Wildlife

 

USDA’s Wildlife Services Killed More Than 400,000 Native Wildlife In 2021. According to Public News Service, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest report on its wildlife killing program, which aims to reduce the loss of livestock to carnivores, suggests the agency is continuing its preference for lethal management. More than 404,000 wild animals were killed in their natural habitat last year. Lindsay Larris, wildlife program director for the group WildEarth Guardians, said when managers do not target specific animals encountering livestock using traps, neck snares, sodium cyanide bombs and shooting animals from low-flying aircraft, the collateral damage can be significant. ‘Three golden eagles were killed unintentionally, hundreds of gray and red foxes,’ Larris outlined. ‘And we found that there were two livestock-protection dogs -- these are dogs whose purpose it is to protect livestock -- are being killed by this federal program.’ In 2021, Wildlife Services killed 64,000 coyotes, nearly 25,000 beavers, 3,000 foxes, 600 bobcats, 433 black bears, 324 gray wolves, 200 cougars and six endangered grizzly bears. More than 2,300 coyotes were killed in Wyoming from planes and helicopters, which Larris noted costs taxpayers about $800 per hour. For two years in a row, Wildlife Services received nearly $1.4 million specifically for nonlethal ‘predator’ management. Larris argued nonlethal options, including fencing, range riders, guard donkeys and llamas, and posting colored flags, have been effective in keeping wolves and other predators away from livestock.” [Public News Service, 3/28/22 (=)]

 

Bipartisan Conservation Bill Would Stem Species-Decline 'Crisis'. According to Public News Service, “A bipartisan effort in Congress to curb the loss of plant and animal species could get a Senate committee vote as soon as this week. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would invest $1.4 billion annually in state and tribal conservation efforts, and dedicate at least 15% to recovering threatened and endangered species. Danielle Moser, wildlife program coordinator with the group Oregon Wild, said it would send nearly $25 million annually to the state for the Oregon Conservation Strategy and Nearshore Strategy. ‘These two strategies are our premiere wildlife conservation measures in the state,’ said Moser. ‘But unfortunately they have been woefully underfunded for far too long. So, passage of this legislation at the federal level would be a huge boost for Oregon’s wildlife conservation programs.’ The Senate version could receive a vote in the Environment and Public Works Committee as soon as Wednesday. Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley sits on that committee. The bill has 32 cosponsors in the Senate, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Moser said the measure would help not only species on the brink, but also proactively save Oregon species like the western painted turtle, which isn’t listed as threatened.” [Public News Service, 3/28/22 (=)]

 

Settlement Commits Feds To Fix Trump-Era Border Wall Damage. According to Politico, “A coalition of conservation groups has settled a Trump-era lawsuit that prevents the departments of Defense and Homeland Security from using appropriated military funding to build barriers along the Mexican border. The settlement, announced yesterday, also commits DOD and DHS to pay for a study to assess the damage border wall construction has caused on sensitive wildlife habitat and other natural resources, and to pay to restore any damaged areas. Representatives with the conservation groups Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Legal Defense Fund declared the settlement a major victory against a priority of former President Trump to fortify and expand a wall along the country’s southern border. Though President Biden issued a proclamation against diverting funds ‘to construct a border wall’ shortly after his inauguration in January 2021, the conditions in the settlement announced yesterday are more about repairing the damage caused by border wall construction and preventing military funding from ever being used for such a purpose in the future, the conservation groups said. ‘The wall and its infrastructure, including lights and roads, have carved a monstrous scar across one of the most biodiverse regions on the continent,’ Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. ‘Now federal agencies will have to take stock of the damage and begin the important work of trying to heal this environmental and humanitarian disaster.’” [Politico, 3/25/22 (=)]

 

Wildlife Corridors

 

$87 Million 101 Freeway Wildlife Crossing In Agoura Hills To Break Ground On Earth Day. According to CBS, “The $87 million wildlife crossing planned in Agoura Hills is about to become a reality. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife crossing will break ground on what will eventually be the world’s largest wildlife crossing on April 22, which is also Earth Day. The crossing is designed to become a safe passage for wildlife to cross above the eight lanes of the busy 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills. Construction will commence this summer, and is expected to be completed sometime next year. The population of the Santa Monica Mountains’ native mountain lions, particularly the famous photo of P-22 with the Hollywood Sign in the background in Griffith Park, were an inspiration for the bridge’s inception. Just this week, a young mountain lion that had just become part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area’s long-ranging mountain lion study was struck and killed by a car on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu — the latest in a string of mountain lions who have died while trying explore beyond the boundaries set by busy roadways. The Santa Monica Mountains falls within one of just 36 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ worldwide and is only one of two in the continental U.S., so the wildlife crossing re-establish a key connection to open space in the Simi Hills, and possibly further into the Santa Susana Mountains or Angeles National Forest.” [CBS, 3/25/22 (=)]

 

NM Summit Works To Solve Safe Passage For People, Wildlife. According to Public News Service, “Shrinking wildlife habitat puts big-game animals at greater risk of colliding with cars and trucks, and has led to the Wildlife Corridors Action Plan to be discussed today in Albuquerque. The plan identifies wildlife-vehicle collision hot spots posing a particularly high risk to the traveling public, and outlines how to create safe crossings. Jesse Duebel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said big-game animals tend to use the same routes year after year. When they are lost to development, he explained animals end up on ‘islands’ of habitat and then take whatever route necessary to travel for food. ‘Because we’re facing an extinction crisis, it’s more critical than ever that we eliminate this kind of island dynamic and start connecting these habitats back together with these types of crossings,’ Duebel asserted. The plan was developed by the New Mexico Department of Transportation in partnership with the state’s Department of Game and Fish. The hybrid virtual/in-person conference will be held at Albuquerque’s Sheraton Hotel today and Friday. More information is available at nmwildlife.org. The plan focuses primarily on the movements of six large mammals: elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black bear and mountain lions. Duebel is a hunter, and said others like him often put themselves in places rich with wildlife, and in doing so, make themselves vulnerable to collisions.” [Public News Service, 3/24/22 (=)]

 

 

Responses to this email are not monitored.

 

Please email any questions or comments to mitch@beehivedc.com