Rebuttal of U of V Lies About the
Mt. Graham Red Squirrel
For more details, see "Setting the Record Straight"
University of Virginia astronomers:
"The Abert [sic] squirrel, a serious competitor to the endangered red squirrel…"
Reply:
That is untrue. Dr. Peter Warshall of Scientists for the Preservation of Mt. Graham comments regarding the Abert's squirrel:
"There is zero evidence for competitive exclusion on Mt. Graham or anywhere. There is some overlap in the Doug Fir forest but all indications are that the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel wins in these contests…This is the astronomer's diversionary tactic to keep focus away from habitat loss and setbacks to recovery."
University of Virginia astronomers:
"…the Mt. Graham red squirrel was thought to be extinct in the 1950's and '60's, it was rediscovered in the early '70s. There seems to have been no effort at that time to list the squirrel as endangered or even to remove the squirrel from the state hunting list until 1986."
Reply:
UVa astronomers reveal their inability to understand the history of Mt. Graham and the Endangered Species Act. Trying to list a species as endangered was very difficult then, as it is today. The squirrel had de facto protection in its Hudsonian sanctuary on the top of Mt. Graham prior to this telescope project. Expending funds, energy and time listing a species already having de facto protection would have wastefully diverted resources from other species facing imminent threats.
Wilderness designation, not astronomy, was the expected legislative future for this irreplaceable boreal, summit, cradle of evolution forest until the astronomers appeared. Surprisingly, in 1983, UA lobbyists were effective in removing the summit's wilderness protection in Congress. Until the astronomers proposed to fragment and deforest this tiny, remote Hudsonian forest treasure, the protection of the species there was not a crisis, as it is now that the observatory development is underway.
The hunted lower elevation species, the plentiful Abert's squirrel, is not a boreal forest species and is not adapted for survival on the Hudsonian forest on the summit. That is where the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis lives without competition. The Abert's squirrel, being three times the weight of the red squirrel was an obvious choice for the hunter's pot. Likewise, the difficult climb up the hardly passable, dirt track, or the steep foot trail up to the boreal summit forest made the red squirrel a non-choice for hunters.
Besides, the Arizona Game and Fish Department's warden testified to the GAO in 1990 that in more than 20 years of inspections of hunters bags, only one red squirrel was ever found. Observatory-related traffic and observatory vehicles have already been officially documented at being responsible for many more roadkills.