd like to talk about a case study in kenya, where save the elephants conducts minute research by recording the births, deaths and population dynamics of about 500 elephants. this has allowed us to record that elephan

fish and wildlife. but i would send individual to paul tritek down in florida who used to run pelican island and he now runs ding darling and i sent him my pelican chapters, and if he didn't have answers he had two guys down there look into it. and if i went to, you know, you get the idea, donald worster who wrote the recent biography of john muir is the expert on reclamation projects and roosevelt made a lot of mistakes i think in building some dams he shouldn't have, trying to bring electricity to the west. it's controversial and it's a big part of my book, reclamat n reclamation, and donald worster is the national expert on the arid west, so i would send donald worster my chapters and say can you give me some feedback, what did i do wrong. everybody i sent a chapter to, i got something wrong. sometimes it's a word change. i say winds blew frommet southeast and it can't be the southeast, it's the northeast. that micro thing in particularly with my ornithology, i'm a bird lover and an amateur but i wou

christian wildlife. up until the present time dealing with global warming and the modern green movement. i wanted to see all of that through the eyes of the presidentsy. as a presidential historian. using people like tr and fdr and truman and johnson and carter and clinton people who had gotten involved with conservation as the point. >> when did you do the reagan diaries? >> we did it very quickly. i didn't have to write that. we're bring out the complete diaries in a box set. what it is, brian, is when you go to these places. i just pick one, if you're going to go to mesa ver day -- >> where is it? >> in southwest colorado in the four corners region. nst the ancient anasanzi. it's the cliff dwellings that roosevelt creates. i knock on the door and i call and meet the superintendent. i said, look, you're the expert. you're living here. what do you have in your files. help me. so while i'm not writing a chapter at that point, i'm notebooking, collecting brochures, pamphleting. they have a main office. th

south africa is a very good example of a state taken very strict measures with respect to wildlife crime and they have over the past few months incarcerated nationals of moez apple weakened for over 20 years for smuggling and nationals of vietnam for smuggling and they are very hard with respect to anyone that's coming to steal their wildlife. they have put in place the sort of measures and coordinated measures through the national crime bureau of interpol and clamp down and send a strong message. we use that with a good example and with all that far effort they're still struggling to deal with the illegal trade. >> do each of these countries having a problem in terms of the elegants being wiped out, do they have the capability you're talking about in terms of getting the king pin? >> i would say no. the analysis we have done shows that the highest rates of illegal killing are those states that have the weakest governments, so where you have the weakest governments you find the highest levels of illegal killing and as we were talking about earlier, this whole issue of governance and rule

if you had very strong wildlife penalties, elevating wildlife penalties and then you have strong prosecution that you could nip this in the bud, granted, it has grown to the point where you have 200 armed horse men moving from sudan, and so you need a significant counter force to do something about that, but is there a problem in terms of the penalties? is there a problem in terms of enforcement and then what are the witnesses here at the table believe we can do about that and in order to plug that hole because i think you start there with that issue. please, doctor. >> there is a big problem on the penalties that in general across africa far too low and enforcement of those penalties that exists is far too weak. i can speak to kenya in particular where there is a plan under the new constitution to bring in much more severe penalties and i know that the kenya wildlife service and the ngos are pushing to have this law introduced much earlier. it is crucial that the magistrate should be given the message and the power to publish properly which they do not have at present. the same is true else

imagine, though, the impact on wildlife in the park. imagine the impact on the people, homes looking down on the park, and imagine the impact on the people who go to the beach at night. i'm sure you've all gone to the beach to watch the sunset. these lights are going to be on from dusk until 10:00 every night of the year. the sunset and sterling along the prom nod along ocean beach will be totally changed, like strolling along next to yankee stadium, something like that. the people who go to the fire rings on the beach are impacted. the people who go with their families to look at the stars at land's end will be impacted because of the light. there is a win-win solution. we support soccer. this is all about location, location, location. we ask you to consider that the e.i.r. consider the compromise solutions and that you also develop a vision for the western end of the park where the construction yard which is an attractive nuisance is cleaned up, the soccer fields are renovated with real grass, the ocean beach master plan talks about a

we need this to look like a natural wildlife habitat that the citizens of san francisco create by coming to you in its natural beauty, not by rec & park managing it with an eye toward revenue opportunities and toward simple recreation and not enough consciousness of the wildlife habitat. thank you. >> any additional public comment? commissioners, what is your pleasure question are >> we do have recreation and park here if we would like to hear from them. >> it good afternoon. i'm the director of administration and finance for the rec & park department. thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak about the mou and our plans for recreation programming at the lake. it's nice to be able to follow that outpouring of love and recreation for the recreation and parks department. it has been a pleasure and a productive process working with your staff to develop this mou. i think the agreement does represent a significant step forward in the overall management of lake merced. the agreement clearly delineate responsibilities for each agency and i think this outlining of responsibilities will a

