Migratory Bird Treaty Act

 

Migratory Bird Advocates Flock Together. According to E&E News, “The latest round in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act fight shows every sign of being as one-sided as last time, though it’s heading toward a different result. One week into a reopened public review period, opposition is running strong against the Trump administration’s effort to restrict the law’s protections for birds. None of the 200-plus new comments received so far appears to side with the Trump team’s narrow take. ‘Now is the time to act to save our nation’s birds, and I stand in strong support of the MBTA to help give them a fighting chance,’ Pittsburgh resident Brian Vitunic wrote in a comment posted today. Louisa Evers of the Idaho-based Golden Eagle Audubon Society added that the now-suspended rule is ‘highly likely to result in continued litigation over environmental justice issues, particularly tribal treaty rights, and result in increasing eligibility’ for Endangered Species Act listings. This is just the start. Thousands more comments will almost certainly end up flooding the Fish and Wildlife Service in response to the agency’s delaying until at least March 8 the Trump-era Migratory Bird Treaty Act rule that restricted the law’s coverage to intentional actions and would no longer have covered birds killed through accidents like oil spills (Greenwire, Feb. 8).” [E&E News, 2/16/21 (=)]

 

Endangered & Protected Species

 

Hunters: Wolf-Snaring Bill Could Harm Other Species. According to Public News Service, “Some hunters are raising objections to a bill in the Montana Legislature that would allow the snaring of wolves in the state. Leg-hold traps currently are allowed. Nick Gevock, conservation director for the Montana Wildlife Federation, said his organization supports the hunting of wolves, but snares present a danger to other animals, including grizzly bears. He added that 28 mountain lions were caught in smaller coyote snares between 2015 and 2020. ‘The hound hunters do not like this bill at all,’ he said. ‘They’re out pursuing mountain lions with their hounds, and they’re concerned about their dogs.’ Gevock said he believes decisions about wolf hunting should be made by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Supporters of the snaring bill, House Bill 224, have said it’s needed to control the growing wolf population. The legislation, which already has passed the House, is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday in the Senate Fish and Game Committee. Rod Bullis, a hound hunter living in Helena, said there are no signs on snares that say ‘for wolves only’; any creature can be caught in them. He said he’s frustrated with how quickly this bill is moving through the Legislature, and feels lawmakers aren’t sufficiently concerned about pets or hunting dogs. ‘It seems to be under-discussed about the potential for sensitive species being caught in snares and the effect of that,’ he said.” [Public News Service, 2/17/21 (=)]

 

Oregon Wolves Could Be Expanding Their Range Into California. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, “Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife identified OR-93, a wolf traveling from the White River Pack in Oregon’s Warm Springs Reservation area to Lassen County, California. And in December, a member of Oregon’s Mt. Emily Pack known as OR-85 was caught on camera in Siskiyou County, California, with another unidentified wolf. The presence of a second wolf could be significant for California’s small wolf population, according to Kent Laudon, a wolf specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. ‘We’re pretty close to being certain that it is a female,’ said Laudon, of the second wolf. ‘And then if all that stays the same, there’s a high likelihood that we’ll have pups in April. And that will be the second reproducing pack in California.’ The presence of the other wolf, OR-93 from the White River Pack, is also significant since it traveled to Lassen County, California, all the way from Wasco County, in north-central Oregon. Genetic diversity spread across large areas will help species better survive, according to Amaroq Weiss, senior West Coast wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.” [Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2/16/21 (=)]

 

Environmental Activists Argue The Monarch Butterfly Needs Protection. Could A New State Plan Help? According to The Salinas Californian, “For years, people flocked to California’s central coast from October to February to observe thousands of monarch butterflies. Recently, California State Parks released a draft of its 900-page Public Works Plan. The plan could affect Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area and Pismo State Beach in a myriad of ways if accepted, especially when it comes to the Monarch Butterfly Grove. Before last year, the Pismo Beach butterfly grove was one of only five sites in California that saw over 10,000 butterflies yearly, as they sought shelter from northern winters, according to the Conference & Visitors Bureau of Pismo Beach. Butterflies bunch onto the limbs of a eucalyptus tree at the Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Park. The Pismo Beach colony is one of the largest in the nation and is run by state parks. In 1990, there were more than 230,000 monarchs counted. However, the total number of monarchs reported has been on the decline since 2016. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation held its annual count across hundreds of sites from Nov. 14 to Dec. 6. Volunteers counted a total of 1,914 monarchs, a 99.9% decline since the 1980s.” [The Salinas Californian, 2/16/21 (=)]

 

