NATIONAL

Enviros petition FWS to designate habitat for 9 species. E&E News (sub req’d). The Fish and Wildlife Service has shirked its legal responsibility by not designating critical habitat for nine endangered species, according to a new petition from environmentalists. The petition — from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) — asks FWS to designate as many as 3.2 million acres as critical to the species. Such petitions require the agency to respond within a reasonable amount of time on whether the action may be warranted. CBD has filed many petitions over the years to push FWS to list species and designate habitat. The species listed in the latest petition have been waiting for critical habitat designations for an average of 25 years, according to CBD. They are the roseate tern (a seabird), Shenandoah salamander, Roanoke logperch (a fish), Hay’s spring amphipod (a crustacean), two tiger beetle species and three species of freshwater mussels.

House to vote on border security bill that waives environmental laws. E&E News (sub req’d). The House this week will take up a sweeping border security measure that would waive major environmental laws on federal lands along the Mexican and Canadian borders, a proposal that has drawn fire from environmentalists. The House Rules Committee will meet this evening to set the terms of floor debate on H.R. 399 by Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas). McCaul’s bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to achieve “operation controls” along the border within five years and would penalize political appointees — with restrictions on travel and pay, for example — if those deadlines are not met. The measure, which passed the committee last week on an 18-12 party-line vote, would also forbid the Interior or Agriculture departments from impeding DHS from beefing up security within 100 miles of the Mexican and Canadian borders through road and barrier construction, vehicle patrols, communications and surveillance equipment, or temporary tactical infrastructure. More than a dozen environmental laws, including the Wilderness Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act, would be waived on those lands.

ALASKA

Conservationists cheer changes at Fish & Game. Alaska Dispatch News. Conservation groups have been cheering Gov. Bill Walker’s removal of several high-level officials at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, moves that signal a shift in the state’s approach to land management, permitting and public involvement. Walker’s decisions haven’t been met with universal approval. Ted Spraker, the chair of the Alaska Board of Game, said he was surprised by the removal of Vincent-Lang, Fish and Game’s former wildlife conservation director. Spraker said Vincent-Lang was “a real crusader” when it came to issues he described as “federal overreach, and the federal agencies usurping states’ authority.” Vincent-Lang and the board were aligned on issues related to the Endangered Species Act — specifically, in fights against federal protections for animals like wolves, seals and polar bears, Spraker said.

ARIZONA

Congress comes to Cochise County to see the border. Tucson News Now. New concerns were raised about a new border bill center not only on the environmental impact but if, for all it requires, it will truly secure the border. More than 20 members of Congress, including Martha McSally, will be on the Ladd Ranch near Bisbee on Jan. 24 to listen to ranchers. “Either drugs or people, every day. And I can tell you, the wall hasn’t changed a thing for us,” said rancher John Ladd, who will host the group at his ranch near Bisbee on Saturday. Frustrated, Ladd wants more Border Patrol agents to focus on the border. That’s something the “Protect Our Borders First” act aims to do by an amendment by Congresswoman Martha McSally. But the bill also gives Customs and Border Protection the authority up to 100 miles away from the international boundary to override laws like the Endangered Species Act and others, according to the Sierra Club.

CALIFORNIA

Drought law: Congress proposals could destroy San Francisco estuary and many species. San Jose Mercury News. The impacts of California’s ongoing extreme drought are felt by everyone in the state. Some in Congress have proposed weakening environmental protections that would divert more of the water flowing to the San Francisco Bay. That would have serious implications for the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of North and South America and the fish, wildlife and people who rely on this unique ecosystem. Increasing water diversions can only make things worse. If we compound the decades-long man-made drought and the natural drought by diverting even more water, we’re increasing the likelihood of multiple extinctions. That’s what laws like the Endangered Species Act are intended to prevent.

COLORADO

Prairie Chicken again at issue. Pueblo Chieftain. rowers County Commissioners signed a letter earlier this month protesting a State Land Board realignment project designed to protect the Lesser Prairie Chicken. According to The Lamar Ledger newspaper, the realignment would affect a proposed $70 million dairy planned south of Holly. The commission said the realignment would prohibit vehicle traffic during nesting season and would essentially destroy private property rights. The letter indicated the realignment would “kill jobs” at the dairy that expects to bring 30 jobs to the area.

