Congress

 

House Sets Vote On Fisheries, Wildlife Legislation. According to Politico, “The full House is expected to vote this week to approve a slew of natural resource bills, including legislation advocated by the late Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young that’s designed to save salmon in his state. The headliner is Young’s ‘Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act,’ H.R. 6651, which was approved by unanimous consent earlier this month by the Natural Resources Committee (E&E News PM, April 6). The bill, among other things, would require Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to establish a special task force of up to 19 members to explore population trends among Pacific salmon and develop a research plan to manage the species. ‘We’re losing our salmon … I want to find out why it’s happening,’ Young said during a Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife hearing the day before his death on March 18 (E&E Daily, March 18). Also on tap is H.R. 5973, the ‘Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2021.’ Sponsored by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), it calls for reauthorizing the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990, which expired at the end of fiscal 2021, for five years through fiscal 2027.” [Politico, 4/25/22 (=)]

 

GOP-Led Wildfire Forum Will Focus On Giant Sequoia Deaths. According to Politico, “House Republicans are holding a forum this week to urge a more intensive approach to forest management, using the world’s oldest trees as a symbol of policies gone wrong. House Natural Resources ranking member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), a forester by training, organized the forum on wildfire and giant sequoias, initially billed as a Republican event but later promoted as a bipartisan discussion. A list of participants was not available last night. The forum is set to coincide with Arbor Day, on April 29. While it is sure to reflect conflicting views about how best to manage federal land, policy groups and researchers agree that giant sequoias — which grow in a narrow band of land on the West Coast — took an unusual and disheartening beating from wildfire last year (Greenwire, Sept. 27, 2021). Thousands of trees have died in wildfires over the past two years. The most recent wildfire — last year’s KNP Complex Fire — burned tens of thousands of acres in Sequoia National Park, and the National Park Service didn’t fully reopen the park’s Giant Forest until March. Proponents of a more intensive approach to forest management, including regular thinning, timber harvesting and prescribed fire, say that the sequoias — which can live more than 3,000 years — require such an approach to avert death by fire.” [Politico, 4/25/22 (=)]

 

Hearing Probes Wildlife-Borne Disease Concerns. According to Politico, “With the Covid-19 pandemic still blazing, even as public attention seemingly wanes, lawmakers will return the spotlight this week to wildlife-borne disease surveillance as a tool to prevent future outbreaks. The Thursday hearing by the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations follows previous work on Capitol Hill. Some measures have already been taken, and many shortcomings noted. ‘Early detection and response to pathogens with zoonotic potential while still in animals is essential in limiting or preventing human outbreaks,’ the Agriculture Department’s current strategy notes. Nonetheless, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service acknowledges that ‘critical gaps’ include ‘lack of surveillance tools and strategies for the rapid detection and characterization’ of pathogens, as well as ‘challenges with data collection, exchange, analysis, and reporting.’ It’s a familiar refrain. Back in 2009, the National Research Council at the direction of the U.S. Agency for International Development produced a major report warning of the urgent need to improve disease surveillance. An effective ‘surveillance and response system for zoonotic emerging diseases’ requires political and social will, allocation of necessary financial and technical resources and the providing of necessary authorities, the report concluded.” [Politico, 4/25/22 (=)]

 

Protected Species

 

Protections For Rare Mouse In Lincoln National Forest Upheld In Federal Court. According to Carlsbad Current Argus, “Federal protections for the habitat of a rare forest mouse in New Mexico will be maintained, despite efforts from ranching industry groups in the state. The meadow jumping mouse, mostly known to live in the Lincoln National Forest of southern New Mexico and Santa Fe National Forest was first listed as an endangered species by the State of New Mexico in 2006, and federally by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2014. The federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) initiated a process to denote habitat areas in the forest as critical to the mouse’s survival, restricting some areas from development. Two New Mexico ranching groups, the Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association and Otero County Cattleman’s Association, subsequently sued the Fish and Wildlife Service hoping to have these restrictions reversed but were denied such an action on April 15 in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The ranchers argued the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to consider the economic impact of the land restrictions on the nearby agricultural industry. They initially filed their complaint and petition for review in 2018 and were denied by a district court in 2020, appealing to federal court where the denial was affirmed, records show.” [Carlsbad Current Argus, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Gray Wolf Poaching Dismays Oregon Wildlife Conservationists. According to The American Prospect, “In the summer of 2014, two young gray wolves in eastern Oregon dispersed from their natal packs—one from the Snake River Pack and the other from the Minam Pack—and paired up. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) had already radio-collared both and tracked them as they traversed the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the northeastern corner of the state. That year, Oregon had 81 known wolves. While the state was seeing the population rebound after being extirpated in the mid-1940s, that number was far less than the estimated 1,450 wolves that the mountain wilderness could support. The following year, the wolf pair produced two pups that survived. The Catherine Pack grew over the years as eight more pups survived—until last winter. In early 2021, ODFW received a mortality signal from one of the collars. That meant that the wolf had stopped moving for eight hours, an unusual sign since wolves can travel dozens of miles in a 24-hour period and don’t typically lie completely still for so long. The department alerted wildlife troopers with the Oregon State Police. When troopers responded to the call, they found not just one dead wolf, but five. The entire Catherine Pack had been killed.” [The American Prospect, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

