This is a photo of a giant stack of letters we put in the mail last Friday, about 4,700 total from Audubon activists to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service voicing their opposition to the proposed delisting of the Coastal California Gnatcatcher. Pretty impressive, but actually just a small fraction of the comments that Audubon activists have submitted. Audubon chapters have been equally inspired to defend this Threatened songbird. At least 20 chapters have submitted comments to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service opposing the delisting. Here's a taste of what Audubon chapters have said:

"As a regional, urban organization whose focus is on the conservation of wildlife habitat and anticipating the effects of global warming, SFVAS feels very strongly that every avian species is deserving of protection of its habitat, especially those who’s habitat has been dramatically reduced by urban developers in recent decades," wrote Dave Weeshoff, representing the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society.

"A few pairs of Coastal California Gnatcatcher are found in the Whittier / Puente Hills and in the Montebello Hills.  Also, in the past 3 years one pair has nested in the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.  There is limited coastal sage scrub habitat for these birds in the urban Southern California area, and it is important that they and their habitat be protected.  Currently there are development proposals in the Montebello hills that threaten a significant area of the habitat.  It is very important that we maintain stretches of suitable habitat that are as uninterrupted as possible, to avoid segmenting the populations any further," wrote Joan Powell, representing the Whittier Area Audubon Society.

"The Coastal California Gnatcatcher has a tenuous hold in its limited coastal range in Southern California, where it occurs in arid scrub habitats on some of the most expensive real estate in the United States. Rapid human population growth and suburban sprawl of the area has reduced and fragmented the bird’s coastal sage scrub to such a degree that the bird is barely hanging on to existence. Only about 3,000 pairs of the northern subspecies of the gnatcatchers are believed to exist along the Southern California coast, where from 70-90% of its habitat has been lost, including about 33% from 1993-2001," wrote Stephen Ferry of the Santa Barbara Audubon Society.

"The Coastal California Gnatcatcher is an essential part of a Southern California ecology that is rapidly diminishing. Not only is the Coastal California Gnatcatcher a magnificent bird worthy of protection, it is also emblematic of the rich coastal sage scrub of southern California, an enduring remnant of our wild coast that is now the most endangered habitat type in North America," wrote Paul Schorr and Nancy Wenninger  on behalf of the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society.

These are just a few of the voices of Audubon on this threat to one of California's great birds.