CDP: Wildlife Clips: January 20, 2023
Biden Admin Releases Plan To Account For Value Of Nature. According to Politico, “The Biden administration Thursday unveiled a 15-year strategy to incorporate the value of the "natural world" — including assets like clean air and water — alongside traditional economic statistics like gross domestic product. The plan, called the National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions, aims to account for the value of assets ranging from minerals to clean water, as well as the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss.” [Politico, 1/19/23 (+)]
Judge: Corps Must Discuss Spillway Use With Fisheries Agency. According to the AP, “A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must consult with federal fisheries experts on the effects of opening a spillway that protects New Orleans from Mississippi River flooding, but threatens coastal Mississippi marine life and tourism. The Bonnet Carre spillway control structure is upriver from New Orleans. It was used infrequently after it was completed in the 1930s. But after being opened once in 2018, it was opened twice in 2019 — the first time it was opened in consecutive years and the first time it was used twice in one year. Opening the spillway diverts Mississippi River water along a 6-mile (9.7-kilometer) course of guide levees to Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, after which it flows to the Mississippi Sound in the Gulf of Mexico. The influx of river water carries pollutants and nutrients into the sound and reduces salinity. The result can be damage to oyster, fish and crab habitats, and algae blooms that also affect marine life and beaches.” [AP, 1/19/23 (=)]
Departments
Reforming The Administrative State Doesn’t Require A New Law. According to The Hill, “For decades there have been concerns about the federal government’s growing power, size and cost. But nothing has been done to address it. It just expands. Why? Is it an uncontrollable deep state, an unmanageable bureaucracy or just too complex? While a solution is always available, the federal government benefits significantly from the administrative state. It opposes change. The term “administrative state” describes the power of executive branch agencies to create, adjudicate and enforce their own rules. Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1946 to exert control over the administrative state by establishing procedures for federal agencies to make and enforce regulations.” [The Hill, 1/19/23 (=)]
AP| Lithium Miner Cited For Violating Endangered Flower Habitat. According to the AP, “Five days after the U.S. Energy Department announced a $700 million conditional loan to an Australian mining company pursuing a lithium project in Nevada, federal land managers cited it for trespassing within the habitat of an endangered flower. The Bureau of Land Management said in Wednesday’s trespass notice to Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC it has confirmed land was disturbed within the designated critical habitat for Tiehm’s buckwheat, a 6-inch-tall (15-centimeter-tall) desert wildflower with yellow blooms. The agency said the disturbance was prohibited under a permit it issued Ioneer in November to drill for underground samples at the proposed mine site still facing environmental hurdles near the California border halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.” AP, 1/19/23 (=)]
AP| Third Dead Whale In A Week Washes Up On Oregon Coast. According to AP, “A baby gray whale washed up on the northern Oregon coast on Wednesday, making it the third dead whale to beach on the state’s coastline over the past week. The 12-foot-long calf washed ashore at Fort Stevens State Park, KGW reported, only 100 yards (91 meters) from the site where a dead sperm whale beached over the weekend. The baby whale appeared to be a stillborn, Michael Milstein, spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries agency, told the news outlet. There were no indications that it was struck by a ship or that it died from human interaction. Federal biologists determined that the 40-foot sperm whale that washed ashore nearby died after a ship hit it. The whale had a large gash in its side.” [AP, 1/19/23 (=)]
WA Grapples With Seals, Sea Lions Preying On Endangered Salmon. According to KNKX, “
A new state report prepared for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends selective killing of seals and sea lions, to learn more about the impact they have on endangered salmon runs. These experimental lethal removals would be the most effective way to move the science forward in a timely manner, according to a committee at the Washington State Academy of Sciences. Their report to the legislature came at the request of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force. Populations of seals and sea lions have ballooned since they gained federal protection in 1972. At the same time, salmon populations have dwindled, leaving some on the brink of extinction. These include Chinook salmon, the preferred prey of the endangered southern resident orcas.” [KNKX, 1/19/23 (=)]
AP| Group Seeks Reintroduction Of Sea Otters Along West Coast. According to the AP, “A nonprofit group that aims to protect endangered species asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday to reintroduce sea otters to a stretch of the West Coast from Northern California to Oregon. Threatened southern sea otters occupy only 13% of their historic range, with a small population of the mammals currently living on California’s central coast, the Center for Biological Diversity said. “Bringing the sea otter back to the broader West Coast would be an unparalleled conservation success story,” said Kristin Carden, a senior scientist at the Arizona-based group. “Not only would the sea otters thrive, but they would also help restore vital kelp forest and seagrass ecosystems.” The petition under the Endangered Species Act recommends that reintroduction occur between San Francisco Bay and Oregon and asks the Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the feasibility of reintroduction from Southern California into Baja California, Mexico.” [AP, 1/19/23 (=)]
Michigan Wolf Population Holding Steady, 2022 Survey Shows. According to Politico, “Michigan's gray wolf population remains stable and might have reached its natural ceiling after mounting a decadeslong comeback in the Upper Peninsula, state biologists said after the latest survey. An analysis of data collected in 2022 produced an estimate of 631 wolves, give or take 49, the Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday. The survey estimated 136 packs roam the peninsula in Michigan's far north, with an average of four to five animals in each. "These results show a continued trend of statistical stability, indicating that gray wolves may have reached their biological carrying capacity within the Upper Peninsula," said Cody Norton, the DNR's wolf specialist. Carrying capacity is the maximum population an environment can support, based on factors such as food, territory, water and other animals with which to breed.” [Politico, 1/19/23 (=)]
Greens Seek To Spread Sea Otters, While Fishing Groups Urge Caution. According to Politico, “Environmentalists petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday to reintroduce sea otters to a large swath of the West Coast. Following in the wake of a federal study that concluded it would be “feasible” to bring sea otters back to the region, the Center for Biological Diversity formally requested FWS move forward with the idea that’s already attracted high-level political attention as well as some concern. "Bringing the sea otter back to the broader West Coast would be an unparalleled conservation success story,” said Kristin Carden, a senior scientist at the center. “Not only would the sea otters thrive, but they would also help restore vital kelp forest and seagrass ecosystems.” The petition recommends that reintroduction occur in the region between San Francisco Bay and Oregon.” [Politico, 1/19/23 (=)]
Loss Of Tiny Organisms Hurts Ocean, Fishing, Scientists Say. According to the AP, “The warming of the waters off the East Coast has come at an invisible, but very steep cost — the loss of microscopic organisms that make up the base of the ocean’s food chain. The growing warmth and saltiness of the Gulf of Maine off New England is causing a dramatic decrease in the production of phytoplankton, according to Maine-based scientists who recently reported results of a yearslong, NASA-funded study. Phytoplankton, sometimes described as an “invisible forest,” are tiny plant-like organisms that serve as food for marine life. The scientists found that phytoplankton are about 65% less productive in the Gulf of Maine, part of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by New England and Canada, than they were two decades ago. The Gulf of Maine has emerged as one of the fastest warming sections of the world’s oceans.” [AP, 1/19/23 (-)]
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