Why don’t we have an Endangered Species Act for Rivers? Or, for US?

Today, American Rivers announced the Ten Most Endangered Rivers of 2022. The Mississippi River, our Mississippi River, is Number 6. Here’s the report on the Mississippi. The Friends of the Mississippi River have an Action Alert: Support the Mississippi River Restoration & Resilience Initiative (MRRRI). I look forward to a day when American Rivers can no longer find enough reasons or endangered rivers to publish their list. Until then, we should all do what we can to support those who are protecting our waters. [Full disclosure: I’m a supporter of American Rivers; a long-time member of Trout Unlimited; a volunteer helping raise funds for dam removal and river restoration on the Kinnickinnic River in western Wisconsin; etc.]

In accord with the Endangered Species Act (ESA),

The law requires federal agencies, in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the NOAA Fisheries Service, to ensure that actions they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat of such species. The law also prohibits any action that causes a "taking" of any listed species of endangered fish or wildlife. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all generally prohibited.

Something along those lines seems like just what we need to protect our rivers from our activities that endanger them. We have failed unconscionably in our efforts to meet the goals and objectives of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1972. About half of our waters fail to meet required standards. In Minnesota, almost 90% of our waters are impaired with fish consumption advisories [p44].

Now that  we’re on the subject of endangered rivers and species, if I interpret the recent IPCC report correctly, we should seriously consider getting Homo sapiens declared an endangered species if we don’t change our ways and learn better how to manage public health and a transition away from fossil fuels. It’s unlikely we’ll be in good enough shape to do a 50 year report in 2072 if we don’t make massive cuts in greenhouse gases in the next few years.

Let Them Not Say

Jane Hirshfield - 1953-

Let them not say:   we did not see it.
We saw.

Let them not say:   we did not hear it.
We heard.

Let them not say:     they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say:   it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say:     they did nothing.
We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something: 

A kerosene beauty.
It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.

—2014

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