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Updated 1/22. Latest news is at the bottom of this week's blog. --------------------------------------------------------- PA looking for more ways to pay for wildlife services Saying hunters, anglers pay their share, state agencies seek new money to manage wildlife Sunday, January 17, 2010 By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Some people look out the window and see a natural world that could take care of itself if we would just leave it alone. But those more experienced in the outdoors and employees of the two agencies that manage the state's wildlife see something else: A man-made landscape of unnatural second growth teeming with thousands of species of plants and animals living in a constantly changing artificial environment. In short, they see the need for constant and costly stewardship of Pennsylvania's wildlife resources. But it's become increasingly hard to pay for it. Officials at the state's separate Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission said they...

Happy New Year! -------------------------------------------------------- Invasive species cause $1.4 trillion of losses a year globally FUZHOU, Nov. 6 (Xinhua, China) -- Scientists should intensify international collaboration to fight invasive species that are causing 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars of losses a year globally, said experts and officials who concluded an international congress on biological invasions here Friday. The first-ever International Congress on Biological Invasions, held in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province, from Nov. 2 to 6, called on policymakers worldwide to pay closer attention to the threat. A declaration adopted Friday also said they should be more aware of the links between biological invasions, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services. The Fuzhou Declaration on Biological Invasions also urged policymakers and scientists to focus on the interactions between climate change and biological invasions, and the threats of invasive s...

Updated 2/12 Exotic fish pose threat to native species in Everglades By Curtis Morgan, Miami Herald The small pond six miles deep in Everglades National Park suddenly began bubbling like a pot aboil -- a telltale sign of air-slurping walking catfish. Dave Hallac, the park's chief biologist, dipped a net into the muddy commotion and hauled up a mess of wriggling slime so hefty it surprised even him. He counted out 56 fish from a single scoop. Walking catfish, along with other species originally imported for somebody's tank or table, outnumbered natives in this shallow, shady bayhead by an unhealthy margin. Unlike giant python, the Glades' most notorious invader, these dinky denizens don't draw attention to their presence by, say, swallowing an alligator and exploding. But for park scientists, their spread is no small concern. ''This is a problem that is 10 times worse than the python, but it's all under water, so nobody knows about it,'' Hallac said. ...