Issues

Industry Speaks Out on Northern Long Eared Bat. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association is mobilizing to oppose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) proposed listing of the Northern Long Eared under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to POLITICO, the association has hired Vorys Advisors to challenge the proposed endangered listing, highlighting the impact a federal listing would have on Ohio’s economy.

In addition to the oil and gas industry, multiple groups in the state have spoken out against the species’ proposed listing, noting the greatest threat to the bat’s current population is a disease known as white nose syndrome. As the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) highlighted in July, “One of ODOT’s primary concerns is that the USFWS regional and field offices will require the conservation and mitigation of summer habitat for this species, irrespective of the fact that the expressed driver behind decline of this species is a wildlife disease. This will result in undue burden on the schedule and cost of transportation projects, including seasonal tree clearing on a vast majority of transportation projects, mitigation for forested habitat impacts, and possibly seasonal structure demolition.”

The County Engineer Association of Ohio has also commented on the proposed listing, stating “We have great concern regarding the available knowledge of the species and the consistency with which state field offices will be able to determine the effects of transportation projects on the species and interpret necessity and appropriateness of measures to minimize harm.”

Last month, the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on the bat in Pennsylvania, featuring various stakeholders who would be impacted if an ESA listing moves forward. As Congressman Glenn Thompson (PA-O5) stated, “it is imperative that we get the science right and strategically address the root cause of the apparent population losses, rather than restrict large areas of the economy and activities that have no bearing on slowing or reversing the disease.”

Dakota Butterflies Listed Under ESA. This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the listing of two butterflies found in North Dakota under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Powshiek Skipperling, found in the Dakotas, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, was listed as endangered. The Dakota Skipper, which is found primarily in the Dakotas and Minnesota, has been listed as threatened. FWS also published a 4(d) rule for the Skipper, exempting takes of the species that result from specific livestock ranching practices and maintenance activities.

According to FWS Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius,“we recognize the reason we still have any Dakota skippers or Poweshiek skipperlings on the landscape at all is the conservation ethic of ranchers who have had the foresight to conserve grasslands in the Upper Midwest. Our hope is to continue to work with landowners and partners to conserve these butterflies and the valuable habitat they depend upon.”

The final rule listing the two butterflies will go into effect November 23, 2014. FWS is still considering information regarding the proposed critical habitat designations for the two species.

WAFWA Working with Landowners on LPC Conservation. The Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) is accepting landowner applications for 5 and 10 year contracts to enhance conservation efforts surrounding the lesser prairie chicken. To qualify, landowners must have a parcel of land over 160 acres in the chicken’s habitat range and must not be currently enrolled in a federal conservation program. In compensation for the agreement, landowners approved by WAFWA will receive sign up and restoration payments, as well as  certain exemptions from the take prohibitions laid out under the federal ESA listing.

In the News

When the Endangered Species Act Threatens Wildlife. Wall Street Journal, Op-Ed. When the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, the concern was that iconic species such as the bald eagle would become extinct. The main threats were from shooting, poisoning and trapping. To address these concerns, Section 9 of the ESA, known as the “take clause,” included language that made it unlawful for any person “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” This provision seemed sensible, but it has led to unexpected and adverse consequences for the species it was designed to protect.

NRECA: Caution on More Prairie Chicken Protection. Electric Co-op Today. More than 20 electric cooperatives, including an Oklahoma generation and transmission cooperative that serves an Air Force base, would face prohibitive costs if the lesser prairie chicken is listed as “endangered,” NRECA told a federal court. Instead of an endangerment listing, the association urged the court to accept a less restrictive listing of “threatened,” issued earlier this year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Critical habitat proposals may do serious harm, business groups say. Oil & Gas Journal. Two federal agencies’ proposals to change the Endangered Species Act’s critical habitat designation procedures potentially could cause serious damage to the general economy, warned nearly a dozen US business groups, including two oil and gas entities. The Gas Processors Association and Markwest Energy Partners LP joined the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, American Chemistry Council, American Iron & Steel Institute, Brick Industry Association, Corn Refiners Association, National Oilseed Processors Association, and National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association in comments submitted Oct. 9 about the proposals.

The great sage grouse opportunity. Casper Star-Tribune, Column. One of the most challenging and politically contentions issues in the West is also one of our greatest opportunities and an important investment for our future. The greater sage grouse once numbered in the many millions across the West, but its population has been in steady decline over the last century. The species now numbers a few hundred thousand spread across 11 Western states. However, this trend is not irreversible.

Conservationists to sue NMFS over protection of pinto abalone. FIS News. Two conservation groups have notified the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of their intent to sue the agency for delaying Endangered Species Act protection for the pinto abalone. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for Biological Diversity claim that this approximately six-inch snail with an iridescent inner shell that was once common in rocky, intertidal coasts from Alaska to Baja California, is in desperate need of federal protection. NOTE: Santa Barbara Independent also reports.