Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year is a "Bright Idea"

Brent Plater's Talk at the Commonwealth Club

Brent Plater spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California on September 25, 2006. The talk was entitled "No Room on the Ark? The 105th Congress' Attempt to Eviscerate the Endangered Species Act."

Brent Plater Quoted in San Mateo Times

Brent Plater was quoted in the San Mateo Times in an article about the Endangered Species Big Year.

Brent Plater on Your Green Life Eco News, Your TV 20

Brent Plater appeared on Your TV 20's Eco News show, Your Green Life, to discuss the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year.

Brent Plater Authors Leash Law Enforcement Petition

Brent Plater helped author this GGNRA leash law enforcement petition. Over 70% of Bay Area residents want leash laws enforced at the GGNRA. See Northern Arizona University, Public Opinion Research Telephone Survey Regarding Golden Gate National Recreation Area Pet Management Issues 11, 21 (2002) ("[R]espondents were read the statement, "Current NPS regulations allow for walking dogs on-leash at most GGNRA sites AND prohibit any off-leash dog walking," and asked if they support or oppose this current regulation. Nearly three-quarters of all respondents from the four-county region (71%) support the current dog walking regulation and nearly one-quarter (23%) oppose the regulation."). This is because leash laws are safe and effective measures to protect people, our pets, wildlife, and the Park itself.

Hawaiian Picturewings Recognized -- Brent Plater

A few documents about the importance of Hawaiian Picturewings, which I helped protect under the Endangered Species Act.

Hawaiian picture-wings are perhaps the most extraordinary group of Hawaiian insects known to science, and represent one of the most remarkable cases of specific adaptation to local conditions that has been found in any group of animals on Earth. The study of Hawaiian picture-wings has contributed greatly to humanity’s understanding of biology and evolution. Additionally, scientists recently determined that Hawaiian picture-wings and their associated ecological communities have traits that are enormously important in humanity’s search to cure diseases such as West-Nile virus, AIDS and even cancer.

Brent Plater featured in SF Weekly Blog on Big Year

Brent Plater was quoted in SF Weekly's Blog "The Snitch" after the blogger saw Brent's presentation on the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year at Counterpulse on January 30, 2008.

Brent Plater's Perspective, Feeling Xerces Blue, Airs on KQED

Brent Plater's Perspective about the Xerces Blue Butterfly and the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year aired on KQED on Friday, January 4, 2008.

Brent Plater on KQED's Forum

Brent Plater discussed the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year on KQED 88.5 FM's Forum on January 3, 2008.

Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year is a Bright Idea

The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine features Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year as the week's Bright Idea:

Brent Plater's Sea Otter Suit Discussed in Seattle Times

Brent Plater was quoted in this Seattle Times/AP article regarding a lawsuit to protect sea otters in Alaska.

New Endangered Species Big Year Postcard

Liam O'Brien did the artwork. Brent Plater directs the Big Year Project.

Brent Plater Discusses the Endangered Species Big Year at Golden Gate Audubon Society's Monthly Meeting

The talk will be in Berkeley, CA on October 18 at 7:30pm. Click the link below for more info.

Brent Plater's Lil' Sis with the Big Voice

The Conan Song Will Be Your Favorite of All Time. By Kristin Plater.

Brent Plater Discusses Endangered Species Big Year Project at CNPS/SFBS Meeting

Brent Plater discussed the 2008 GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year at the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society & the San Francisco Botanical Gardens meeting.

Brent Plater's Wildlife Photos

You can view some of Brent Plater's wildlife photos here.

www.michaelschiavinato.com: Alexa and Laura are the Best!

Michael Schiavinato loves the Ocean and its Activists:
http://lonethought.blogspot.com/2007/08/alexa-and-laura-are-best.html

Brent Plater Presents at Northern California Clinical Conference

Brent Plater presented at the 2007 Northern California Clinical Legal Education Conference at Boalt Hall School of Law.

Brent Plater's Sea Otter Advocacy Featured on Nickelodeon's Nick News

Brent Plater's work to protect sea otters in the Aleutian Islands was featured on Nick News, a news network for kids.

Brent Plater Presents the Case for Protecting Southern Resident Killer Whales under the Endangered Species Act.

Brent Plater's Op-Ed arguing for expedient protection of Puget Sound's imperiled Southern Resident Killer Whales appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Brent Plater's Collegiate Cycling Team Featured in Harvard Magazine

Brent Plater's collegiate cycling Team was featured in Harvard Magazine, where the author describes one of Brent's winning rides.

