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Endangered & Protected Species

 

Lawsuit Brewing In Fight Over Game Bird In Sierra Nevada. According to Associated Press, “Conservationists are headed back to court to try to force the Trump administration to protect a rare game bird along the California-Nevada border as the government keeps changing its mind about whether to list the cousin of the greater sage grouse as threatened or endangered. Three groups have filed formal notice of their intent to sue after the Fish and Wildlife Service reversed course in March and abandoned its 2018 proposal to list the bi-state grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The hen-sized bird is similar but separate from the greater sage grouse, which lives in a dozen Western states and is at the center of a dispute over the government’s efforts to roll back protections adopted under President Barack Obama. The service estimates the bi-state grouse population is half what it was 150 years ago along the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada. Anywhere from 330 to 3,305 are believed to remain across 7,000 square miles (18,129 square kilometers) of high desert sagebrush stretching from Carson City to Yosemite National Park. Threats to the bird include urbanization, livestock grazing and wildfires. The Fish and Wildlife Service rejected listing petitions in 2001 and 2005. It formally proposed threatened status for the first time in 2013 but abandoned that proposal two years later.” [Associated Press, 6/26/20 (=)]

 

Wildlife

 

Interior Pushes Back On Wildlife, 'Murder Hornet' Bills. According to E&E News, “A third measure, the ‘Murder Hornet Eradication Act,’ H.R. 6761, would set up an Interior grant program for communities trying to get rid of the hornet or restore bee populations. The legislation would provide $4 million annually from 2021 through 2025. ‘This bill is about getting a head start on an obvious problem before it’s too late,’ Rep. Raúl Grijalva, (D-Ariz.) said in a statement, adding that ‘we have to more intelligently and actively manage our relationship with wildlife from now on’ (Greenwire, May 8). The world’s largest species of its kind, the Asian giant hornet was first detected in the United States last December, in Washington state. Just a few can quickly wipe out a beehive. … Eleven House Democrats so far have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill introduced last month. Interior supports the bill, with some suggested modifications like making federally recognized American Indian tribes eligible for receiving grants. ‘We would also suggest that the bill be renamed to the ‘Asian Giant Hornet Eradication Act’ to more accurately reflect the common name of this invasive species,’ Interior added.” [E&E News, 6/26/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Oregon Ranchers Face Tough Choice. According to East Oregonian, “Ranchers in Oregon’s wolf country face a dilemma when their livestock or guard dog turns up dead or badly injured — report it to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and wait a day or two for a response, or ignore it and eat the cost of the animal. That’s not much of a choice, particularly because wolves have been in Oregon for 14 years now. That’s plenty of time for the state’s wildlife managers to come up with a better system for determining how an animal died. Fewer ranchers are even bothering to report wolf attacks on their animals. The state’s own statistics show that. Yet, the state insists only its biologists can do the inspections. The problem with that is the delay in getting a state biologist to the scene of a depredation. In just a day or two, scavengers can strip the carcass and destroy the evidence. The state faces two challenges. The first: ODFW is understaffed. The department has just hired three people who will be spread across the entire state. And once the reality of budget cuts brought on by the COVID-19 shutdowns take hold, the odds of adding more staff — or even keeping staff — will likely shrink. The second: Most depredations take place in the backcountry. Getting there is often not quick or easy. Especially in the eastern one-third of the state where the federal Endangered Species Act does not make ranchers put up with wolves that repeatedly kill livestock, the state needs to step up its activities. The department can come across as wolf apologists instead of managers.” [East Oregonian, 6/25/20 (-)]

 

 

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