, after the wildlife foundation, among many -- african wildlife foundation, among many others. we have been here before. elephants were nearly exterminated in the victorian era. it was only in the early 20th century that they were able to recover when new gane -- game laws came in, and this culminated in the 1960's, a global -- a golden era for the national parks. unfortunately, d-three -- the ivory trade surged mainly based on prosperity in the far east were ordinary people could not buy ivory. this cost major disruptions. the estimated elephant population dropped from 1.3 million in 1979, to half of that number by the mid-1980's. in most of the savannas of east africa, central africa, with the few exceptions in southern africa, there were massive drops in numbers. the evidence now is the strong demand for ivory has resurged again. i want to talk about a case study in northern kenya, where save the elephants, my organization, conducting a detailed research by recording the birth, death, and population dynamics of about 500 elephants. this has allowed us to report the elephants

there is no other place in san francisco for these birds and wildlife to go. the lighting was not properly evaluated. the adjacent -- species depend on dark skies for navigation. darkness is needed for resting and nesting. san francisco boasts of being a green city, but this proposal is not a sustainable project. >> thank you. >> i urge you to make a thoughtful decision. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. thank you for spending your evening to listen to all of our concerns. i am a native san franciscan. i am a mother, grandmother, and a great-grandmother. i am in full support of the parents and children who came here today to ask for what they want for their children. however, i oppose the eir and die welt spend a lot of part- time because there are so many -- and i will not spend a lot of our time tonight because there are so many others who want to speak. the people who oppose it had already spoken eloquently about the problems with the eir. i am here to tell you that i oppose it and i am hoping you will vet the information that you have. this eir

and to maintain a healthy forest and to maintain the beauty and the aesthetics and the wildlife that you want to see sometimes we have to remove some of this. i've seen it -- i've been to alaska and i've seen the beetle outbreaks there and i've been to colorado and i've seen the outbreaks there. we have got scientistic proof, research done, that shows that if we can keep the understory removed out from some of the forest and keep a thinning on some of these trees, that we have a healthier forest that provides abundance of wildlife, abundance of water quality, air quality, and everything else. i agree with mr. schwab. why can't we do something about using that -- those monies that we, as americans all have, to take carry of the needs that we have taken -- that needed to be taken care of and also have a healthier forest? >> very good. go ahead, mr. burke. >> let me just share an example of where i think regulation with respect to roads would be negative as opposed to a positive approach. if you required a road permit, the cost would be significant. it would not benefit the land directl

another example of sort of backyard wildlife.round new york city. you could see these guys. you see the rusty-colored tail over here. >> it is actually beautiful. >> that's where they get that name, red tailed hawk. it's one of the largest hawk species. check out those talons. >> that's you why wear the gloves. >> yeah. that's what they use to kill their prey. these guys are important predators of rodents and things like that. you want them around in the ecosystem. they're totally beautiful. and again, they can live in surprisingly urban areas. >> how big of a prey do they -- these guys come flying around my house. my little bambino weighs six pounds. >> that's probably a little bit too big for a hawk like this. although they do sometimes go after rabbits and things like that. if you have a small dog, you never want it leave it unattended because wildlife sometimes will take advantage of that. >> yeah. >> okay. >> we have one more thing. >> yeah, can we bring this guy in? >> oh. what is going on with that? >> this is one of my fa

developers began building where wildlife thrives and that sent larevere into action. >> i read this littleote, if you're worried about san francisco bay and what's happening to the marshes come to my office tomorrow at 10:00. >> reporter: with the help of done edwards, this very determined and passionate woman helped establish the first urban national wildlife refuge in 1972. >> it may sound corny, but it was democrat in action. >> reporter: today as known as the don edwards san francisco bay national wildlife refuge, the refuge covers the southern part of the bay and spans 40,000 acres. here in fremont, a section of it is named after florence. >> these days her efforts are enjoyed by so many. this man has been visiting the land for 45 years. >> now i know where the name came from. that's great. >> reporter: now she's adding to hur wall of recognition, she is the recipient of this year's national wetlands award from washington, d.c. at 88 years wise, she says the acknowledgement is never expected. >> you work on things you care about just because they are important to you. >> reporter: in

