Issues
BLM approves wind project critics say threatens Calif. Condors. On May 24th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it had approved the East Wind Project in Southern California. The project includes the first-ever authorization allowing the project proponent to take, meaning injure or kill, an endangered condor during the 30-year life of the development. Federal law prescribes $100,000 fine and a year in prison for any individual that kills a condor, and a $200,000 fine for an organization that does it.
The decision has received fire from all angles, including the Center for Biological Diversity who fears such a decision may set a precedent for other wind farm cases. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings has also expressed concern regarding how the current administration is handling bird deaths caused by wind power versus those tied to oil and natural gas (read more on ESA Watch). Read the BLM’s approved record of decision (ROD) HERE.
AOGA challenges seal listing. This week, the Alaska Oil & Gas Association (AOGA) sued Alaska’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in federal court regarding a recently-implemented rule listing two populations of bearded seals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to the Law 360 report, AOGA’s complaint notes that the rule is “based on weak scientific evidence of potential environmental threats to their habitat projected many years into the future, making the rule arbitrary and capricious.” While studies conducted by the NMFS have estimated the total population at 438,000, nearly half of which are the Pacific subspecies, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the NMFS to list the bearded seals as threatened or endangered under the ESA in 2008 due to future threats from climate change and related sea ice loss.
38 Hawaiian species placed under ESA protection. In response to a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has placed 35 Hawaiian plants and three tree snails on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) this week. The listing is effective June 27.
In the News
US sued over policy on killing endangered wildlife. Los Angeles Times. Environmental groups are taking the Justice Department to court over a policy that prohibits prosecuting individuals who kill endangered wildlife unless it can be proved that they knew they were targeting a protected animal.
Sen. John Cornyn meets with elected officials in Amarillo to hear concerns. Lubbock Avalanche Journal. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn met with a roomful of elected officials from across the region Thursday, May 30, and heard concerns about everything from transportation to the tax code to the lesser prairie-chicken. Cornyn said he wasn’t surprised by what he heard.
Fish and Wildlife Service Suggest Spending as Much as $4 Million to Save this Fish. Nature World News. The grotto sculpin, a small fish endemic to an area of Missouri characterized by its caves and sinkholes, is in danger of becoming extinct, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency has proposed protecting the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
BLM agrees public needs more time to consider revised leasing regs. E&E News (sub req’d). The coalition of 11 groups led by the Boulder, Colo.-based Western Resource Advocates (WRA) announced yesterday they have submitted formal comments to BLM mostly praising the proposed revisions. But WRA and the other groups also want the revisions to include stronger requirements protecting endangered species, as well as water quality and quantity, before leases are issued and plans of development approved.
Reclamation to boost releases from Utah dam to help imperiled fish. E&E News (sub req’d). The Bureau of Reclamation will unleash a torrential flow from Flaming Gorge Dam in northeastern Utah to help the endangered razorback sucker in Wyoming’s Green River. Starting tomorrow and continuing for up to 10 days, depending on conditions, water managers will ramp up flows from an average of 820 cubic feet per second to 4,600 cfs, which is as much as the hydropower turbines can handle.
Polar Bear Endangered Species Act listing upheld by D.C. Circuit while new challenge may loom. Lexology. A recent denial of rehearing by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals brought closure to a lawsuit challenging a five-year old decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). One environmental group, however, has now indicated its intent to sue FWS with a new challenge concerning the polar bear’s listing.
Feds Fail to Protect Endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales in Alaska. eNews Park Forest. The federal government’s decision to allow oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s Cook Inlet violated three federal statutes, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act, according to an opinion issued Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason.
Enviros prep lawsuit over BLM oil shale plan. E&E News (sub req’d). The Bureau of Land Management failed to ensure the protection of endangered fish and birds before finalizing a plan to significantly reduce the amount of lands available for oil shale development in the West, according to a coalition of environmental groups threatening to sue the agency.
More land for the prairie chicken. Lone Star Outdoor News. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved the acquisition of more than 3,000 acres of lesser prairie chicken habitat as an addition to the Yoakum Dunes Preserve in the Texas Panhandle, which is dedicated to the conservation of this iconic grasslands species.
The Center for Biological Diversity Deems 35 Plants and Three Snails as Endangered. French Tribune. In wake of a deal it held with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011, the Center for Biological Diversity has deemed 35 plants and three snails from Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Kahoolawe as endangered. The announcement has been made by the group on Friday.
Arizona endangered wolves still on the brink. USA Today. Although wolves enjoy federal protection as an endangered species, their status here as an experimental population gives ranchers a right to defend cattle. They can legally shoot wolves that are attacking their stock on private land, and can report them to government officials for potential agency-directed trapping or killing after repeated offenses on public lands.
Political Meddling + Endangered Species Act = Trouble. Huffington Post, Center for Biological Diversity. When it comes to saving America’s endangered species, science — not politics — ought to be the driving force.
