Endangered Species Act

 

Lawsuit: Ozone Rule Fails To Consider Endangered Species. According to E&E News, “EPA’s decision to leave a key ground-level ozone standard unchanged was flawed due to a failure to consider the impact on imperiled plant and animal species, a conservation group lawyer said today in announcing a legal challenge. ‘It really should come as no surprise that the science shows plants and animals, especially those on the brink of extinction, need clean air,’ Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release on the lawsuit, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Although the suit does not detail the grounds, the center had previously argued that the Endangered Species Act required EPA to consult with federal wildlife agencies before opting to keep the status quo for soot standards (Greenwire, Feb. 9). Ozone, a lung irritant that is the main ingredient in smog, can be harmful to whooping cranes and other endangered bird species, the group said in the release. It can also damage plants that they rely on, according to the release. In the final rule issued at the end of December, the agency left both its primary and secondary ozone standards at the threshold of 70 parts per billion set in 2015. Under the Clean Air Act, the primary limit is intended to protect public health, while the secondary ‘public welfare’ standard is meant to protect animals, crops, trees and other vegetation.” [E&E News, 2/25/21 (=)]

 

Endangered & Protected Species

 

Bureaucracy Stalks Gray Wolves' Return To Colorado. According to E&E News, “Colorado voters approved an unusual ballot measure last fall, overruling state wildlife officials to mandate the return of gray wolves to the Centennial State. But before any paws can hit the ground — which the ballot measure requires to start no later than Dec. 31, 2023 — the state must wade through its own planning process, and early steps have sparked alarm among advocates over whether the state is dragging its feet. ‘Given that wolf reintroduction is a well-established science, we’re not asking the state to reinvent the wheel,’ said Rob Edward, a strategic adviser with Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, an advocacy group. Instead, Edward characterized initial steps by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission as ‘lackluster.’ ‘We certainly hoped that by now the state would really be engaging the planning process in earnest,’ he added, pointing to a planning document the commission released last month. According to the state’s timeline, draft management plans would be released in mid-2022, and then again in mid-2023, followed by public comment periods. A final plan would be finished in December 2023. That schedule would make it all but impossible to meet the mandate approved by voters, Edward said. ‘We would argue they have a legal obligation to have a plan in place, and enough time, by the end of 2022 at least, at least a draft plan that shows they intend to have the first round of wolves on the ground by the end of 2023,’ he explained.” [E&E News, 2/25/21 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Slaughtering Wolves In Wisconsin Just For The Thrill Of The Kill. According to an op-ed by David McGrath in Chicago Sun Times, “In Shirley Jackson’s classic short story ‘The Lottery,’ the villagers of a small town randomly choose one of their own to stone to death for no ostensible purpose other than the cathartic thrill of the kill. A similarly macabre lottery recently was conducted by our neighbors in Wisconsin. Following the Trump administration’s controversial removal of the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list, just days before Donald Trump left office, 2,380 Wisconsin hunters chosen by lottery from 27,151 applicants ‘won’ the privilege of buying licenses to kill 119 wolves over a seven-day period. But the hunt was cut short this week, on Wednesday, when the quota was exceeded and 182 wolves wiped out in just 3 days. This was likely because the wolves were more vulnerable due to heavy snow cover, said George Meyer of the Wilderness Wildlife Federation. Why did more than 27,000 people pay for a chance to shoot a gray wolf? It certainly wasn’t for food. As one might expect of this apex predator, gamey smelling wolf meat consists mostly of muscle and is widely considered inedible. A market may exist for wolf hides in some states, with a pelt fetching an average price of $210, according to Alaska Fish and Wildlife News. But when you add travel and hunting expenses to the cost of a tag for a single wolf, any gunman in it for the fur is more likely to end up in the red.” [Chicago Sun Times, 2/25/21 (+)]

 

Wildlife Corridors

 

Op-Ed: The Largest Wildland Conservation Project In KY In Danger From Car Racing, Motorsports. According to an op-ed by Jennifer Honeycutt in Lexington Herald Leader, “Pine Mountain, a 120-mile-long ridge line in southeast Kentucky. is an ecological treasure. Possessing no marketable coal and bisected by only seven roads, it remains relatively undisturbed, a wilderness gem rising above the surrounding sea of mining-impacted land. It is a remarkable remnant of wild Appalachia, a land of lush forests, sparkling streams, and high elevation micro-climates. Pine Mountain is an important migration corridor, particularly for neotropical songbirds. The mountain harbors more than 100 rare and threatened species, some of which are endemic and occur no place else. Due to the unique character of Pine Mountain, a broad coalition of state (Ky Office of Nature Preserves, Ky Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Ky Division of Forestry, Ky Dept of Parks), federal (US Forest Service, Us Fish and Wildlife Service), and non-profit agencies (The Nature Conservancy, Kentucky Natural Lands Trust) have worked to conserve a corridor of land connecting existing protected areas to safeguard the fragile habitat, rare species, and migration route for wildlife. This collaborative project, known as the Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor, is the largest landscape level conservation project in state history. It encompasses state parks, state nature preserves, a wildlife management area, state forest, and private conservation tracts.” [Lexington Herald Leader, 2/25/21 (+)]

 

 

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