David Bernhardt

 

Scandals Mount Under David Bernhardt Just Two Weeks After Being Confirmed To Lead Interior. According to Think Progress, “It’s been just two weeks since David Bernhardt was confirmed as head of the Interior Department (DOI), and already his tenure is mired in at least four controversies. From the day he was confirmed earlier this month — despite uproar from Democrats over his conflicts of interest and a prior career as an oil and gas lobbyist — Bernhardt has faced a wave of scandals. The Interior Department’s watchdog is currently investigating Bernhardt over ethics concerns, along with a half-dozen other DOI senior officials. Those investigations come as the department faces renewed scrutiny over its decisions regarding Bears Ears, the Utah national monument dramatically reduced by Bernhardt’s equally scandal-ridden predecessor, Ryan Zinke. … It is unclear what the full scope of the complaints entail, but Wyden and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) had both pushed for an investigation into Bernhardt’s role in blocking an assessment examining the impact of pesticides on certain endangered species. Bernhardt has previously lobbied on behalf of agribusiness and against endangered species protections. Recent disclosures have also shown that Bernhardt continued working on policies at DOI that would help his former lobbying clients, despite the Trump administration’s ethics pledge. That work includes shaping certain water policies despite lobbying on them previously while working for California farmers.” [Think Progress, 4/25/19 (+)]

 

Endangered Species

 

U.S. To Consider Listing Giraffes As Endangered Species. According to The New York Times, “Federal wildlife officials said Thursday that they would officially consider listing the giraffe as an endangered species, a move long sought by conservationists alarmed by the African mammal’s precipitous decline and a growing domestic market for giraffe products. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that it had found ‘substantial information’ that listing giraffes as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act ‘may be warranted.’ The finding came more than two years after conservation groups petitioned the Trump administration for the protection, warning that the animals were in danger of extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service will now begin an in-depth review before making a final decision. The process could take years, conservationists said. Designating giraffes as endangered or threatened would place restrictions on their import into the United States and make federal funding available for conservation efforts.” [The New York Times, 4/27/19 (=)]

 

Feds Take First Step Toward Protecting Giraffes Under Endangered Species Act. According to USA Today, “For the first time, giraffes could soon be protected under the Endangered Species Act. On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under pressure from several wildlife groups, announced that giraffes may qualify as either threatened or endangered under the act. This would be the first time the iconic animals would be listed for protection by the U.S., according to Elly Pepper of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The council was one of the groups that petitioned the wildlife service in a lawsuit to protect giraffes. While there are no wild giraffes in the U.S., Pepper said declaring the giraffes as an endangered species would sharply curtail the the international trade in bone carvings, skins, and trophies. ‘The U.S. on average imports more than one giraffe trophy a day, and thousands of giraffe parts are sold domestically each year,’ said Anna Frostic, attorney for the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, two other groups that are also working to protect the animal.” [USA Today, 4/25/19 (=)]

 

Environmental Groups Plan Portland Rally To Protect Endangered Status Of Gray Wolves. According to Oregon Live, “A number of conservation groups plan to host meetings about the proposal to strip gray wolves of endangered species protections nationwide, including a meeting in Portland this summer. The meetings are necessary, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, because the federal government hasn’t planned any public hearings on the proposal. ‘It’s appalling that the Trump administration couldn’t be bothered to hold any public hearings on this. So we’ll hold our own,’ he said in a statement. ‘If Trump’s plan goes through, it’ll be the most-damaging decision ever made in the long history of wolf recovery in this country.’ Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a March speech before a wildlife conference in Denver, saying that gray wolves had fully recovered since they received endangered species protections in 1975 when there were about 1,000 of them left. There are now more than 5,000 living across the contiguous U.S.” [Oregon Live, 4/26/19 (=)]

 

AP | Endangered Wolf Pups Born In Captivity Join Dens In The Wild. According to The Washington Post, “Missouri wildlife officials have placed six Mexican wolf pups born in captivity near St. Louis with two packs in the wild, in a new effort to repopulate the critically endangered species. Three members of the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri, flew with the 11-day-old pups to Phoenix on April 18. From there, the pups were taken to packs in Arizona and New Mexico. Center officials say the placement increases the wild population and adds needed genetic diversity. ‘It is literally vital for this particular population,’ Regina Mossotti, director of animal care and conservation at the Endangered Wolf Center, said Thursday. ‘When you’re talking about 150 animals left in the wild, genetics plays a crucial part in whether that recovery effort is successful or not.’ Mexican wolves once numbered in the hundreds of thousands in the Southwest. Hunting and habitat loss led to near-extinction, and the last seven remaining Mexican wolves were captured and taken to the Endangered Wolf Center in the 1970s in an effort to save the species.” [The Washington Post, 4/25/19 (=)]

