RE: NANFA-- Maryland darter

Crail, Todd (tcrail_at_northshores.com)
Fri, 10 Jan 2003 11:01:29 -0500

"The Ends"? :)

How could they do this...? You can't really, in good conscience, give a "est"
association to their rarity. However, an example of how to demonstrate how
many agencies determine how rare something is The Nature Conservancy's Natural
Heritage Ranking system.

Here's a good chart from a Vermont agency's site:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/fw/fwhome/nnhp/Key%20to%20R,T,E%20Lists.htm

Scroll to the bottom of the doc and look at the "Global Ranks". If the
Maryland darter is only in one known stream, on one riffle in the world, it
would qualify as a G1, which would easily be misconstrued by someone trying to
promote protection of an animal to the general public.

Humans tend to get gonzo when you tell them something is "rare" because we all
like to possess things, and that trips something off in our psyche. Using
this to the advantage of the animal is probably how someone justified to their
boss that it was okay to add the "est" association, especially since it
doesn't have any natural cute, cuddly looking features (like a giant panda) to
catch attention on it's own. :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Rose Lawn Museum
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 10:47 AM
To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
Subject: RE: NANFA-- Maryland darter

Perhaps. I just couldn't help wondering how they justified the claim.
Assuming it's anything more than hype, would it be based upon numbers,
limited habitat, or what?
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