For The First Time In 4 Years, A Litter Of Red Wolf Pups Was Born In The Wild. According to NPR, “U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff in North Carolina welcomed a litter of six red wolf pups into the world earlier this week. It’s the first time in four years that a pair of wild red wolves — a species teetering on the brink of extinction — gave birth to a litter in the wild. The newborn pups, four females and two males, were found in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge along the coast of northeastern North Carolina. Staff at the Red Wolf Recovery Program announced the paw-sitive news on Facebook Thursday. ‘This new litter is the first wild-born litter of red wolves since 2018. This red wolf pair was formed through the combination of several management actions and the two red wolves subsequently following their natural instincts in pairing, establishing their territory and mating,’ the post read. ‘Every generation yields a new born hope for the red wolf...a cause for joy and celebration!’ Before settlers arrived in North America, red wolves thrived throughout the Southeast U.S, from Florida to the Great Plains and the Ohio River Valley, according to national conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife. But through hunting, extermination and the expansion of cities and towns, humans drove the species to near extinction.” [NPR, 4/23/22 (=)]

 

New Mexico Ranchers Take On National Environmental Group Over Protections For Rare Bird. According to Alamogordo Daily News, “Protections for a nearly-extinct New Mexican bird were being defended by environmental groups after a New Mexico ranching organization sued to remove the animal from the federal list of endangered species. The southwestern willow flycatcher was first listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995, ultimately setting aside 1,277 river miles for conservation efforts. Last year, the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association sued to remove the bird from protections, contending it did not represent its own, distinct species. Listing an animal as endangered can impose land restrictions as the Fish and Wildlife Service identifies areas of critical habitat for additional protection. These decisions are often opposed by livestock groups concerned of the economic impacts blocking activities like livestock grazing could have on the industry. The Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society of Arizona were admitted into that case to intervene on April 19, seeking to take arguments to court in support of ongoing protections for the bird.” [Alamogordo Daily News, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Why Our Hope For The Planet Is Not Yet Extinct. According to an op-ed by Margaret Renkl in The New York Times, “Once upon a time, deep in the upland pine forests and hardwood bottomlands of the American South, a magnificent bird dwelt high in the treetops. The ivory-billed woodpecker was a denizen of old-growth forests, but by the end of the 19th century, vast stands of old-growth Southern forest were already gone. A confirmed sighting of the Lord God Bird hasn’t been recorded since 1944. Reports of the elusive ivory-bill surface from time to time anyway. In 2004, a sighting in Arkansas inspired a frenzy among birders, but an exhaustive search by teams from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology turned up no definitive evidence of survivors. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the ivory-billed woodpecker extinct. Now Steve Latta, the director of conservation at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, believes his team of researchers has found the bird living in the marshes of Louisiana. Using drones and mounted trail cameras, they have amassed both images and recordings of the birds, in addition to more than a dozen observations by the skilled researchers themselves. Comparing the markings, morphology, and foraging behavior of the birds they observed with those in historic photographs and videos, the researchers concluded that the ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct after all. ‘Our findings, and the inferences drawn from them, suggest an increasingly hopeful future for the ivory-billed woodpecker,’ they write. It’s not easy for me to share their optimism, no matter how desperately I want to. An internal dialectic between hope and despair governs my days: The more necessary it becomes to create a hopeful future, the harder it is for me to imagine one.” [The New York Times, 4/25/22 (+)]

