Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne celebrated the brown pelican's remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction by formally proposing to remove the remaining protected populations of the bird along the Gulf and Pacific coasts, and in the Caribbean, and Central and South America from protection under the Endangered Species Act. From left to right, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dale Hall, Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Robert Barham, and Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal.
[Photo Credit: Tami Heilemann] |