[BCNnet] Swainson's Hawks and Franklin's ground squirrels

[Judy Pollock]

Here's some fascinating info about Franklin's ground squirrels and their 
relationship to Swainson's Hawks in Kane County.  Thanks so much to 
everyone who is sending letters - there's still time to fax a letter to the 
village of Hampshire at 847 - 683-4195 any time until Thursday afternoon.

Judy

Re: Proposal by Crown Community Development

Dear President Schmidt, Hampshire Board Members and Crown Community
Development Company:

I grew up in Plato Center, graduated from Burlington Central High School,
and earned my Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I
am now a Research Associate at the Field Museum of Natural History in
Chicago. I write as a neighbor, friend, and scientist to inform you of the
biological significance of your decisions regarding that part of Hampshire
now proposed for development by Crown Community Development. Although I am
preparing and intend to publish my findings about the relationship of
these two creatures, I write now with my results because of the gravity
and urgency of the matter.

In my opinion, and based on my own scientific research, the proposed
development area provides critical and essential support to the continued
survival of what are the last and largest remaining populations in
Illinois of two threatened species ­ Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) and
Franklin’s Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii).

  The Hampshire area hosts the only known breeding pairs (up to six) of
State endangered, Swainson’s hawks remaining east of the Mississippi. Why
this is so has been subject of much speculation. My research indicates
that the presence of Swainson’s hawks in the Hampshire and immediately
adjacent areas is not due to chance but instead due to the presence of
their favorite prey, the Franklin Ground Squirrel -- another extremely
rare and threatened Illinois resident. The interaction of these two
species is of great interest to science.

I have personally located a significant number of Franklin Ground Squirrel
colonies in the development area and its surroundings. The Hampshire area
squirrel colonies, when taken together, form a fragmented, meta-population
of Franklin’s Ground Squirrels and very likely the largest in the eastern
US. The development area also falls within or is otherwise adjacent to the
nesting and feeding area of the State’s, and the eastern part of the
Nation’s, only Swainson’s hawk population.

Throughout much of their range, breeding Swainson’s Hawks specialize on
large, communal ground squirrels, such as Richardson’s Ground Squirrel (S.
richardsonii) to the west, or, as my evidence suggests, Franklin’s to the
east of the Mississippi. The Franklin’s Ground Squirrel is the only
communal ground squirrel available in the central Midwest (i.e., Indiana,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri) and it is listed as endangered or “of Special
Concern” in all of those states.

It is here in Hampshire, where all available data indicates the last
significant population of Franklin’s Ground Squirrels subsists, that we
also find the only breeding population of Swainson’s Hawks in the eastern
Continental Unites States. This is not the product of coincidence; and the
study of why that should not be so tests science. The hawks and the
squirrels are important in their own rights, but they are also examples of
types in relationship.

I realize that conservation priorities and the realities of development in
high-growth areas such as Hampshire require compromise on all sides.
Making informed decisions, however, requires knowledge of the local biota
­ the facts of life. I hope this adds a little more to your appreciation
of the importance of the areas proposed for development is to the citizens
of Hampshire, Kane County, Illinois, and our Nation.

Please do not hesitate to ask me for anything that may assist you in your
decision making.

Sincerely,

Bill M. Strausberger, P.h. D.
 ><

Judy Pollock
jpollock@audubon.org