Brent Plater Speaks on Global Warming Litigation Strategies at University of Michigan

Brent Plater discussed innovative legal strategies to fight global warming at the University of Michigan.

North Pacific Right Whales Gain Protection - Brent Plater

National Geographic reports on Brent Plater's successful petition and litigation to protect right whale critical habitat in the Bering Sea.

House of Representatives Helps Fight Extinction Bill - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle discussing former Representative Dick Pombo;s (R-CA) bill to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act. Some House Democrats such as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) helped stop this bill, and reposted this article on their website.

California Condors and the Endangered Species Act - Brent Plater

Brent Plater discussed the importance of the Endangered Species Act and attempts to eviscerate the statute by developers and the politicians they give money to on central coast public radio.

Redefining Wilderness Symposium - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was a panelist at the Redefining Wilderness Symposium at San Francisco State University.

Brent Plater on ABC World News Tonight

Brent Plater Discussed bald eagle conservation on ABC World News Tonight last year.

Bald eagles still struggle to survive in the desert areas of the United States.

Debating Pombo's Extinction Bill- Brent Plater

Brent Plater appeared on KQED's Forum show with Michael Krasny to debate pesticide industry lawyers and lobbyists who attempted to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act in 2005-6.

The San Francisco Chronicle's Jane Kay and San Francisco State University's Dr. Carlos Davidson also appeared on the program.

The attempt to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act was thwarted in Congress when the U.S. Senate failed to take up the bill in the 109th Congress.

2008 GGNRA ESA Big Year - Brent Plater

GGNRA Endangered Species Project Needs You!

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) contains more federally threatened and endangered species than any other unit of the National Park System in the continental United States, yet most Bay Area residents are unaware of this. We are launching an exciting project that will connect people with these amazing creatures, and we are asking for your help to make it happen.

The project is called the 2008 GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year. The goal will be to introduce people to each and every one of the 34 federally listed threatened or endangered species found in the park, and help them take specific recovery actions for each species. The gateway for the project will be a website where folks can download a “checklist” of the species, learn about ethical wildlife watching, and sign up for guided trips to see snowy plovers, Presidio clarkia, California red-legged frogs, and many other species that call GGNRA home. People will be able to uploadtheir sightings, compare them to other Big Year “competitors,” and even compare their list to those of a few celebrity participants.

We need your help to make this a successful project. Right now our most pressing needs are help with website design and publicity. We have content and most of the field trips prepared. Please contact Brent Plater at bplater@ggnrabigyear.org or 415-572-6989 if you would like to become part of this exciting project.

Through this project, we hope to make people aware of the importance of the Endangered Species Act and the National Park’s urban park experiment, and to encourage people to be good neighbors to the incredible diversity of life in the GGNRA.

California Red-Legged Frog Protected from Pesticides - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was the lead attorney in Center for Biological Diversity v. Whitman, a case which will reduce the use of 66 pesticides in California red-legged frog habitats.

The EPA recently published documents explaining how the injunction works.

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/es/rl_frog/index.htm

Also:
http://www.epa.gov/espp/litigation/redleg-frog/rlf.htm

And:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/rlfrog/index.html

Long live Twain’s Frog!

The Snowy Plover Has a Posse - Brent Plater

You saw it here second:













A decade late. By Brent Plater.

Pombocchio - Bryan O'Neal & Brent Plater

You saw this excellent parody of Pinocchio here third:

By Bryan O’Neal and Brent Plater.

Requiem for a River Dolphin - Brent Plater

You heard it here fourth:

It sounds even better than it reads. By Brent Plater.

New Listed Species, New Hope - Brent Plater

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service published this document in the Federal Register recently adding several species to the official list of endangered and threatened species. Each species added to the list were species Brent Plater played a large role in protecting, either as attorney or petitioner:

Partial List of ESA Species listed by Brent Plater:



Not included here were several other species Brent Plater worked to protect over the years, including the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly, 12 species of Hawaiian Picture-wings, the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, the North Pacific Right Whale, the Southwest Alaska DPS of the Northern Sea Otter, and a few others.

NPR Story on Snowy Plover - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was quoted in this informative story about the attack on the protected status of the Western Snowy Plover Pacific Coast DPS.

The Endangered Species Act and the Snowy Plover.

Fortunately all legal attacks on this diminutive shorebird have been successfully repelled, so far.