Kim Marie Thorburn on Biodiversity Conservation and the Endangered Species Act”
At 50 years+, the Endangered Species Act is considered one of our most successful conservation policies. More than 200 species’ extinctions have been prevented to date: which is 99% of all species listed as endangered. Yet, as the earth faces the sixth great extinction, the Act’s imperfections require a shift in the approach to conservation and management with more focus on ecosystems than individual species. In this presentation, Kim will draw from her experience with wildlife conservation work to discuss contemporary conservation strategies and challenges.
Kim Thorburn is a retired public health physician. Her love of animals and the outdoors dates from her childhood farm life in the Central Valley of California. Upon retirement from medicine, she turned to these avocations full time. Kim was drawn to birding by way of a class given by the Spokane Audubon Society, and by a certain Canyon Wren in the Santa Rosa mountains of Nevada. She played an important role volunteering in Washington Fish and Wildlife Department Prairie Grouse recovery efforts, and served for eight years as a Fish and Wildlife Commissioner. She has served on the Board of WOS as treasurer and for two terms as a director. Kim’s habitat is in Washington’s sagebrush country.