Klamath Tribes File 60-Day Notice To Sue Reclamation For ESA Violations. According to Klamath Falls Tribune, “On February 12, 2021, the Klamath Tribes filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to file suit against the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for violation of Sections 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act. The notice is required before bringing suit, should the BOR fail to meet the legal requirements of the 2020 US Fish & Wildlife Service Biological Opinion that identified baseline Upper Klamath Lake elevation levels necessary to provide bare minimum protection for our endangered C’waam and Koptu. After Reclamation last year allowed Upper Klamath Lake to drop below elevation 4142 during C’waam and Koptu spawning season, it must now maintain the Lake at or above that elevation during April and May of 2021. We continue to hope that BOR will honor this obligation and that litigation will be unnecessary. Upper Klamath Lake is thus far refilling at the worst rate in the last 40 years. Without significant precipitation in the next several weeks, the Klamath Tribes will be heading into C’waam and Koptu spawning season with Upper Klamath Lake dangerously low to provide for their basic biological needs. Facing a similar situation last year, the Klamath Tribes heard many complaints from irrigators about our efforts to ensure baseline protections for the C’waam and Koptu because of how they had planned their operations for the year.” [Klamath Falls Tribune, 2/16/21 (=)]

 

Wildlife

 

Animals At Primate Sanctuary Freeze Amid Texas Power Outage. According to Associated Press, “A chimpanzee, several monkeys, some lemurs and an uncounted number of birds died when a nonprofit San Antonio-area wildlife sanctuary lost power early Monday, yet another casualty of unforgiving winter weather that has seized much of Texas. Brooke Chavez, executive director of Primarily Primates, told the San Antonio Express-News that the power went out about 6 a.m. Monday at the 70-acre sanctuary that housed more than 400 primates. Chavez said her 12 staff members and volunteers mobilized generators, space heaters, propane tanks and blankets in an effort to save the residents. As temperatures reached single-digit levels, the staff broke out carriers to evacuate animals to the San Antonio Zoo and another sanctuary in North Texas, but Chavez said she and her staff began to find dead animals throughout the sanctuary. ‘I never, ever thought my office would turn into a morgue, but it has,’ she said. ‘Someone asked me how many animals have died. I don’t know yet. I know we lost lots of monkeys, lemurs and tropical birds... We won’t truly know how many animals have died until the temperatures rise and the snow starts to melt.’” [Associated Press, 2/16/21 (=)]

 

As Chronic Wasting Disease Spreads, Stricter Management Proposed. According to Public News Service, “A disease in the same family as Mad Cow Disease is spreading among deer, and this week state officials will decide on new rules to help contain it. Chronic Wasting Disease was first identified in Arkansas in 2016, but state wildlife veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Ballard said because infection is hard to detect, it likely persisted long before then. Scientists believe it’s caused by highly contagious proteins called prions that spread between animals, through body fluids or indirectly through soil or water. Ballard said CWD poses a huge threat to deer populations. ‘We’re concerned about it,’ she said, ‘because there’s evidence, based on its long-term persistence in western states, that this can actually cause population declines when it reaches a high prevalence.’ CWD eats away at animals’ bodies, causes behavioral changes and ultimately leads to death. The proposal would remove fawn and yearling bucks, which have higher rates of CWD, increase the bag limit for harvesting deer in and near affected areas, and limit baiting and feeding on private lands. Some hunters oppose the changes. Ashley Chance, southeast regional coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation’s Artemis Program, said deer hunting contributes significantly to Arkansas’ outdoor recreation and tourism economy. She said tackling CWD is critical to ensuring sustainable deer populations for the future - which means humans have to watch their behavior, too.” [Public News Service, 2/17/21 (=)]

 

A Different Kind Of Land Management: Let The Cows Stomp. According to The New York Times, “Adam Isaacs stood surrounded by cattle in an old pasture that had been overgrazed for years. Now it was a jumble of weeds. ‘Most people would want to get out here and start spraying it’ with herbicides, he said. ‘My family used to do that. It doesn’t work.’ Instead, Mr. Isaacs, a fourth-generation rancher on this rolling land in the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle, will put his animals to work on the pasture, using portable electrified fencing to confine them to a small area so that they can’t help but trample some of the weeds as they graze. ‘We let cattle stomp a lot of the stuff down,’ he said. That adds organic matter to the soil and exposes it to oxygen, which will help grasses and other more desirable plants take over. Eventually, through continued careful management of grazing, the pasture will be healthy again. ‘These cows are my land management tool,’ Mr. Isaacs said. ‘It’s a lot easier to work with nature than against it.’ His goal is to turn these 5,000 acres into something closer to the lush mixed-grass prairie that thrived throughout this part of the Southern Great Plains for millenniums and served as grazing lands for millions of bison.” [The New York Times, 2/17/21 (=)]

 

 

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