Tag Archives: Endangered Species List

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Judge orders Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare recovery plan for jaguar

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jaguarFrom E&ENews PM:

Judge John Roll of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona ruled the agency erred in not preparing a recovery plan or designating critical habitat for the rare cat. His ruling orders federal officials to issue a new recovery plan and critical habitat decisions by January 2010.

The service listed the jaguar under the Endangered Species Act in 1997 but did not protect habitat for the cat or write a recovery plan — both required by law.

Initially, FWS officials said that since human takes of the jaguars were one of the chief threats, a habitat map could do more harm than good for the animal. The agency eventually dropped that argument after other jaguar recovery programs in the Southwest published maps. Agency officials then argued that the recovery efforts were not needed because the jaguar’s range in the United States was “insignificant.”

Roll ruled that the FWS findings were inconsistent with federal law and the best available science.

“Based upon a comprehensive review of the administrative record … and because the FWS determination does not appear to be based upon the best scientific evidence available, and because it is inconsistent with the statutory mandate of the ESA, its own regulations, and relevant case law, it must be set aside,” Roll wrote in his 33-page opinion.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT amendment defeated in Senate

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northern-spotted-owlRepublican attacks on the Endangered Species Act still continue, but “on Thursday, the Senate defeated a move by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski to require the new administration go through a lengthy process to reverse the Bush-era rules.”

During August of last year, the Bush Administration began eleventh-hour changes to the ESA. The Administration sought to gut the Section 7 consultation requirement, which requires independent review of projects by federal scientists from either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service (depending on the species) in order to determine whether an endangered species will be harmed.  The consultation process also determines the mitigation measures that should be implemented in order to minimize takes of or harm to endangered species.

Allowing independent review makes sense, because permitting corporations and developers to determine what’s best for endangered species would severely weaken the Act and certainly result in more lawsuits.

During this time, the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Bush Administration also restricted the public comment period. According to Grist, “Normally, the Fish and Wildlife Service has a 90-day comment period for a rule change like this, [but] when the draft of this rule change was first released, it was cut to 60, [and] now it’s down to 30.”

The Bush Administration also disallowed electronic submission of public comments in an effort to limit the number of comments. As a result, conservation organizations allowed the public to submit electronic comments through their websites, and these comments were subsequently printed and delivered to the Interior Department.

Considering the number of comments that were submitted to the Interior Department and the amount of time they had to review these comments: “6,250 comments would have to be reviewed every hour, [so] that means that each member of the team would be reviewing at least seven comments each minute.” Certainly, the whole process was a sham, since the government is required to review all public comments, and quite often the public will submit better-quality ideas than what the government has proposed (especially projects that require NEPA review and comment). From Environment & Energy Daily:

One of the amendments that the Senate defeated yesterday was a proposal by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would have hampered the Obama administration’s ability to toss out two endangered species regulations that the Bush administration put in place in its waning days.

The amendment failed, 42-52, as it managed to pick up the support of three Democratic senators — Mark Begich of Alaska, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Language in the omnibus bill would give the Obama administration significant leeway to reverse two controversial endangered species rules — one that scaled back longstanding safeguards for endangered species and another that limited protections for the polar bear. The bill would allow the White House to withdraw the ESA rules within 60 days without having to go through any public comment period or legal challenge.

The Bush administration proposed the polar bear rule in May and rolled out the larger ESA changes in August. The administration finalized both rules in December, just in time for them to enter into force before President Obama took office. The timing leaves little recourse for the new administration to change the rules without starting over with the federal regulatory process.

The rider, however, would clear the way for the Interior or Commerce departments to throw out the Bush-era changes without going through the normal lengthy regulatory process. Some Republicans are concerned the rider could open the door to using the polar bear’s ESA listing to force the federal government to address greenhouse gas emissions and have vehemently objected to the language (E&E Daily, March 3).

Murkowski’s amendment proposed that if the Obama administration does decide to pull the rules it would be subject to the standard 60-day comment period.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: Bill reverses last minute Bush rule changes to ESA

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Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act “directs all Federal agencies to use their existing authorities to conserve threatened and endangered species and, in consultation with the Service, to ensure that their actions do not jeopardize listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat, [and] Section 7 applies to management of Federal lands as well as other Federal actions that may affect listed species, such as Federal approval of private activities through the issuance of Federal permits, licenses, or other actions.”