 

Endangered Species Act

 

Center For Biological Diversity Sues Fish And Wildlife Service To Protect Bumblebee. According to Law Street, “On Thursday, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the District of Arizona against the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Secretary of Interior alleging violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to the complaint, the Center for Biological Diversity is a national nonprofit conservation organization that works to preserve, protect and restore biodiversity, native species, ecosystems, public lands and waters, and public health through science, policy and environmental law. The plaintiff states that it and its over 1.7 million members have deep and long-standing interests in the conservation and recovery of the imperiled species. The complaint states that the present action was filed to enforce the plaintiff’s conservation and recovery interest and to protect the imperlied Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebee. The plaintiff states that Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebee is a rare pollinator that has been observed across the western United States that currently faces a greater risk for extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, pesticides and other significant threats.” [Law Street, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Wildlife

 

Wildlife Corridors

 

AP | California Breaks Ground On Largest Urban Wildlife Crossing. According to The Washington Post, “Construction has begun on what’s billed as the world’s largest wildlife crossing for mountain lions and other animals caught in Southern California’s urban sprawl. Officials held a ceremony Friday to mark the start of construction of a $90 million bridge over a freeway and feeder road near downtown Los Angeles. ‘This wildlife crossing could not have come at a better time. It is truly a game changer,’ said Jeff Sikich, biologist for the National Park Service. ‘Today’s groundbreaking sets a path toward saving our local mountain lions and supporting the diversity of wildlife in this whole region.’ The bridge will stretch 200 feet (61 meters) over the U.S. 101 to give big cats, coyotes, deer and other wildlife a safe path to the nearby Santa Monica Mountains. It is expected to be completed by early 2025 and will be named the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing for the philanthropist whose foundation donated $25 million. Some 300,000 cars a day travel that stretch of the 101 in Agoura Hills, a small city surrounded by a patchwork of protected wildland that the new crossing will connect. The star of the fundraising campaign to build the bridge was mountain lion P-22, who traveled across freeways and made his home in a huge Los Angeles park. While he’s unlikely to use the span because he lives many miles away, P-22 became a symbol of the shrinking genetic diversity of wild animals that must remain all but trapped by sprawling development or risk becoming roadkill.” [The Washington Post, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Groundbreaking Held For $87M Wildlife Crossing In Agoura Hills. According to CBS, “After years of planning, crews finally broke ground Friday morning on an $87 million wildlife crossing in Agoura Hills designed to give mountain lions and other animals safe passage in and out of the Santa Monica Mountains in an effort save them from extinction. It’s no coincidence that the groundbreaking for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is taking place on Earth Day. When complete, it will be the largest such corridor in the world. The crossing will span all ten lanes of the 101 freeway at Liberty Canyon Road. It will be 165-foot-wide and sit 10 feet above the freeway. It will connect the Santa Monica Mountains with the Simi Hills. The crossing will be camouflaged by trees and shrubs and include sound barriers. The crossing is expected to be complete by 2025. It is being funded through a combination of private donations and government support. ‘It’s an engineering marvel,’ Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation, told CBSLA Thursday. ‘I mean, to put this living landscape on top, you have to put soil on top so that the vegetation can grow. And one of the other unique things about our crossing: nobody has ever tried to do it in such an urban area as well. So we have to do special design considerations to mitigate that sound you can hear. Because if an animal hears that, he’s not gonna wanna go on top of it. The light from the headlights. I mean, all that stuff. We have to trick the animal into thinking they’re not going over a freeway, or else they’ll not use it.’” [CBS, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

