Extinction

 

Editorial: We Must Do More To Save Species From The Fate Of The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. According to The Washington Post, “When federal legislation was enacted to protect endangered species almost a half-century ago, it might already have been too late to save the ivory-billed woodpecker, or any of the other 22 species that the U.S. government announced this week will be declared extinct. But that must not detract from the need to mourn what has been lost and, even more importantly, to resolve to take action so that other species don’t also vanish. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said Wednesday it had exhausted all efforts to find 23 species — 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish, a bat and a plant — and planned to remove them from the endangered-species list that affords federal protections. There will be a 60-day comment period, in which scientists and members of the public can provide information before final rulings are made. It is rare for wildlife officials to lose all hope for the survival of an animal or plant. Since implementation of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, only 11 other species have ever been delisted because they disappeared. ‘That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done in my career. I literally cried,’ said Amy Trahan, the wildlife service biologist who reviewed the scientific evidence on the ivory-billed woodpecker, checking off the iconic bird — also called the ‘Lord God Bird’ — as delisted ‘based on extinction.’” [The Washington Post, 10/2/21 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Woody Woodpecker Is Not Laughing. According to an op-ed by Bob Franken in Laramie Boomerang, “Since 1973, when Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, 54 plants and animals have been delisted, but millions more are expected in the coming decade. That’s because of various human abuses, including hunting, property development, mining and the biggie, the double-C, climate change. Oh, thank heaven, you were worrying that I was writing an ornithology column, not a political one. But here I am on familiar turf, where everyone agrees that global warming is an urgent problem, a disaster, actually, except for the miners, energy conglomerates, all the other special interests and the mealy mouthed politicians who represent constituencies they rely on to get them re-elected instead of trying to save the entire planet. Woody is just a canary in a coal mine — more like a woodpecker, really — a warning of pending doom. How about record-setting heat waves, hurricanes, floods and massive droughts at the same time, and glaciers falling off and slush where frozen oceans used to be?” [Laramie Boomerang, 10/2/21 (+)]

 

Endangered & Protected Species

 

Dwindling Alaska Salmon Leave Yukon River Tribes In Crisis. According to Associated Press, “In a normal year, the smokehouses and drying racks that Alaska Natives use to prepare salmon to tide them through the winter would be heavy with fish meat, the fruits of a summer spent fishing on the Yukon River like generations before them. This year, there are no fish. For the first time in memory, both king and chum salmon have dwindled to almost nothing and the state has banned salmon fishing on the Yukon, even the subsistence harvests that Alaska Natives rely on to fill their freezers and pantries for winter. The remote communities that dot the river and live off its bounty — far from road systems and easy, affordable shopping — are desperate and doubling down on moose and caribou hunts in the waning days of fall. ‘Nobody has fish in their freezer right now. Nobody,’ said Giovanna Stevens, 38, a member of the Stevens Village tribe who grew up harvesting salmon at her family’s fish camp. ‘We have to fill that void quickly before winter gets here.’ Opinions on what led to the catastrophe vary, but those studying it generally agree human-caused climate change is playing a role as the river and the Bering Sea warm, altering the food chain in ways that aren’t yet fully understood. Many believe commercial trawling operations that scoop up wild salmon along with their intended catch, as well as competition from hatchery-raised salmon in the ocean, have compounded global warming’s effects on one of North America’s longest rivers.” [Associated Press, 10/2/21 (+)]

 

The Assembly Of First Nations Joins The Union Of BC Indian Chiefs In Petitioning Secretary Haaland To Stop Wolf Culls. According to Native News Online, “Comprised of 634 chiefs, representing all First Nations across the country, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has petitioned US Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, ‘to vacate the previous administration’s wolf delisting rule and start the process anew.’ Two days before the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, former President Donald Trump’s administration stripped the gray wolf of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections, permitting states to launch what the AFN and Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) both describe as ‘culls.’ ‘Secretary Haaland also has the authority to intervene in the Rocky Mountain region where state legislatures in Idaho and Montana have passed laws to cull wolf populations by 90% and 85% respectively, using inhumane, previously outlawed techniques,’ states the UBCIC in its appeal. Three wolves from Yellowstone National Park, a yearling female and two female pups, have recently been killed under Montana’s new laws. The wolves were members of the Junction Butte pack which visitors from around the world travel to view.” [Native News Online, 10/2/21 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: It’s Time Biden Started Making Good On His Big Climate Change Promises. According to an op-ed by John Horning in Los Angeles Times, “Just seven days into President Biden’s administration, he declared that the United States must ‘meet the moment’ and raise our ‘climate ambition.’ He backed that sentiment up with a set of sweeping executive orders directing the government to place the climate crisis at the center of domestic and foreign policy decisions. It was a welcome change from past presidents who have too often waited until the end of their terms to take any bold action to protect the environment. To many in the conservation movement, Biden’s words sent a signal that perhaps the U.S. was finally willing to address the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. However, now eight months later, Biden’s climate signal has not only faded — it’s been replaced by a series of confounding mixed messages. On Sept. 20, a federal judge in California rebuked the Biden administration in a lawsuit involving the failure to protect the Joshua tree, a species so iconic in the Western landscape that a national park bears its name. WildEarth Guardians brought this suit because the Trump administration refused to list the tree as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act — despite all available scientific evidence indicating that Joshua trees will be in danger of extinction by the end of this century from climate-change-driven habitat loss, wildfire and other stressors.” [Los Angeles Times, 10/4/21 (+)]