. >> they are making it their job to save endangered animals, one couple dedicated to wildlife rescues. >>> good afternoon, that wind is improving our air quality, however, it's probably making you suffer with your allergies, winds topping 40 miles per hour in san francisco and over 30 in the east bay for oakland. our forecast has numbers warming up a bit for tomorrow, but we'll talk about abimetig- cooldown in that 7-day forecast. aren't they, kids? it's nice having u-verse, isn't it? see back in my day, we didn't have these newfangled wireless receivers. fangled? we had to watch basketball in the living room... that's where the tv outlet was. what is he talking about? and if mom was hosting her book club that day, guess what...you missed it! we couldn't just move the tv all willy-nilly all over the house. ohh! ohh! kids today have it so good. ok. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver only from at&t. get u-verse tv for $25 a month with free hd for six months. at&t. >>> it is a sobering revelation, not just sierra lamar, but more than 60 other teenaged girls have gone missing in san

we also pride ourselves on the wildlife, for estes are nothing more than wildlife. >> i want to refer you to my written testimony so that we ends on time and i'm going to focus my comments in two particular areas. the first area is to thank and to encourage this committee and to recognize the importance of the farm bill in strengthening conservation programs. the second area of testimony is to speak a bit about the need to focus or refocus the usda's market program to better recognize certain products that are not properly recognized now, we believe. there are a number of stories in my written testimony about landowners who work hard on their property and who benefit from the forest conservation programs. since i'm with you today, i'll tell you some of the things we have done on our farm, through programs was whip, equip, crp and csp, we have been allowed to do things that would not van financially viable without the assistance of our programs. we have improved wildlife habitat, water quality and reduced the risk of fire through certain techniques, we have created job force the local

but $6 billion that we could be spending on improveling forest habitat for wildlife, improving it for people, improving it for water quality. there's much better use of money than on this regulation. thank you. >> thank you. i yield back. >> one final question for all the panelists who would like to weigh in on. the purpose of regulation the impact of overregulation is what my question is about. we talk about healthy forests and we talk about you have to manage a forest for it to be healthy. that means timberg, that means dealing with the fire load. that means preventing wildfires, that means managing the invasive species that have been mentioned here today. so whether it's overregulation as related to being declared as a point source, regulation in terms of road, the ninth sish cut with roads or just overregulation in general. we've talked about jobs. we've talked ability economic impact. i want to focus with my final question, a healthy forest. it has to be managed to be healthy. how devastating is overregulation to having healthy forests in this country? >> mr. chairman, it's very

and finally, the wildlife situation. there wasn't a lot of wildlife in that area before 1939 when it was all sand, probably, and much of golden gate park was all sand, too. so we actually have created an environment and there's plenty of places for the scunks and the raccoons and the coyotes and birds and bats to go, except for those nine acres, there's a lot of other park that can be part of their habitat and i think they'll be able to adapt to other parts. i really don't see a problem with this particular e.i.r. there was one other issue brought up, i guess it was about the lights and there are other lights in golden gate park, at keyzar, at the concourse. and i don't think it's foreign to have lighting there and the technology has been improved greatly. you notice the lights at at&t park, which are much larger than these would be, but the light coming off of those is much less than in some of the orland parks, particularly candlestick or other places where the light suggest not as advanced as it is today. you can focu

fish and wildlife service. golfers believe the get a decision that lets both coexist >>> this is the little course that could and we have a strong showing is how many people love this place we don't want it to go away >>> once the u.s. fish and wildlife service determines the population of the frogs they will decide if golfers and frogs can get along >>> the nation's oldest and largest african american rights group says it supports same sex marriage. the naacp writes that civil marriage is a civil rights and a matter of civil law. the move in response to president obama's announcement that he supports gay marriage. black religious leaders oppose same-sex unions the naacp is busily noted its board civil marriage that respects religious freedom. in time for our remote birthday a plaque honoring the murdered san francisco supervisor was installed at the castro station entrance. he was the city's first openly gay official and would have been 82 tomorrow it was stolen last october pg don't need money for the replace

