Issues

IPAA and API Submit Comments on Northern Long-Eared Bat. This week, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) submitted a third round of joint comments on the proposed listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In the comments, the associations urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to:

  • Give thorough consideration to the new data and conclusions derived from that data that have been provided to FWS by the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, in particular to these organizations’ conclusion that the proposed endangered listing for the Northern Long Eared Bat is not supported by the best scientific and commercial data available as the Endangered Species Act requires,
  • Obtain all data from each state within the range of the Northern Long Eared Bat and to defer a final listing decision until the agency has thoroughly considered that data,
  • Thoroughly examine the conservation measures for the benefit of the Indiana Bat being implemented by states in the range of the Northern Long Eared Bat and make a determination as to the benefit these conservation measures will provide to Northern Long Eared Bat populations.

The comments also endorse the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s earlier comments on the proposed rule, and urges the Service to determine that sufficient information does not exist to list the bat under the ESA. Read the full comments on ESA Watch HERE.

Spending Bill Passes, Includes Sage Grouse Riders. Earlier this week, Congress passed a $1.1 trillion appropriations package that funds most of the government through September 2015.  The omnibus spending bill, which President Obama signed on Wednesday, also contains language preventing the Fish and Wildlife Service from moving forward with a final threatened ruling for the Gunnison sage-grouse and the bi-state distinct population segment of the Greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bill also limits the Secretary of the Interior from spending any funds to write or issue proposed listing rules under the ESA for the Greater sage-grouse.

The decision has been met with both praise and criticism from various parties. Author of the rider Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) stated that the bill will be put to “good use in doing the right thing for all habitat resources.” Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) also praised the passage of the rider, stating “for states like Utah, it is especially important that this bill gives the Fish and Wildlife Service additional time to evaluate state progress on management and conservation of the greater sage grouse.” The Western Grouse Coalition echoed this sentiment, stating in E&E News “this is an important first step in allowing states to finalize their statewide management plans and ultimately to implement these efforts.”

Some Senate Democrats, such as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) expressed opposition to the bill, noting that it creates uncertainty for Western states. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell was also critical of the inclusion of sage grouse language, but noted that the rider has” no effect” on efforts to implement collaborative conservation efforts for the bird. According to Secretary Jewell, “the Omnibus continues funding for Interior and USDA to conserve sagebrush habitat and to advance the unprecedented collaboration happening across 11 Western states. The Fish and Wildlife Service will continue to collect data and conduct analysis, and the agency will reach a decision as to whether listing is warranted or not.” The White House has also asserted the bill does not impact the administration’s ability to invest in conservation measures for the bird.

New Report Questions ESA Listing Decision Process. House Natural Resources Committee majority staff released a new report this week, highlighting concerns surrounding the peer review process used in recent Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decisions. According to the report, which looked at thirteen ESA listing decisions made by the Fish and Wildlife Service since July 2013, there have been numerous instances where reviewers hold potential bias and conflicts of interests and the peer review process has lacked transparency and consistency.

As the report states, “the lack of consistency in how peer reviewers are vetted and the lack of transparency about who is serving as peer reviewers and the comments they are providing make it difficult to ensure that the peer reviewers are in fact ‘appropriate and independent’ and that ESA listing decisions are being made on the best available scientific and commercial data as required under the law.”

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) also commented on the report’s release, stating “with hundreds of ESA listings driven by this Administration’s closed-door settlements with litigious groups, discovery of any potential bias about how ESA data and science are reviewed casts serious doubt on the credibility of these decisions, and provides more evidence that the ESA needs continued oversight and updating.”

In the News

Oilmen Join Naturalists as Unlikely Partners to Save Sage Grouse. Bloomberg. An unlikely alliance of oilmen, cattle ranchers and environmentalists is trying to save a flamboyant bird the size of a chicken that is at risk of extinction in part because of fossil-fuel riches under its habitat. Rather than wait for a government endangered-species declaration, the group hopes to establish a system in which development rights would be swapped for land set aside in areas the greater sage-grouse nests. Supporters hope this sort of habitat exchange could become a model for places where energy needs conflict with wildlife conservation.

Whooping crane advocates are denied request for rehearing. Corpus Christi Caller Times. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to reopen an earlier appeal that found the state was not culpable for the deaths of 23 whooping cranes during the winter of 2009. The vote was 11-4. But the attorney who argued on behalf of a group representing the iconic endangered birds said dissenting arguments from three judges on the Fifth Circuit panel could lead to yet another reversal in the case. The group plans to pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said Houston environmental attorney Jim Blackburn.

GOP accuses feds of bad science in endangered species studies. The Hill. Congressional Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of using a flawed and opaque peer review process when determining whether species are endangered and should be protected. In a report issued Monday, Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee said multiple listing processes show that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) doesn’t effectively weed out peer reviewers with conflicts of interest. “With hundreds of ESA listings driven by this administration’s closed-door settlements with litigious groups, discovery of any potential bias about how ESA data and science are reviewed casts serious doubt on the credibility of these decisions, and provides more evidence that the ESA needs continued oversight and updating,” Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.

Obama admin. sued by Colo. Gov. Hickenlooper over Gunnison sage grouse. Washington Times. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper made good Friday on his promise to sue the federal government over its hotly contested move to list the Gunnison sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The Colorado Attorney General’s office filed a notice of intent to sue with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Fish and Wildlife Service director Daniel M. Ashe, arguing that the agency’s Nov. 12 decision to list the bird as threatened was flawed and failed to appreciate fully the impact of aggressive state and local conservation efforts.

Sage grouse protection block gives Western developers win over environmentalists. Washington Times. A successful Republican move to stop in its tracks the Obama administration’s bid to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act may be a sign of things to come in the long-running battle between environmentalists and economic developers across the West. A GOP policy “rider” tucked into the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill debated by Congress last week cuts off any money for the administration to move on the grouse issue, and with Republicans set to take full control of the House and the Senate next month, that’s unlikely to be the last such move. After years of watching federal bureaucrats, environmentalists and judges decide Western land-use and endangered species policy, Republican and Western lawmakers are drawing a line in the sand over the wide-ranging, chicken-size bird, which threatens to upend economic development projects across the rural West.

Feds propose protections for 6 sea creatures. E&E News (sub req’d). The National Marine Fisheries Service proposed today to list six marine species under the Endangered Species Act, as part of its response to a broader petition from an environmental group. In a notice set to be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register, NMFS proposes listing the dusky sea snake and three species of coral as endangered. The Banggai cardinalfish and Harrison’s dogfish would be listed as threatened. The agency also announced that a seventh species, the Eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, does not warrant an ESA listing because it is not a distinct population segment.