 

Legislation On ANWR, Right Whales And Coal On Markup Docket. According to E&E News, “Democrats will also look to pass another controversial measure, H.R. 1568. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) sponsored the bill to increase federal spending on endangered North Atlantic right whale conservation. It would authorize $5 million in spending every year until 2029. Debate has hinged on the Trump administration’s approval of seismic testing by offshore oil and gas companies that critics say poses a significant threat to the whales. At a hearing earlier this year, NOAA Fisheries defended the decision, saying it would have a ‘negligible impact’ on aquatic life (E&E Daily, March 8). Three Florida Republicans have signed onto Moulton’s bill, but others in the GOP say the bill would make offshore energy exploration ‘virtually impossible.’ Inland lawmakers also are skeptical of H.R. 1014 from Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico). Along with companion S. 499, the legislation would allow Interior to lease the offshore areas adjacent to American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for renewable energy (Greenwire, Feb. 20).” [E&E News, 4/29/19 (=)]

 

Grizzly Bear Shot By Landowner In Montana. According to Associated Press, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting of a grizzly bear in Montana. The Independent Record reports that Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks says the bear was shot by a landowner near Augusta on April 13. Agency bear management specialist Mike Madel says in a press release there have been reports of grizzly bears coming around cabins and getting into livestock feed. But there have been no reports of depredations on livestock to date. FWP is warning anyone going into areas with bears to prepare themselves with bear spray and be aware of bear attractants and where they are in relation to bear environments. The USFWS investigates all grizzly-involved incidents due to their status on the Endangered Species List.” [Associated Press, 4/27/19 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Endangered Species Act Saves Vast Majority Of Species Under Its Protection. According to The Hill, “The success of the Endangered Species Act is plain to the millions of Americans who have enjoyed seeing a bald eagle fly across the sky, heard the howl of wolves echo across the night or witnessed the splash of a breaching humpback whale. But this bedrock conservation law, the strongest of any nation, has saved far more species than these well-known examples. A new study, which I co-authored, found the Act has saved roughly 99 percent of protected species from extinction since the law was created in 1973. The Pecos sunflower, St. Andrew beach mouse, California condor and Peninsular bighorn sheep are among the hundreds of species that owe their existence to the Endangered Species Act. Of more than 1,700 species in the U.S. listed as threatened and endangered, just four have been confirmed as extinct following their protection, and another 22 are possibly extinct.” [The Hill, 4/25/19 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: To Save Great Lakes Birds, We Must Help Forage Fisheries. According to The Detroit News, “Spring is here. This is one of the most exciting times of year for birders like myself, because millions of birds will begin their long migrations north. Some, like Caspian terns and ospreys, will come to Michigan to start families. Others, like Bonaparte’s gulls and parasitic jaegers, will stop here to rest and eat before continuing their long journeys to the Arctic. These species are an important part of our state’s vast and beautiful wildlife. In order for these special seabirds to make it here in the first place, however, they must have abundant ocean fish in their marine habitat. During a large part of the year, seabirds live in our oceans and primarily eat forage fish like herrings and anchovies. However, across the globe many forage fish populations are declining due to ocean warming and overfishing. This has been devastating for seabirds, whose populations have declined by 70 percent since 1950. Extinction is a very real possibility for seabirds if we do not do something about it now. Earlier this month, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell introduced the Forage Fish Conservation Act, legislation that will help save these magnificent seabirds by ensuring that we adequately protect forage fish from overfishing so that the birds, wildlife, people and economies that depend on them can continue to thrive. Recognizing the growing demand on the declining population of these vital fish, the bill proposes to better monitor and manage them by expanding the Magnuson-Stevens Act, our country’s only federal fisheries management law. The goal is to give these fish the opportunity to rebound and become more stable, much like the Magnuson-Stevens Act has successfully done for many larger fish populations.” [The Detroit News, 4/26/19 (=)]

 

Wildlife & Conservation

 

State Buying 118 Acres To Expand State Nature Preserve. According to Associated Press, “Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources says land that it’s purchasing to expand a nature preserve near Lake Erie will help protect more than 700,000 plants of the endangered Lakeside daisy species. The department says the purchase of 118 acres for $1,075,860 will increase Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve on the Marblehead Peninsula in Ottawa County to 137 acres. State officials say the preserve is home to the only natural population of the plant left in Ohio. The Lakeside daisy was listed as endangered in Ohio in 1980. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as federally threatened in 1988 A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant will cover 75% of the cost, with the remainder coming from Ohioans’ donations from their state income tax refunds to state nature preserves.” [Associated Press, 4/29/19 (=)]

 

 

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