Issues

FWS Director Ashe in Hot Water. This week, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) sent a  letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe in response to a management advisory from the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General. The advisory, submitted by Deputy Inspector General Mary L. Kendall to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell earlier in July, highlighted concerns that Director Ashe has ignored multiple “stern warnings” regarding the discipline of two supervisors who retaliated against whistle-blowers who exposed their scientific misconduct. Chairman Hastings released the advisory alert this week, along with his letter to FWS Director. According to his letter:

“Concerns have been raised that the Service failed to take timely and appropriate management action against supervisors who may have engaged in scientific misconduct and then retaliated against whistleblowers who reported the misconduct to the OIG. The Committee takes allegations of violations of scientific integrity as well as whistleblower retaliation very seriously and expects to be kept apprised of this issue.”

Find Deputy Inspector General Mary L. Kendall’s alert HERE and Chairman Doc Hastings letter to the FWS HERE.

Natural Resources Committee Takes on ‘Sue and Settle’. On Thursday, August 1st, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing regarding the role and impact of closed-door settlements on endangered species listings. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) signed landmark Endangered Species Act (ESA) settlements with two groups, WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, requiring the FWS to speed protection decisions for 250 species. The action has heightened scrutiny regarding how the ESA is being carried out and impacted by unwarranted ‘sue and settle’ legislation.

At the hearing, Damien Schiff, Principal Attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, explained some of the concerns surrounding these cases and their impact on the implementation of the ESA:

“Unfortunately, over the last several decades, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service have implemented the Act in a way that puts agency policy ahead of the law and the best interests of the regulated public. Moreover, the agencies’ administration of the Act often times bears no relationship to the best interests of protected species, but serves only to aggrandize government power or satisfy particularly litigious environmental groups.”

Dr. Rob Roy Ramey II, Ph.D also highlighted his concerns regarding the deluge of ESA listing settlement agreements:

“The ongoing “bio-blitzkrieg” of ESA listing petitions, lawsuits, and settlement agreements does a disservice to bona-fide conservation efforts. Every time another species is added to the list of threatened and endangered species, or a new deadline is imposed by litigants, the resources to recover species becomes more thinly spread.”

Read the panel’s full testimonies and watch the full hearing HERE.

Sierra Club Sues Federal Government. The Sierra Club and six other conservation groups have filed a lawsuit stating that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for opening up parts of the Rocky Mountains to oil shale development in parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Grand Canyon Trust, Living Rivers, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Rocky Mountain Wild, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance also joined the lawsuit.

In the News

Proposed plans for BLM land threaten rural Montana. Ravalli Republic, Op-Ed. The Bureau of Land Management is currently considering several Resource Management Plan (RMP) proposals in Montana, with one major objective ostensibly aimed at conserving sage grouse habitat to bolster population growth. However, one look at the management plans clearly shows that the stated intentions are very different from what the plans would actually accomplish. In reality, these RMPs are one of the biggest threats to private property rights and natural resource development that our state has seen in years.

Reid, Heller and Amodei discuss impact of sage grouse listing with Interior officials. Carson Now. Nevada Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller and U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-2) met Wednesday with top officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior to discuss actions that can be taken to help prevent the Endangered Species Act listing of the sage grouse, as well as the negative impact such a listing would have on the economic growth and development of the Silver State.

Colo. plan to expand sensitive wildlife habitat garners mixed reaction. E&E News (sub req’d). Industry and conservation groups say they generally support a Colorado plan that would expand the overall acreage of formally designated sensitive wildlife habitat areas that require the oil and gas industry to consult with state wildlife officials and avoid impacts before drilling wells.

Gunnison sage grouse decision postponed. Cortez Journal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a six month extension for a final decision on a proposed rule to provide Endangered Species Act protection for the Gunnison sage-grouse.

Residents question cost of saving frogs, toads in Sierra. Fresno Bee. Mountain residents and the Fresno County sheriff are squaring off against a federal wildlife agency over frogs and toads — an Endangered Species Act fight that spreads like wildfire along the Sierra Nevada.

Committee votes to block BLM fracking rules, advance sweeping forestry bill. E&E News (sub req’d). The House Natural Resources Committee this afternoon voted to advance bills that would block the Bureau of Land Management’s ability to regulate hydraulic fracturing and vastly expand logging on federal forests…The bill was backed strongly by logging companies but was hammered today by environmental groups and Democrats on the committee as an assault on bedrock laws including the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.

172 Groups Across United States Urge Faster Protection for Endangered Species. Center for Biological Diversity (Press Release). A coalition of 172 citizen groups sent letters today to eight U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional directors urging the agency to expedite efforts to protect hundreds of imperiled plants and animals around the country under the Endangered Species Act.