See What The Largest Wildlife Crossing Of Its Kind Will Look Like Over SoCal's 101 Freeway. According to KNBC-TV, “Work is underway on a wildlife crossing over one of the country’s busiest freeways. The wildlife bridge over the 101 Freeway northwest of Los Angeles is designed to provide more room to roam for mountain lions and other animals hemmed in by urban sprawl. A ceremony marking the start of construction was held at the site Friday morning on Earth Day. The roughly $85 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is will span 210 feet over 10 lanes of highway and pavement. It is also the first such crossing to be significantly funded through private donations along with public support. The bridge will give mountain lions, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other creatures a safe route to open space in the Santa Monica Mountains and better access to food and potential mates, said the wildlife federation’s Beth Pratt. ‘When they want to leave their mother, they need to find their own territory,’ said Ana Beatriz Cholo, of the National Park Service. ‘They need to find their own space to live because they don’t live well together. They are solitary animals.’” [KNBC-TV, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Crews To Break Ground On World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing Over 101 Fwy In L.A. According to KTLA-TV, “Crews on Friday are breaking ground on a $90-million wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills that is meant to provide mountain lions and other animals a safe route to the Santa Monica Mountains. Billed as the world’s largest wildlife crossing, the bridge will stretch 200 feet over 10 lanes of the busy freeway. The hope is that the bridge will provide more room to roam for animals stifled by urban development, including big cats, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other creatures. And most notably, the crossing would help mountain lions escape extinction by providing them safe passage to food and mates, the National Wildlife Federation says. Residents and local officials were gathered at King Gillette Ranch Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking. The freeway’s on-ramps and off-ramps were closed to traffic at Liberty Canyon and Agoura roads until 2 p.m. for the ceremony. The need for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing was supported by research from National Park Service biologists, who have been studying wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains since 1996. ‘The new crossing will re-connect an entire ecosystem that has long been fragmented by an almost impenetrable barrier for wildlife,’ officials from the Santa Monica Mountains said.” [KTLA-TV, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Bridge For Wildlife To Safely Get Across The 101 Freeway Breaks Ground For Earth Day. According to KTTV-TV, “Coinciding with Earth Day Friday, crews broke ground on the much-anticipated wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway in Liberty Canyon designed to provide relief for landlocked mountain lions and other animals in Southland mountains. The roughly $85 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is envisioned as the largest crossing of its kind in the world, spanning 210 feet over 10 lanes of highway and pavement. It is also the first to be significantly funded through private donations along with public support. A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the site, about a 10- minute walk from the Liberty Canyon Trailhead. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world. It is being developed following 20 years of studies from the National Park Service that found roads and urban development are deadly for animals trying to navigate the Los Angeles area. Urban development has also created islands of habitats that can genetically isolate the region’s animals. The start of construction comes one day after a mountain lion was fatally struck by a vehicle on the 405 Freeway in the Brentwood area, highlighting the need for safe routes that Los Angeles’ diverse wildlife can access.” [KTTV-TV, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Ground Broken For $87 Million Wildlife Bridge Over 101 Freeway To Save Mountain Lions And Other Creatures. According to Los Angeles Daily News, “Another big cat was killed in Southern California just hours before the Friday, April 22, groundbreaking for the dramatic Wallis Annenberg Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills that drew Gov. Gavin Newsom, billionaire Annenberg, and a throng of officials, environmental leaders, wildlife advocates and media. On a sunny, breezy morning, the groundbreaking kicked off with a Chumash blessing and a song about famed big cat P-22, sung by three young people from Watts. The launching of what will be a broad, grass-covered bridge that sweeps across 10 freeway lanes came one day after mountain lion P-97 was killed on the 405 near Brentwood. ‘It’s a gracious and glorious day,’ Newsom said. ‘Fifty-four million dollars, the state has put up for this project and will put up with another $10 million.’ He joked that he hadn’t been anywhere in the past two years where everyone was smiling, happy, enthusiastic and complimenting each other. ‘I haven’t seen a protestor yet,’ he quipped. ‘Amazing. And another reason why you got me confused is that you applauded Caltrans. I’ve never heard that. Wow. Like I said, what a day. But what an extraordinary thing it is to look forward to the days ahead and completion of this project.’” [Los Angeles Daily News, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

Earth Day Groundbreaking For World's Largest Wildlife Crossing. According to Construction Dive, “Endangered big cats and other animals will soon get a way to safely traverse a 10-lane Los Angeles-area highway. A new wildlife crossing is set to break ground today on Earth Day, April 22, according to the National Wildlife Federation, and will be the largest of its kind in the world. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a public-private partnership between the National Wildlife Federation and the California government. Other parties involved in the creation and construction of the project include the National Park Service and the city of Agoura Hills, California, where the crossing is located, according to the release. Private donations made up 60% of the $90 million price tag, according to The Guardian, and the project is expected to open in early 2025. Caltrans, California’s Department of Transportation, will develop, build and maintain the crossing.” [Construction Dive, 4/22/22 (=)]

 

 

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