Endangered Species

 

Rare Miami Forest Poised To Be Bulldozed For Walmart Development. According to The Hill, “A rare forest in Florida that is home to more than 20 endangered species of animals and plants is poised to be transformed into a Walmart-anchored shopping center after activists recently lost a legal battle to save the land from corporate development, the Miami Herald reports. According to the newspaper, the development will take up 138 acres of Miami-Dade’s pine rockland, which has been reduced to about 2 percent of its original size in recent years because of deforestation for other projects. The news comes after activists lost a years-long fight to save the land in court last week. A judge reportedly dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of activists in 2017 challenging the development over what they called a failure to adequately notify the public of a rezoning hearing on the large-scale project. ‘The notice was far from adequate, and I wonder if the lack of critical information wasn’t an attempt to mislead the public about the project,’ Kent Harrison Robbins, an attorney representing the activists, reportedly said after a hearing last month. However, that lawsuit was struck down on Friday after attorneys representing the developer of the project, Ram Realty, argued that the activists didn’t have standing on the issue given that they resided outside of the areas that would be affected by the project, the paper reports.” [The Hill, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

Sage Grouse Recovery Plan Raises Concerns. According to Crested Butte News, “Two of the Gunnison county commissioners have reported back to one another during meetings that they are concerned about the sage grouse recovery process. Commissioner Jonathan Houck travelled to Delta for a public recovery planning meeting earlier this spring, and said on May 14, ‘It was difficult.’ There is a species assessment and collaborative action plan underway, but Houck said there appeared to be little progress. ‘I didn’t hear a clear pathway for what that looks like. I shared with them that they don’t have a lot of success with, ‘trust us, we will come back with this later,’ he said. Commissioner Roland Mason asked more about the endangered species recovery plan that is supposed to be done in October. ‘It will be a draft, driven by a settlement of our lawsuit,’ said Houck, referring to the county’s efforts to dispute the federal ruling to maintain the sage grouse’s endangered species designation. Gunnison County’s expansive sagebrush is a vital nesting habitat for the bird, and the county has pursued having greater control of how it manages the lands with which local experts are familiar, rather than land management by federal agencies from afar.” [Crested Butte News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

Rare Frog Gained New Foothold Until California Fires ‘Annihilated’ Habitat, Experts Say. According to The Charlotte Observer, “Before the wildfire came, California red-legged frogs had regained a tenuous foothold in the Santa Monica Mountains — and the small population of rare amphibians was thriving. That was good news for the National Park Service experts who had reintroduced them to the Southern California mountains starting in 2014. The frogs had vanished from the region by the 1970s, but a population discovered in the Simi Hills north of U.S. Highway 101 gave ecologists the perfect opportunity to transplant some to the mountains, according to a news release from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. But the deadly Woolsey Fire ‘doomed’ the project in 2018, park rangers said. The fire tore through Southern California in November, threatening humans, homes and wildlife. And it ‘annihilated’ most of the stream habitat the rare frogs relied on, said Katy Delaney, the ecologist who led the project and is now ‘essentially starting over,’ according to the National Park Service.” [The Charlotte Observer, 6/19/19 (+)]

 

AP | River Herring Will Not Be Added To List. According to E&E News, “The federal government says two species of herring are not at risk of going extinct, and will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the government has finished a review of the status of alewife and blueback herring and decided against designating the fish as endangered or threatened. The fish live on the East Coast and are an important piece of the food chain. NOAA says river herring such as alewives and bluebacks ‘have declined from historical numbers,’ but recent management efforts have helped protect the fish. Both species have historically been subject to commercial fishing because they are valuable as bait. The fishery for another herring species, Atlantic herring, is much larger and is also under scrutiny by regulators and environmentalists.” [E&E News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

AP | NOAA Fisheries Biologists Record Singing By Rare Right Whale. According to E&E News, “NOAA scientists say they have recorded singing by a rare right whale for the first time. Researchers used moored acoustic recorders to capture patterned calls made by male North Pacific right whales. Researchers detected four distinct songs over eight years at five locations in the southeast Bering Sea. Humpback, bowhead and other whales previously have been recorded singing. Right whales have been recorded making individual sounds. NOAA Fisheries marine biologist Jessica Crance said the recent recordings are the first time right whales have been detected using patterned phrases that make up a song. Right whales make sounds described as gunshot calls, upcalls, screams and warbles. Crance said a male putting the sounds in song patterns may be trying to attract a female.” [E&E News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

Wildlife & Conservation

 

AP | Great Lakes States, Provinces Team Up On Invaders. According to E&E News, “The eight states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes region have agreed to cooperate on enforcing invasive species laws. They will share information and team up to investigate suspected violations, including possession and transport of banned exotic species such as Asian carp. An organization representing the region’s governors and premiers announced Monday that all the jurisdictions have signed onto the deal. More than 180 nonnative species have been introduced into the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. They compete with native species and damage sport and commercial fishing, tourism and recreation. The regional group previously identified the 21 ‘least wanted’ nonnative fish, plants and invertebrates that pose a particularly high risk. The group consists of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec and Wisconsin.” [E&E News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

AP | Pup Fostering Gives Genetic Boost To Wild Mexican Wolves. According to E&E News, “It’s a carefully planned mission that involves coordination across state lines — from Mexican gray wolf dens hidden deep in the woods of New Mexico and Arizona to breeding facilities at zoos and special conservation centers around the U.S. It’s also about timing as wolves in the wild and those in captivity need to be having pups at the same time to ensure a smooth transition. Pups born within a couple days of each other are the best candidates for a fostering program that aims to get more pups out of captivity and into the wild in hopes of boosting the genetic diversity of the endangered species. ‘It’s really a balance of science and astrology — because the stars have to align,’ said Maggie Dwire, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service team that oversees recovery of Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest. U.S. officials claimed success yesterday, saying 12 pups were placed this year with packs living in a mountainous region along the New Mexico-Arizona state line. That marks the most pups fostered in a single breeding season since biologists first attempted the technique in 2014 by moving wild-born pups from one wild pack to another.” [E&E News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

AP | Man Caught At JFK Smuggling 34 Finches In Hair Curlers. According to E&E News, “Federal authorities say a 39-year-old Connecticut man has been caught trying to smuggle nearly three dozen live finches through John F. Kennedy Airport in order to sell them for singing competitions. Francis Gurahoo was arrested Sunday after arriving on a flight from Georgetown, Guyana. Prosecutors say customs officials found the 34 live birds in his carry-on luggage hidden inside individual plastic hair curlers. Gurahoo was arraigned Monday on a charge of unlawful wildlife smuggling. Information on his lawyer wasn’t immediately available. Officials say the finches from Guyana are prized. They are used in singing contests in Brooklyn and Queens where wages are placed on the birds with the best voice. Prosecutors say Gurahoo said he planned to sell them for about $3,000 each, for a total haul of over $100,000. Last December, customs officials at JFK Airport found 70 live finches hidden inside hair rollers in a duffel bag from a passenger arriving from Guyana. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says bird smuggling could threaten agriculture through the possible spread of diseases such as bird flu.” [E&E News, 6/19/19 (=)]

 

 

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