NATIONAL
Pending Govt. Designation Could Threaten Areas of NE Shale Development. Oil & Gas 360. In April the agency will rule, under the Endangered Species Act, as to whether the Northern Long-Eared Bat will be classified as threatened or endangered, which could turn the 3 ½ inch long flying mammal into 2015’s spotted owl—potentially removing portions of its habitat zones from the possibility of prospective shale, other oil and gas, wind energy and similar development activities.
Despite Protections, Miami Port Project Smothers Coral Reef in Silt. New York Times. The damage to the fragile corals was never supposed to have happened. In 2013, federal agencies created a plan to protect the animals from the churn of sand and rock by placing them at a distance from the dredge site. It was a strategy intended to balance Miami’s economic interests with the concerns of environmentalists, who worry about the rapid deterioration of reefs across South Florida. Crucial to the plan was safeguarding the staghorn coral, a variety listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Report from free-market group weighs merits of state management. E&E News (sub req’d). Federal lands could be managed more cost-effectively and with better environmental results under a trust model used by Western states, according to a new report from a free-market think tank. The PERC report says federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act, have caused, in the words of former Forest Service chiefs, “analysis paralysis,” “gridlock” and a “Gordian knot” hindering more efficient management.
CALIFORNIA
Inland Empire water agencies pool resources to save Santa Ana sucker. San Bernardino Sun. They were on a mission Tuesday and Wednesday to cull out nonnative fish species from a sliver of the river, which extends nearly 100 miles from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The goal? Save the Santa Ana Sucker, a small, rare, federally endangered algae-eating fish, which environmentalists have long fought to save from extinction.
KANSAS
Letter: Lesser prairie chicken issue coming home to roost. Topeka Capital Journal, LTE. It is depressing to see all the politics surrounding the lesser prairie-chicken. My experience with this species spans more than 35 years, and I have seen most of their remaining Kansas habitat, plus much of what little remains in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado.
MICHIGAN
We must go to bat for Michigan’s endangered bats. Detroit Free Press, Op-Ed. Few species in the United States are facing greater extinction pressure than northern long-eared bats. Since 2006, the bats have experienced declines of up to 99% in much of their range. This species is an important contributor to bat diversity in Michigan and throughout eastern North America.
A possible new rule for protecting the Northern Long-Eared Bat. WBKB. A possible new rule for protecting the Northern Long-Eared Bat could cause some concern for the Alpena County Road Commission. Due to the White Nose Syndrome and other changes in the environment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to put the Northern Long–Eared Bat on the endangered species or threatened list. This will ultimately cause restrictions to tree removal on the road systems in certain areas during the months of April 1st through October 1st; and will be a problem for the road commission because most of their transportation projects occur during the summer months.
MONTANA
5 Montana forests move to manage habitat for delisted grizzlies. Helena Independent Record. In northwest Montana, about a thousand of them wander the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. That 8 million-acre expanse includes Glacier National Park, at least six counties, two Indian reservations and five national forests. To deal with that growing population and territory, as well as the potential that grizzlies could soon be removed from the federal endangered species list, those five national forests are considering a single habitat management plan that would keep all the U.S. Forest Service folks on the same page, bear-wise.
Judge Dismisses South Fork Logging Lawsuit. Flathead Beacon. A District Judge has dismissed a lawsuit conservation groups filed against the Flathead National Forest over logging projects in the South Fork Flathead River corridor. Friends of the Wild Swan and Swan View Coalition filed suit in 2012 in U.S. District Court in Missoula in opposition to the Forest Service’s Soldier Addition II Project on the west side of the South Fork near the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, and the Spotted Bear River Project, a logging proposal on the opposite side of the South Fork Flathead River.
Bison, guns and sage grouse up for debate this week. Great Falls Tribune. Among the hearings this week before legislative committees is Senate Bill 247, sponsored by Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, which would prohibit sage grouse hunting in Montana. House Fish, Wildlife, Parks Committee.
Hunting not to blame for sage grouse decline. Billings Gazette, LTE. The Montana Legislature is now considering SB247 to eliminate sage grouse hunting for six years. Energy industry rationale is that it might delay U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing and is “worth a try.” This is not the answer and will only serve to create divisions between interest groups and disenfranchise the very people who have worked so hard on Montana’s sage grouse plan.
NEVADA
Conservation helps protect endangered species. Reno Gazette Journal, LTE. Two weeks ago, a town hall took place in Vegas about Nevada’s public lands. As a sportsman, I welcome these types of conversations because I care deeply about public access and the conservation of habitat. For instance, proactive conservation of greater sage-grouse habitat in the Basin and Range region helps us avoid a federal endangered species listing.
WASHINGTON
Is the removal of predatory wildlife on Columbia River sound policy or overkill? Yakima Herald. Every spring, thousands of hungry seabirds nest on a sandy island near the mouth of the Columbia River, snacking on young salmon and steelhead that swim past on their ocean-bound journey. One species alone, the double-crested cormorant, eats an estimated 11 million of those juvenile fish every year. Biologists blame the birds’ voracious appetite as one of many reasons why steelhead remain on the endangered species list despite major investment in recovery.
NMFS considers allowing tribe to hunt gray whales. E&E News (sub req’d). The National Marine Fisheries Service took the first step today in deciding whether to allow a tribe in Washington to hunt a handful of gray whales each year. The Makah want to hunt gray whales from the eastern North Pacific stock, which numbers about 20,000 individuals. Once endangered because of whaling, it was removed from the list of endangered species in 1994.
WISCONSIN
Let the experts make decisions regarding Wisconsin’s gray wolves. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Op-Ed. Finding the right balance between conservation and safety for people and animals requires careful science and years of study, and the Fish & Wildlife Service has teams of highly trained people who dedicate their careers to getting these questions right. In 1978, the gray wolf was listed as endangered and put under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Through the successful population management of the Fish & Wildlife Service, wolves have experienced an unprecedented comeback.
A natural predator is harmed by congressional delisting. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Op-Ed. The mismanagement in Wisconsin and other states contributed to the December 2014 judicial decision to restore endangered species protections for Great Lakes wolves. Unfortunately, Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) and others are now advancing proposals to statutorily remove federal protection. In other words, they want to usurp the federal ruling. Unfortunately, any congressional rider or bill that promotes the legislative delisting of wolves will place not only wolves, but also the entire Endangered Species Act in jeopardy. What is to stop Congress from statutorily delisting other species that well-heeled developers or “special interest groups” don’t believe deserve protections?
WYOMING
Wyoming undertaking new studies of nongame species. Casper Star-Tribune. A $158,000 grant that will go to the Wolverine Initiative will allow biologists to research the distribution of female wolverines in Wyoming. Some funds will also be dedicated to increase understanding about how to use sage grouse as an umbrella species for conserving other sagebrush-dependent wildlife.