The Sun Valley-based Center for Environmental Education is experiencing a growth spurt and is touting its on-line information database as one of the most comprehensive environmental education networks in the U.S.
The group's newest site, called Endangered Species Early Warning, was posted at www.esew.org this month after a lengthy logistical delay. The site, first announced in June, features a thorough database of Endangered Species Act listed plants and animals as well as species of concern, like the greater sage grouse, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced would probably not be granted threatened or endangered status.
The main reason for the new site is to buy extra time for species that "do not have a vote and need every bit of time they can get to stabilize and recover," said ESEW Director Max Casebeau.
"We are depending on students, retired government employees, bird watchers, scientists, farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen and environmentally concerned citizens to voice their concerns and to offer more information," Casebeau said. "We had anticipated only a couple of hundred species would be listed worldwide. Then the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment was announced in November and is providing a paradigm shift in the thinking of the scientific community already."
An international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee, the assessment was designed to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change and increased ultraviolet radiation. The results of the assessment were released at a symposium held in Reykjavik, Iceland in November.
Partially based on the findings in the report, CEEI said it will add 11 more "super Websites" to its network in the next four years.
"Our objective is to have the most comprehensive environmental education Website network in the United States," Casebeau said.
The newly formed CEEI Advisory Board is another indication of the group's growth, Casebeau said. Environmental science professors from the University of Idaho, University of Alaska and University of Connecticut are among the board members.
Of particular interest, the new Endangered Species Early Warning site lists humans as its featured species.
"Scientific knowledge outstrips current self knowledge. Human vanity tends to overpower reason and common sense. Demagoguery is used to influence political decisions, while religious reasons are given to justify wars," according to the Website. "Psychological and spiritual knowledge is being distorted by small, religious community leaders. This is creating an inability to adapt to new ideas."
In a prognosis summary, the site states survival of western societies will be possible only if agreement on central issues like global climate restoration, clean air restoration and water resources care and restoration is possible.
"It may be that the species are caught in a chemical and heavy metal trap that already is affecting human sperm count," Casebeau elaborated.
Casebeau said the center decided to list the human family as a candidate for an early warning designation, principally because of chemical contamination of oceans, lakes, rivers and streams.
But the focus is considerably larger than that, and the effort is about more than alarming people.
The new information database focuses on eight classes of species in North America that Casebeau said are in danger. It integrates the information with habitat and watershed data.
Species are listed by threatened, endangered and extinct categories. They are also listed by state and by ecosystem.
According to Casebeau, it is the only Internet site aimed at relating habitat status to threatened and endangered species.
The United Nations Environment Programme, an organization devoted to improving quality of life without compromising that of future generations, estimates 150 species per day are going extinct, up from 100 species per day 10 years ago.
"This new Website will call attention to the situation for threatened and endangered species, and may provide the time needed for those species to recover before it's too late. Endangered Species Act listings are usually too late" Casebeau said.
Casebeau's organization has been maintaining America's Threatened Streams and Restoration Strategies, an Internet site focusing on the country's water bodies, for years at www.wcei.org.
