(Environmentally Sensitive Areas)
Liberals what have you done for the envoirnment lately?
The U.S. Navy is showing a great deal of respect for a bird called the loggerhead shrike: a masked, hook-billed songbird known for its habit of impaling prey on thorns or barbed wire. This is one hell of a bird...
Excerpt:
"San Clemente Island is home to the San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike, which is listed as an endangered species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Due in part to successful conservation efforts, the population has grown from 13 to 42 birds in the wild and 64 birds in a captive breeding population at a cost of $2.5 million annually. The Navy's successful stewardship of the Loggerhead Shrike has had a direct impact on training. To protect the Shrike from fires during the seven-month fire season and to comply with the Endangered Species Act, the Navy has decreased one live round impact area by 90 percent and another by 67 percent, reducing the types of missions for which forces can train. The Navy has also eliminated use of illumination rounds and all surface fire support training at night. Moreover, during Shrike breeding season, the shore bombardment range is closed four days a week to permit biologists to surveil the Shrike. As the Shrike population recovers, nesting areas are expanding into the only two fire-impact areas.
To reduce the use of diesel fuel and prevent harmful emissions, the Naval facility on San Clemente Island installed three 225-kilowatt wind turbines. From February 1998 to April 2000, the turbines produced two million kWhs, approximately 13 percent of the island’s total electricity needs. In FY99, the turbines helped the installation decrease consumption of 141,757 gallons of No. 2 diesel fuel, and avoided 18,450 pounds of carbon monoxide emissions. In the future, the turbines should provide 15 percent or more of the island’s electricity, further reducing diesel fuel use and emissions. "