 

Wildlife

 

States Jointly Restoring Wildlife Habitat Along Lower Colorado River. According to Public News Service, “A cooperative effort to restore habitats along the Lower Colorado River Basin is seeing the re-emergence of several threatened and endangered species. The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is part of a program, begun in 2005, that has reclaimed or restored more than 1,100 square miles of wetlands and woodlands along the river. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP) is designed to protect 27 species, including eight listed under the Endangered Species Act. Chuck Cullom, Colorado River programs manager for the Central Arizona Project, said the 50-year project is a joint effort between Arizona, California and Nevada. ‘We do that so that the species have a chance to recover from the impacts of building dams and operating diversions in the Lower Colorado River,’ Cullom explained. ‘We’re paying the environment back for the service the river provides.’ Cullom pointed out the program has created more than 6,500 acres of conservation habitat, planted thousands of cottonwood willows and honey mesquite trees, and has restocked the river with more than one million native fish.” [Public News Service, 10/4/21 (=)]

 

Underfunded Feds Get Reprieve On Fish Protection Decisions. According to Politico, “A federal judge has rejected environmentalists’ pleas and given the Fish and Wildlife Service a lot more time to decide whether the Rio Grande chub and three other species require protection. Citing the Fish and Wildlife Service’s heavy workload and funding shortfall, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly set decision deadlines for the sicklefin chub and sturgeon chub on Sept. 30, 2023, and for the Rio Grande chub and Rio Grande sucker on June 14, 2024. Through the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, WildEarth Guardians wanted Endangered Species Act listing decisions made by this month. ‘The thrust of legal authority in this jurisdiction and others indicates that the Court can (and should) take budget and resource limitations into consideration to determine an equitable remedy for the agency’s failure to complete with a statutory deadline,’ Kollar-Kotelly wrote. Kollar-Kotelly noted FWS’s account that between 2007 and 2010 it received petitions to list 1,187 species and that completing ‘12-month findings’ on these petitions ‘required far more funding’ that it had available.” [Politico, 10/1/21 (=)]

 

Wildlife Corridors

 

Flourishing, Open Grasslands Support Pronghorn, Other Wildlife. According to Public News Service, “Millions of pronghorn used to roam the West freely. But impediments like road and fences, as well as a changing climate, threaten the species’ future. A new web map explores the pronghorn’s journey as it migrates the grasslands of the West. Andrew Jakes - regional wildlife biologist in Northern Rockies, Prairies and Pacific offices for the National Wildlife Federation - said pronghorn need a connected habitat to thrive. And he noted that pronghorn aren’t the only ones that flourish from habitat connectivity. ‘Having a healthy and resilient ecosystem equates to having healthy and resilient rural communities,’ said Jakes. ‘It equates to having healthy water. It just equates to having really robust wildlife populations within these different ecosystems.’ The website, known as a ‘StoryMap,’ is called On the Move and follows pronghorn migration from spring to winter. It was put together by the National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy. Jakes said as many as 30 million pronghorn used to roam the West. After falling nearly to extinction in the early 20th century, numbers are now close to one million because of conservation efforts.” [Public News Service, 10/4/21 (+)]

 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor. According to National Parks Traveler, “Federal wildlife officials announced this past week that 22 animals and one plant should be declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list. Though searched for and sought after for years, many of these species, some experts say, were probably already extinct or extremely close to extinction when the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973. And though it’s too late to save the 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish and one bat now classified as extinct, much work is being done to save other species on the very brink, including the Florida Panther. Key to the survival of the panther and many other threatened species is the designation of wildlife corridors. This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks to Tori Linder of the Path of the Panther Project. That organization’s work has contributed to widespread efforts that have formalized the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a large and growing mosaic of protected forests and timberlands, swamps, pastures, and orchards that provide the green spaces that animals need to thrive.” [National Parks Traveler, 10/3/21 (+)]

 

Colorado Doubles Down On Protecting Big Game Animals In New Report. According to The Denver Post, “In the face of unrelenting development across Colorado, state officials on Wednesday rolled out a plan that aims to preserve as much land — and provide as many migration routes as possible — for the state’s declining big game populations. The report, dubbed the Big Game Migration and Wildlife Connectivity Policy Report, lays out eight policy recommendations to better keep animal habitat intact and reduce the 3,300 vehicle-wildlife collisions that occur on average every year, causing more than $66 million in property and personal damage. It also identifies potential funding sources at the federal and state level. The ideas run the gamut from building animal underpasses and bridges to reduce collisions to making land use decisions that keep the needs of mule deer, elk and moose in mind to securing more commitments from oil and gas operators to have less impact on wildlife habitat. Gov. Jared Polis joined several other state officials in Golden on Wednesday to tout the 52-page report, which was put together by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation. The governor two years ago signed an executive order that supports protecting wildlife habitat and migratory routes, as well as public safety.” [The Denver Post, 10/1/21 (+)]

 

 

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