Obviously, Section 7 as a substantive rule carries a lot of weight, so without the mandatory Section 7 consultation requirement or independent review, the ESA would be much weaker. Before leaving office, former President George W. Bush attempted to weaken this provision. From TPMDC:

The bill also authorizes a reversal of last year’s controversial Bush end run around the Endangered Species Act, which would allow oil rigs and highways to be built anywhere in the U.S. without independent reviews of their potential impact on the surrounding wildlife populations. As Bloomberg reports:

The provision authorizes President Barack Obama to reverse a Bush administration rule that said energy projects outside the habitat of polar bears couldn’t be blocked solely because emissions might add to global warming and destruction of the arctic species.
…

The provision could also expand the consultations required before changes are made to endangered-species listings. A rule issued under President George W. Bush limited the number of agencies that had to weigh in on decisions about endangered animals.

In other endangered species news:

  1. american-pikaThe “furry little American pika has chalked up a significant victory in Sacramento federal court, [because] the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally agreed to consider listing it as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.”
  2. The republicans are not happy about polar bear protection in bill: “Language in the omnibus spending bill that would allow the Obama administration to reverse a controversial regulation on the polar bear is raising the ire of some prominent Republicans, who claim the rider could open the door for the Interior Department to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.”
  3. A Georgia man was charged for possessing various wildlife contraband: “United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, ‘This defendant was a collector and had acquired a number of illegal skulls of birds and the carcass of a snow leopard, all of which are endangered and therefore protected by federal wildlife law.’”
  4. Mixed salmon forecast: “Things are looking up for commercial and sports fishing off the northern Oregon and Washington Coasts. But the forecast remains grim farther south.”
  5. sea-lion-eating-salmonsea-lion-eating-sturgeonProtected sea lions eating endangered salmon and sturgeon will be trapped and killed. From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

    A federal appeals court has refused to block plans to start trapping and killing sea lions that eat endangered salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday it would not issue a stay sought by the Humane Society of the United States, because their arguments are unlikely to prevail as the case moves forward.

    California sea lions are normally protected by federal law. But since some have discovered that salmon – including threatened and endangered species – are easy pickings at the dam, NOAA Fisheries Service has given authority to the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho to kill up to 85 a year.

The American pika image was found here, and the sea lion images were found here and here.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES: Fort Bragg works to protect endangered species

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red-cockaded-woodpeckerThe federal government is the largest landowner in the United States. As a result, there are responsibilities that come with this ownership. One responsibility is endangered species conservation. From FayObserver.com, NC:

Fort Bragg officials have learned their endangered species lesson over the past couple of decades. In 1991, the commander had to close the post’s most heavily used range to protect the red-cockaded woodpecker.

So Patten and other scientists working at Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall — a nearby training ground for special operations troops — are learning what they can about the bats in hopes of keeping them off endangered status.

Since 2003, Fort Bragg has been documenting its bat population to see what species are there and how rare they are.

“It’s general stewardship,” Patten said. “It’s also a requirement for federal properties to inventory and monitor rare species.”

Studies indicate that Fort Bragg has 10 species of insect-eating bats. None is on the list of threatened or endangered species that require stringent protection. But two species on Fort Bragg are considered rare or “of concern” by state and federal wildlife officials. They are Rafinesque’s big-eared bat and the southeastern bat. Although not subject to protection, a “rare” species could be on its way to becoming a bigger issue.

Conservation groups have been paying a lot of attention to the “Rafs” and southeastern bats, said Piper Roby, a biologist and environmental consultant who is studying them for Fort Bragg.

“If we can get enough information on them and learn what they need and learn how to preserve them, their numbers will go up, and they won’t have to go on the endangered species list,” she said. “Bragg is helping us do that.”

.       .       .

At Fort Bragg, officials have had to learn how to work around two endangered species of animals — the red-cockaded woodpecker and the St. Francis’ satyr butterfly — and three endangered plants — rough-leafed loosestrife, Michaux’s sumac and American chaffseed.

Each brings restrictions on how the military can use the post for training. For instance, two white bands mark every nesting tree for the woodpeckers. Activity is curtailed within 200 feet of each of those trees. There are about 400 family groups of woodpeckers on the post.

Fort Bragg’s work to protect and nurture the red-cockaded woodpeckers has been so successful that the post was recognized by the Nature Conservancy in 2006 for restoring the population to desired levels five years ahead of schedule.

The endangered species on Fort Bragg thrive in the vanishing longleaf pine forests where frequent fires remove plants that can house predators or compete for light, water and nutrients. Fort Bragg has regular controlled burns to preserve the habitat.

Coping with endangered species is a fact of life for military installations throughout the United States.

N.C. National Guard soldiers found out about the Mojave Desert tortoise, a federally protected endangered species, when they visited the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in 2003 while preparing for a deployment to Iraq. A Fort Irwin captain briefed the visitors from North Carolina with an extra sprinkling of profanity to emphasize the need to avoid harming the reptile.

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