CDP Wildlife Clips: May 26, 2020

 

Endangered & Protected Species

 

Endangered Species Records Ruling Would Undermine FOIA, Feds Say. “The Trump administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the government to keep certain endangered species records out of the public eye. Government lawyers submitted a brief Thursday calling on the justices to reverse a lower court’s ruling that required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to release draft documents related to an environmental regulation’s impacts on at-risk species.” [Bloomberg Law, 5/22/20 (=)]

 

Trump Admin To Justices: Stay Out Of Border Wall Battle. “Federal attorneys told the Supreme Court yesterday that it doesn’t need to get involved in a dispute over waivers of environmental laws for construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge, the attorneys argued, correctly determined that Congress had precluded the court from examining environmental groups’ claims that the Department of Homeland Security had unlawfully exempted the project from the Endangered Species Act and other environmental statutes.” [E&E News, 5/22/20 (=)]

 

Loggerhead sea turtle likely ran over and killed at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. “The loggerhead, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, was found around 5:30 a.m. on the beach south of Ramp 49 in Frisco, according to the statement.” [Virginian Pilot, 5/25/20 (=)]

 

Wildlife

 

Wildlife is thriving in national parks — for now. “Similar behaviors have been documented in other national parks including Rocky Mountain, in Colorado, and Yellowstone, in Wyoming. “Without an abundance of visitors and vehicles, wildlife has been seen in areas they typically don’t frequent,” said the National Park Service spokesperson Cynthia Hernandez, “including near roadways, park buildings and parking lots, spending time doing what they usually do naturally: foraging for food”. The human-free interregnum is rapidly coming to an end, however, as the park service ramps up its phased reopening.” [High Country News, 5/22/20 (+)]