this is part of the wildlife refuge. hard to get a good look now, it spans the southern part of the bay, but we want to get to the sweeping aerials to give you an idea of what it looks like during the day. from high above, you can see them dancing around in the wetlands. it is a haven for wildlife out here spanning some 40,000 acres. this refuge, though, may not have ever been if it had not been for florence lariviere. the 88-year-old began fighting to preserve and restore the wetlands near her palo alto home more than 50 years ago. she teamed up with former congressman don edwards and they established the first urban national wildlife refuge in 1972. >> it may sound corny, but it was democracy in action. you work on the things you care about just because they're important to you. the recognition has been a great surprise and very rewarding. >> she's so humble. over the years, she has received all sorts of awards. but today, it is a big one. she is set to be honored with the national wetlands award from the environmental

did he make it. >> the bear is okay, and the colorado division of wildlife, they are taking this bear area outside of the residential area. they're going to release him back into the wild. hopefully they had one of these sheet things the firefighters hold outside of windows and it was hidden by the bush. >> yeah, the one they were holding looked just like a bush. like something had been there the whole time. >> oh! >>> youtube video makers of the world, fred armison has a challenge for you. >> hi, i'm fred. i'm doing a project called be serious for 30 seconds. >> he has a challenge to youtubers to make a video, and there are seven very important rules. >> it has to be serious. 30 seconds or less. can have no more than two people in it, at least one five-second dromic pause. one object. do your best acting job possible. >> he says this is not a competition. but, you know, just to drive home the point, he did provide an example. >> hey, did y tell jenny she >> yeah, tat okay? >>ot okay. i don't want her to think she can stay whenever she wants. >> well, she's my cousin. >> well, my cous

normally i bring wildlife but it's just so cool that this rabbit is so big.ople don't believe that rabbits get this big. but there you go. >> like a little dog. >> that's right. >> he just ate the arctic fox. >> no, no! for more from david go to our website today.com. >> last-minute memorial day getaways. every day, an average of 5,000 people switch from cascade to finish dishwasher detergent. that's about 150,000 a month - over 2 million people so far. with finish quantum you get incredibly clean, sparkling dishes without having to rinse them first. now see for yourself why millions have switched to finish. join the finish revolution. and for two years in a row, finish quantum was rated #1 by a leading consumer publication.

>>> first stop on the wildlife tour is this wildlife park in finland.hat say polar bear about to take a very first plunge into icy waters. >> oh, boy! >> whoa! >> and that was an accidental plunge. >> yeah. involuntary. >> thingsike that entire life. >> what i like though is, wait, i forgot something. it's a chunk of ice. >> maybe he need eed it for his cooler full of ice. >>> then the franklin park zoo in boston, somebody caught this little baby gorilla just being a gorilla. this little gorilla plays with everybody or tries to play with everybody. the adult gorillas, they're not having it. >> he's trying to roughhouse, but these adult gorillas are like, come on, man, we're tired of taking care of you all day. >> look at this one thinking, don't even think about it. >> notice this baby gorilla is putting on quite the show for the grown-ups. and the tourists. >> another baby gorilla that would look good named stephen. >> hey, beth. you know what everybody should do today? >> they should go to rightthisminute.com. >> boom! let's do it again. >>> what coul

you can see all the wildlife out here is just gorgeous. now, this refuge spans the southern part of the bay and covers some 40,000 acres. it came to be in the early 70s thanks in large part to florence. i spent some time with her at her palo alto home. she tells me it was back in the '60s when she knew she had to do something about all the developments along the peninsula. >> look at all of the things we've done to the bay. garbage dumps, airport runways -- and i read this little notice in the mercury news that said if you're worried about san francisco bay and what's happening to the marshes, come to my office tomorrow at 10:00. >> reporter: and as they say, the rest is history. she ended up working with don edwards to establish this refuge in 1972. and she has dozens of awards to prove it. today she is in washington, d.c. to receive yet another award. this is the national wetlands award from the environmental law institute. she tells me she is just thrilled, very humble about it. she says at 88 years old she certainly p doesn't expect al