John Grisham Pelican Brief

Pelican Brief Essay

In John Grisham's, The Pelican Brief, he focuses on the endangerment of the brown pelicans in Louisiana which the reader then connects to the oil companies and pesticides affecting the environment. The Pelican Brief, was written by John Grisham in 1992 (Grisham). “John Grisham was born on February 8th, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas” (John Grisham). “Grisham went on to study accounting at Mississippi State University and then law at the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1981”(John Grisham). “Grisham set up a practice doing personal injury and criminal defense work in Southaven, and in 1983 he earned a seat in the Mississippi legislature working as an attorney” (John Grisham). He then went on to become a best-selling

“In 1966, the brown pelican became Louisiana’s official state bird” (Brown Pelican). The brown pelican is the only dark pelican and also the only one that plunges from the air into the water to catch it’s food (Oil Spill). Most of the pelicans build their nests on the ground, making it easier for water to take the nests out. An oil spill occurred during nesting time. The majority of the islands hit by the oil spill were located in Louisiana (Tangley). “Since oil was found, tens of thousands of acres of wetlands have been devoured by the ocean. Sixty percent of Louisiana vanishes every year due to oil companies” (Grisham 257). “In 1970, the Fish And Wildlife Service listed the brown pelican as an endangered species throughout its range”

“By 1968, a brown pelican restocking program was in place in Louisiana” (CWPPRA). “In the summer of 1968, fifty brown pelicans were imported from southern Florida by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission” (Lowery). The birds had been raised and fed in pens and depended on handouts for food, but the Rockefeller scientists eventually denied food access to the pelicans (Lowery). Winter came and a sudden cold snap killed off the pelicans. Another attempt was made to bring back the population, they began transplanting thousands of chicks from Florida to Louisiana. “Over the course of twelve years and average of 110 birds a year were transplanted” (CWPPRA). The populations then began to recover and by November 2009, the species were completely removed from the endangered species list