Weekly Newsletter | February 1, 2019

Issues

Post-shutdown, sage grouse conservation plans back on the table. With the government reopened, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials have returned to work and at the top of the department’s backlog are public land leases, wildfire management, and Greater sage-grouse conservation.

Similarly, Interior Department (DOI) staffers returned to more than 200,000 backed-up public comments responding to the department’s proposals for revising Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations.

Some of the backlogs of work are large-scale, namely the finalization of revisions to Obama-era greater sage grouse conservation plans covering tens of millions of acres of public lands in six Western states.

“We are happy to be back serving the American people and fulfilling the conservation mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) spokesman Gavin Shire. “We’re focused on getting back to normal as quickly and smoothly as possible and addressing the many priorities and challenges that lie ahead.”

BLM last month released final drafts of proposed revisions contained in six final environmental impact statements that suggest removing hundreds of thousands of acres of federally protected habitat in Utah, and easing restrictions on energy development and other activities in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. BLM, without a formal announcement during the shutdown, quietly extended the protest filing deadlines for plan revisions covering parts of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada/Northern California, Oregon and Utah until Jan. 15.

The deadline to protest the planned revisions in Wyoming — home to a third of the bird’s remaining population — ended this week.

DOI originally intended to be done with conservation plan revisions by the end of January — though, given the backlog following the government’s shutdown, that wasn’t the case. A new goalpost for completing the revisions has yet to be set.

New Wyoming Governor in favor of federal ESA changes. In Wyoming, newly-minted Governor Mark Gordon expressed his interest in refreshing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Namely, the new Governor said he favors seeing Congressional review of and possible change to the 45-plus-year-old law as advocated by U.S. Sen. John Barrasso.

“Yes, I would,” Gordon said in response to a question asking for his take on ESA revisions. “I think like many other laws it was well-intentioned.” But Gordon said the application of the act has “eroded over time.”

Gordon’s comments come amid announcements from both congressional chambers that ESA revisions, in some way, shape or form, are afoot.

A bipartisan group of senators recently reintroduced legislation to conserve wildlife, fight invasive species and prevent illegal poaching. The bill, called the “Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver (WILD) Act,” S. 268, would reauthorize the Interior Department’s (DOI) Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and establish a monetary prize competition for innovative methods to protect wildlife.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman and ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, respectively, sponsored the bill.

In addition to reauthorizing the Interior program, the legislation would reauthorize legislation protecting endangered species such as elephants, great apes, turtles and tigers. It would require federal agencies to adopt programs dealing with invasive species and authorize a competition to award prizes for innovative technology to deal with that and other wildlife conservation issues.

“The WILD Act is bipartisan legislation to protect threatened wildlife and manage invasive species. This conservation legislation will help combat illegal poaching in America and around the world. Last Congress, the WILD Act passed the Senate unanimously. This Congress, I expect it will be signed into law,” Barrasso said in a statement.

The National Wildlife Federation praised the legislation in a news release, calling collaborative conservation and innovation essential to protecting wildlife.

In the News

Kevin Cramer, Mike Braun get EPW subcommittee gavels. E&E News, Sub req’d. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is shuffling assignments, a move that will allow two new senators to chair subcommittees this Congress, Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) announced yesterday. Under the lineup, freshman Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will head the Fisheries, Water and Wildlife Subcommittee; while fellow newcomer, Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), will lead the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. Also, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) will lead the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) will return to chair the Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight Subcommittee. Cramer, a strong proponent of the Trump administration’s rollbacks of Obama environmental regulations, could press for more changes as his panel has oversight of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act. He was a leading proponent of expanded domestic energy production over three House terms.

Greater Sage Grouse Translocation Study to Continue. County 17. The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted this week to continue a study that moves a portion of Wyoming’s greater sage grouse population to North Dakota, in exchange for a couple hundred pheasants. According to a press release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the translocation study of the state’s greater sage grouse to the north has been ongoing for two years, supposedly aimed at maintaining interconnected populations across the Great Plains. North Dakota wildlife managers have added that the study will determine if the translocations increased recruitment numbers, reduced movements, and fostered site fidelity. Sage grouse populations in Wyoming are strong, and are viewed as a source to bolster populations in other areas, such as North Dakota. The results, after more than 90 sage grouse were translocated in 2017 and 2018, were encouraging, according to Jesse Kolar, an upland game management supervisor with the North Dakota Game and Fish. In 2017, 60 sage grouse — 40 females and 20 males — were translocated from southern Wyoming north into Bowman County in southwestern North Dakota, where sage grouse populations were depleted.

Report: Major recovery for monarch butterflies. E&E News, Sub req’d. Forest restoration and other conservation efforts have helped monarch butterfly colonies recover dramatically in overwintering areas of Mexico, the World Wildlife Fund said today. The WWF said an annual survey of monarchs showed colonies occupying 14.9 acres, more than double the area they did in 2017-2018 in the forests in Michoacán and the state of Mexico. The boost comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is weighing listing monarchs as an endangered species, in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity; the Center for Food Safety; and Lincoln Brower, a butterfly researcher who wrote or co-wrote more than 200 papers on monarchs before he died last summer. A decision on a listing under the Endangered Species Act is due in June 2019, the agency said. The species’ decline reached a low point of 1.65 acres of forest occupied by monarchs in 2013-2014. But in the new count, researchers from the WWF and Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas found 14 colonies, including eight within a monarch butterfly biosphere reserve. The area occupied by monarchs is the largest since the 2006-2007 season, the national commission said. The results indicate the monarch is starting to recuperate from a long decline, the WWF said. But numbers are still far below the levels of 20 years ago, said Monica Echeverria, a WWF spokeswoman.

Why a Border Wall Could Mean Trouble for Wildlife. New York Times. As the fight continues over President Trump’s demand to extend the border wall between the United States and Mexico, one thing is clear: Whatever the wall’s effect on immigration might be, it would have an impact on the environment of the borderlands. About 650 miles of border wall already exist along the 2,000-mile boundary between the two countries. Most of it has been built on federal land where the terrain provides no natural barrier. Mr. Trump has called for a 1,000-mile wall, which would extend farther across land that includes important habitats for wildlife. A Customs and Border Protection policy says the agency “will integrate environmental stewardship and sustainability practices into operations and activities.” But Congress has given the agency the power to waive environmental protections like the Endangered Species Act. Such laws could require the government to produce an in-depth environmental impact analysis of a new project, develop less-damaging alternatives and perform environmental monitoring after construction. A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection was unavailable because of the partial government shutdown, a result of the political standoff over funding for the wall.

Judge upholds protection for gray wolves in Calif. E&E News, Sub req’d. A California judge yesterday upheld protection for gray wolves under the state’s Endangered Species Act, rejecting a legal challenge from ranchers and farmers who fear the predators will threaten their livestock.The judge in San Diego ruled that California was right to list the wolves as endangered in 2014. A lawsuit on behalf of the California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Cattlemen’s Association argued the listing was arbitrary because there are so few wolves in the state. The suit was filed to give ranchers “more flexibility in co-existing with wolves,” said Jim Houston, the farm bureau’s manager of legal and governmental affairs. The group is committed to working with the state to reduce “the burdens of raising livestock in areas with wolves, but we do not expect it to be easy,” Houston said in a statement. The California Fish and Game Commission granted the gray wolf protections under the state’s Endangered Species Act, despite opposition from hunting and livestock groups who worry an unchecked population will kill deer and valuable cattle. Under California’s protections, gray wolves cannot be killed or hunted.