Posted on 10/30/2009 12:22:29 PM PDT by reprobate
A harbor dredging operation carried out despite concerns from wildlife officials killed at least six loggerhead sea turtles in September - two in Savannah and four in Brunswick.
The Army Corps of Engineers dredged the entrances to both the Savannah and Brunswick harbors for a total of 15 days using most of $6.8 million in federal stimulus funds meted out for the project.
The corps usually avoids such summertime dredging precisely for the protection of turtles, Measures were taken to reduce the turtle death toll to the federal limit allowed for this particular dredging, a limit the corps successfully petitioned to increase mid-project.
"Seven loggerheads in 15 days is not a stellar performance," said Mark Dodd, a sea turtle researcher and biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Before the operation began, the DNR was able to get corps officials to back off a plan to dredge from June through August, the height of the loggerhead nesting season.
But September may be when turtles are most abundant in the area, because that's when migrating turtles are coming through, Dodd said.
The corps discontinued summertime dredging after about 40 sea turtles were killed in the summer of 1991. Maintenance dredging shifted to winter when turtles are less abundant.
Dave Allison, senior campaign director for the non-profit conservation group Oceana,called the dredging project a "perverse" use of stimulus funds.
"The killing of sea turtles and putting them at further risk of extinction just to pump money through the system is at the very least unfortunate," he said. "I can understand the desire to keep dredge operators employed and keep money going through the stimulus. But there simply is no real justification for this kind of carnage."
(Excerpt) Read more at savannahnow.com ...
Dave Allison, senior campaign director for the non-profit conservation group Oceana, which has pushed for the uplisting, called the dredging project a "perverse" use of stimulus funds.
"The killing of sea turtles and putting them at further risk of extinction just to pump money through the system is at the very least unfortunate," he said. "I can understand the desire to keep dredge operators employed and keep money going through the stimulus. But there simply is no real justification for this kind of carnage."
Allison finds it "shocking" that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approved the loss of seven turtles for this project.
"If seven sea turtles were taken in two weeks in a number of fisheries in this country, we would be looking at closing the entire fishery," he said. "That rate of take is really unacceptable."
I think people who put turtles before people are perverse!
Well, as long as they’re not using my tax dollars to fund abortions...
Oh, wait... *SPIT*
I know that’s at the top of MY list of things that needed to be done to improve our economy!
;-)
The enviro-left is going to be upset about this one.
Government waste is, quite simply, COMPLETELY OUT OF HAND!
$6.8M to kill 7 Loggerhead Turtles?
That’s $971,428.57 per turtle.
If they had called me, I would have been happy to do it for $10,000 per animal plus travel expenses and ammunition costs. I live in Virginia so I’m not THAT far away. i’ll bet I could have saved them something on the order of $6.7M.
Our government REALLY needs to look into privatizing this sort of thing...
However, the article fails to mention the number of sea turtles that were “created or saved” by the stimulus.
Obama the sea turtle killer. How do you like that hope & change now, the tree-huggers are going to be pissed
Good point.
THAT is going on tghe next sign I take to a tea party!
Thanks.
Another good point.
Just imagine the number of cute, innocent, baby kittens Obama could have caused to be murdered with that $6,800,000. And yet, THEY chose to WASTE it killing only SEVEN turtles.
;-)
I will kill mine for free! Today I found fleas on her after a week long flea treatment of my whole house! ARG!
And in Ca they’re cutting off water to farms to save minnows.
Welcome to Liberal Land. :D
“That rate of take is really unacceptable.”
Corrected line should read as follows:
“That rate of take of poor tasting loggerhead turtles is unacceptable.”
Take Green Turtles instead.
But, such turtle steaks are dangerous.
Freeze them and send to me for safe disposal.
Souuuuuuup of the eeeeeeevening, beauuuuuuuutiful souuuuuuup!
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