Being an ecological based firm, Equinox has a close association with an informed approach to planning and design around ecology. Often this information is directly related to endangered species and their habitats. A large component of what we do is identify sensitive habitats and analyze the potential to impact rare and endangered species. The primary goal being to ensure that our projects maintain a balance of function and environmental sustainability.
Rare species often occupy niche habitats such as mountaintops, rocky escarpments, wetlands, waterfall spray zones, in areas with unique soils, and vegetative communities that are rare themselves.
What is it to be endangered? The textbook definition is (broadly) defined as to have one’s continued existence threatened. In common speech, threatened and endangered are synonymous. In the realm of federal protection, the two have vastly different meanings. To be endangered, is to have been brought to the brink of existence while threatened is being likely to become the former. A sobering reminder of the value of any given moment in time.
A Bill recently reintroduced in the Senate by Senators Heinrich and Tillis, has reinvigorated a push for the funding of research, management, and recovery of rare species. The bill, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), would provide dedicated funding for more than 12,000 species of wildlife and plants identified as in need of conservation measures.
It takes a tremendous amount of work by agencies and researchers to stay ahead of the curve on species decline.
