Wildlife

 

NC Senators Sponsor Bipartisan Wildlife Protection Bill. According to Public News Service, “A bipartisan bill to protect wildlife species before they’re imperiled has gained the support of North Carolina’s senators. It’s the first state to have both senators sign on, along with eight other senators. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would direct $1.4 billion to state and local agencies to prevent species from becoming endangered. It would direct about $24 million to North Carolina. Tim Gestwicki, CEO of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, called it the ‘most historic piece of wildlife conservation legislation in the past half-century.’ ‘We are absolutely over-the-moon delighted that both of our senators have joined as sponsors, Senator Burr and Senator Tillis,’ said Gestwicki, ‘demonstrating North Carolina leads the way once again.’ The House version has six cosponsors from North Carolina, including Republicans and Democrats. Gestwicki said the bill would help almost 500 species of concern in the state. They include the Carolina northern flying squirrel, Appalachian cottontail and zigzag salamander. Collin O’Mara, president and CEO the National Wildlife Federation, said it’s a critical time for legislation like this, with more than one third of all wildlife species at heightened risk of extinction across the country.” [Public News Service, 9/27/21 (+)]

 

US And UK See Eye To Eye On Ending Illegal Wildlife Trade. According to an op-ed by Tim Wittig and Ari Mittleman in The Hill, “In recent months, the ‘special relationship’ between the United States and the United Kingdom has been intensively scrutinized. Much has been written about fraying in the alliance and alleged personality differences between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden. The visit of Johnson to the White House should dispel these notions. The increasingly complex geopolitics of the next decade demand that the alliance between the British and American governments, business communities and non-profit sectors only deepen. While Washington and London have distinct interests and unique strengths, these should be viewed as complementary. An existing avenue for partnership that can only grow stronger is combating illegal wildlife trafficking. The kleptocracy, habitat destruction and transnational criminal activity behind illegal wildlife trafficking is a common threat for both British and American policymakers. Fortunately, U.S. and UK law enforcement, private business leaders and non-profit stakeholders are working daily to disrupt transnational criminal organizations profiting from illegal wildlife trafficking. Alongside illicit shipments of arms and drugs, illegal wildlife trafficking is incredibly lucrative for transnational criminal organizations. Often run by highly organized criminal networks, estimates are that the value of the illicit global enterprise is up to $175 billion per year.” [The Hill, 9/25/21 (+)]

 

Wildlife Corridors

 

Wildlife Corridors Reconnect Nature, Save Species. According to Patch, “Home to a variety of wildlife, including mountain lions, the Santa Monica Mountains are an island to the wildlife who are cut off from safe movement by some of the busiest freeways in the country. These roads have claimed many lion lives, as the animals have tried to move. One now famous lion, P-22 – immortalized in Tony Lee Moral’s ‘The Cat that Changed America’ – managed to cross two of these freeways and 20 lanes of traffic. P-22’s story inspired the plan, spearheaded by Beth Pratt Bergstrom of the National Wildlife Federation, to develop a wildlife crossing – the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing – over the 101 freeway in SoCal. This wildlife crossing is one of seven case studies in the newly released report, ‘Reconnecting Nature / How Wildlife Corridors Can Help Save Species,’ prepared by the Environment America Research and Policy Center. When animals can’t relocate to seek new breeding opportunities, as with the cougars in the Santa Monica Mountains, there’s inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, resulting in greater chances for birth defects and disease, according to the report. If this situation were to continue with the Santa Monica Mountain cougars, there’s as much as a 22 percent likelihood of that population being wiped out within the next 50 years. But providing a land bridge over the 101 freeway that would allow the population to leave their island, and for other cougars to come to the island, ‘would slash their extinction probability to 2.4 percent.’” [Patch, 9/25/21 (+)]

 

Invasive Species

 

4th 'Murder Hornet' Nest Destroyed In Wash. State. According to Politico, “Another nest built by Asian giant hornets north of Seattle close to the Canada border has been destroyed, according to state officials. The Washington State Department of Agriculture said yesterday on social media that the latest nest eradication of the insects, also known as murder hornets, east of Blaine, Wash., is the fourth overall and third this year, The Bellingham Herald reported. Officials said the queen they discovered was a slightly different color and that all the hornets were workers, which means no new nests would be created from it. Late last week, the department posted that it had a ‘concerning’ report about another possible Asian giant hornet sighting about 20 miles east of where the other nests had been discovered. A dead Asian giant hornet was also discovered closer to Seattle near Marysville in mid-June. Entomologists from the state and U.S. Agriculture departments said it appeared to be unrelated to the findings of the hornets in Canada and near Blaine.” [Politico, 9/24/21 (=)]

 

How Climate Change Gave Rise To A Monster Mosquito Season. According to Grist, “Parts of the Northeast received a foot of rain in just three weeks in July, due to a series of back-to-back thunderstorms and the remnants of Hurricane Elsa. In August, Tropical Storm Fred and its remnants doused the East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts, and Tropical Storm Henri hit New England head on. Less than two weeks later, Ida soaked the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 and blasted the Northeast with record-breaking amounts of rainfall as a disorganized storm system. Meanwhile, in the Southwest, a ‘super’ monsoon season eased drought conditions in parts of Arizona, producing Tuscon’s wettest month on record in July. Climate change plays a role in exacerbating these storms. The air becomes 4 percent more saturated with water for every 1 degree Fahrenheit that the planet warms. The most torrential downpours in the Northeast now unleash 55 percent more rain compared to the 1950s, according to the most recent National Climate Assessment, and could increase another 40 percent by the end of the century. Unfortunately for humans, the abundance of mosquitoes varies massively with rainfall. The more rain there is, the more scattered pools of water there are across the landscape that the insects can use to lay their eggs in. This summer’s rains basically turned half of the U.S. into a perfect breeding ground for mosquito larvae.” [Grist, 9/24/21 (+)]

 

 

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