MINNESOTA

Peterson: Let Minnesota control wolf population. Detroit Lakes Online. Rep. Collin Peterson writes: have concerns on the recent U.S. District Court’s decision to reinstate gray wolves under the protections of the Endangered Species Act in Minnesota. I urge the Department of the Interior to appeal this decision so Minnesota can return to successfully managing our robust gray wolf population. Farmers and ranchers in my district now face an immediate legal predicament between protecting their livestock from predatory gray wolves and complying with yet another overreaching federal judicial decision. Unless the court decision is reversed, Minnesota producers will need access to depredation relief if their livestock is attacked by predatory gray wolves.

MONTANA

Rosendale critical of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for delay in diversion system construction. Sidney Herald. State Sen. Matt Rosendale, R-Glendive, blasted the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for dragging its feet for construction of a new diversion system at Intake. Last summer, well attended public meetings regarding the future of the Intake Diversion Dam took place in Glendive and Sidney. To accommodate the endangered pallid sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act, and to maintain irrigation to area farms, a new concrete weir and fish bypass design has been proposed, but not yet approved.

NEVADA

Horse activists ejected from BLM meeting. Record-Courier. Wild horse rights activists said they were ejected from a public meeting held by the Bureau of Land Management and lost their hotel rooms in the process on Thursday night. The members of Friends of Animals, who flew across the country to protest at Thursday’s meeting on the Pine Nut Resource Management Plan, had a different definition of public comment than the agency did. Edita Birnkrant, director of New York Friends of Animals, grabbed the microphone and unfurled a yellow banner, and as some members of the audience booed, said the BLM was abusing wild horses. Birnkrant held a large sign demanding the BLM protect wild horses under the Endangered Species Act until she was contacted by hotel security and escorted out of the meeting room.

NEW JERSEY

Fungus threatens bats where they sleep. New Jersey Herald. It likes dark and dank caves and skipped across the Atlantic Ocean less than a decade ago to take up residence and sap the life out of the bats that once found the caves perfect for sleeping out the long winters. In the worst case scenario for one species, the long-eared bat, 99 out of 100 animals have been killed by the fungus, striking as they sleep and unaware they have been attacked. Bats, by the millions, fell victim to white-nose, the name given to the disease even before pd was confirmed to be the cause. Especially hard hit are long-eared bats, a once common species across much of the east and Great Lakes area of the U.S.

OREGON

Controversial wetlands project under way near Bend. Associated Press. When water rises along the Deschutes River as spring nears, so will the water in a meadow just upstream of Dillon Falls near Bend. Three culverts installed recently by the Tumalo Irrigation District are set to fill the meadow known as Ryan Ranch, creating a seasonal wetland and potential habitat for the Oregon spotted frog, said Kevin Larkin, the Bend-Fort Rock district ranger for the Deschutes National Forest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the frog, which favors riverside wetlands, as threatened late last summer. The Deschutes National Forest released finalized plans for the project last summer. In the plans, the agency said turning Ryan Ranch from a meadow to a wetland may affect the Western bumblebee and other sensitive species, but would not push them toward federal listing under the Endangered Species Act.

WASHINGTON

Dead whale found in Seattle struck by ship. Associated Press. A 32-foot gray whale that turned up dead under the Washington state ferry terminal in downtown Seattle died earlier this week because it was struck by the propeller of a large vessel, according to the initial results of a necropsy completed Saturday. Gray whales were removed from Endangered Species Act protection in 1994, and the population along the West Coast is considered recovered. But the whales remain protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

WISCONSIN

Federal program to help state wildlife, watersheds. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  The golden-winged warbler and ruffed grouse are among Wisconsin wildlife species expected to benefit from a new federal initiative called the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The Wisconsin habitat project has a lofty goal: increase the population of golden-winged warblers on private property and avoid the species being listed under the Endangered Species Act. A listing decision is expected in 2017. The RCPP was created as part of the farm bill; it is being implemented this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program provides funding to local and regional partners, including private companies and nongovernmental organizations, for conservation projects. The songbird does best when it has access to areas of young forest, a habitat type that also favors more than 20 other species, including the ruffed grouse, woodcock, long-eared bat and white-tailed deer.

WYOMING

Researcher looking at ways to protect genetic diversity in sage grouse. Laramie Boomerang. After collecting hundreds of feathers from hundreds of sage grouse leks across northeastern Wyoming, University of Wyoming graduate student Beth Fitzpatrick is starting to get a glimpse of how the reticent birds move throughout their lifetimes. The hope is to develop methods for land managers to use as they plan future development and habitat restoration projects. A Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Ecology within the UW Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Fitzpatrick said amid all the research regarding sage grouse, it’s important to find ways to help them persist and thrive. That means helping birds maintain genetic diversity by preserving connectivity among populations to avoid in-breeding.