NATIONAL

Maine bill would add two bat species to endangered list. Associated Press. A bill that would add two bat species decimated by white nose syndrome to Maine’s endangered species list was submitted to the state Legislature on Tuesday. The state Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife wants to add the northern long-eared bat and little brown bat to the endangered list. Cave counts of the two species showed nearly 90 percent declines, wildlife officials said in July. A third species, the eastern small-footed bat, is being proposed for the state’s threatened species list.

Interior report will guide efforts to protect sagebrush, grouse. E&E News (sub req’d). A new Interior Department report calls for targeted investments to prevent and respond to rangeland fires that pose a top threat to the greater sage grouse and hundreds of other species in the Great Basin. The report, released today by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, tasks fire crews to develop response plans that prioritize landscapes most susceptible to wildfire and invasive species in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. It also calls for increased training for thousands who serve in rural and volunteer fire departments and rangeland fire protection associations so they can help Interior respond more quickly to fast-moving rangeland fires. NOTE: Reno Gazette-Journal, Twin Falls Time-News and Boise State Public Radio also report.

Scientist to watch Texas’ endangered species. Houston Chronicle. A high-profile new employee in Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office won’t focus on revenue estimates or tax collection. Robert Gulley will, however, be looking at monarch butterfly migration patterns and the decline of freshwater mussels like the Louisiana pigtoe and the Texas fatmucket — rare animals that could be next on the federal government’s list of protected species. “Right now, the Endangered Species Act is the law of the land. And that’s the reality we’re working in,” Gulley said.

FWS proposes habitat protections for black pine snake. E&E News (sub req’d). The Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it is proposing new protections for eight parcels of prime black pine snake habitat and reopening the comment period on its decision to designate the nonvenomous constrictor snake as threatened. “The black pine snake is an important part of the longleaf pine ecosystem in southern Alabama and Mississippi,” said Cindy Dohner, FWS’s Southeast regional director. “Identifying critical habitat will highlight areas important to the pine snake, complementing the proposed listing and enhancing some of the conservation efforts that are also already underway for other wildlife.” NOTE: Gulf Live also reports.

EPA office to focus on bees in 2015 – director. E&E News (sub req’d). U.S. EPA will focus its attention on the plight of honeybees and other pollinators this year more than ever, the agency’s pesticide program chief said yesterday. Using a new road map from the National Academy of Sciences for compliance with the Endangered Species Act, EPA will release new biological assessments for the pesticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion this summer, a move that will clear the way for other assessments.

COLORADO

Rep. Tipton discusses PILT funding, endangered species with commissioners. KJCT. Congressman Scott Tipton was in Grand Junction Tuesday to meet with the Mesa County commissioners. Several issues were on the agenda, including PILT funding and the Endangered Species Act. Tipton also says he is supporting legislation to use science to define an “endangered habitat.”

FLORIDA

Keeping the beach dark for sea turtle nesting season. Island Reporter. The Loggerhead sea turtle nesting season officially starts April 20 this year, which is a couple of weeks earlier than normal due to the water temperatures varying this season. The nesting season will run from late April to early May and into August or even into September. The Loggerhead sea turtle is listed as a threatened species, which means they have the possibility of becoming endangered within the foreseeable future under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act.

MONTANA

Against Senate Bill 247. Helena Independent Record, LTE. I’m opposed to Senate Bill 247. If passed this bill will allow the Montana Legislature to initiate the closure of sage grouse hunting across the state of Montana. I believe this legislation is not based on the best science available.

WASHINGTON

One acre for terns in latest Corps plan: Agency wrestles with how to protect birds and the salmon they eat. Chinook Observer. After years of managing a growing Caspian tern colony on East Sand Island — the largest such colony in the world in terms of nesting pairs — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has published draft plans to further reduce nesting habitat available to the birds. “Management of Caspian terns in the

[Columbia River Estuary] is intrinsically challenging because of the need to satisfy competing interests; the wellbeing of the Caspian tern colony… and the [Endangered Species Act]-listed salmonids on which they prey,” the EA states.

Sandy smelt dipping proves disappointing. The Columbian. Smelt dipping on Saturday in Oregon’s Sandy River turned out to be a bust, with state samplers checking very few fish. Although smelt returns have been fair this year and were excellent in 2014, the silvery fish are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act and only minimal harvest is allowed.

Washington battling major threat to Columbia salmon. Statesman Journal. Washington is in a running battle with a sharp-toothed, voracious, predatory alien invader, the northern pike. The biggest fear is if the prolific breeders make it downriver from Box Canyon Reservoir and into the Columbia River. And some of those runs are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

WYOMING

Grouse group: Gros Ventre key habitat. Jackson Hole News & Guide. A volunteer working group that helps guide management of Jackson Hole’s isolated and minute sage grouse population would like to see more of the Snake River basin set aside as highly protected “core” habitat. Meeting in Jackson last week, the Upper Snake River Basin Sage Grouse Working Group recommended designating occupied grouse habitat in the Gros Ventre valley and two other areas as core habitat. Including the Gros Ventre as core range would recognize and protect a genetic linkage critical to a relatively small population of less than 30 male birds, retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Joe Bohne said at the March 4 working group meeting.