Public Lands Clips: February 5, 2024

 

 

Senate

 

Senators Release Supplemental With Billions For Uranium — “Senate negotiators on Sunday released long-awaited national security supplemental spending legislation with money for nuclear energy fuel supply chains. But House Republican leaders — who have been skeptical about border provisions being negotiated among a small group of senators — said it would be dead on arrival. Many conservatives also oppose more money to help Ukraine repel Russia’s ongoing invasion. The legislation released Sunday evening contains more than $2 billion in unspent infrastructure bill dollars for uranium processing grants. A separate $50 billion domestic supplemental request — including $23.5 billion for disaster response, $2.2 billion for domestic uranium enrichment, $1.6 billion to help low-income households pay their energy bills and $220 million to maintain salaries for wildland firefighters — has barely registered in recent discussions and remains in limbo. That domestic request will stay on the back burner until lawmakers decide whether to approve the larger national security supplemental and border package.” [Politico, 2/5/24 (=)]

 

House

 

Drought, Public Land, Shark Bills Getting House Vote — “The House will vote on legislation this week to address persistent drought in Western states and other measures from the Natural Resources Committee. The chamber will debate H.R. 4385, the ‘Drought Preparedness Act’ from Reps. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), who lead the Bipartisan Colorado River Caucus. The bill would reauthorize the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act through 2028. It would give the Bureau of Reclamation the authority to help minimize drought damage and make water more accessible. ‘We must continue to ensure that key drought relief initiatives have the support needed to tackle this issue head on, and I will keep pushing to get this bill across the finish line,’ Neguse said in a statement after the House Natural Resources Committee approved the bill with unanimous support.” [Politico, 2/5/24 (=)]

 

Committee Sets Markup Of Contentious Mining Bill — “The House Natural Resources Committee is slated to mark up a bipartisan mining bill Tuesday that’s pitting the Biden administration and environmental groups against the mining sector and its proponents. The committee will take up an amended version of H.R. 2925, the ‘Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2023,’ from Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), which would allow companies to do things like store waste, construct buildings or process materials on lands that don’t contain economically valuable minerals. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), chair of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, plans to introduce an amendment in the nature of a substitute that would make technical corrections and clarify that the underlying legislation doesn’t affect wilderness or national park lands. Kelsey Emmer, a spokesperson for Stauber, said Democrats and the Biden administration during recent hearings made claims about the bill that were not valid, prompting Stauber to draft the amendment. ‘The savings clause simply reiterates that the bill does not in fact have the effect that Democrats and the Administration claimed it does,’ Emmer said.” [Politico, 2/5/24 (=)]

 

Republicans Keep Border Lands Hearing Despite Dem Outcry — “Lawmakers from the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a field hearing on border issues in southern Arizona this week, but not without controversy. The hearing has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, who have complained that it conflicts with the party’s annual policy retreat. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands field hearing Thursday is in Sierra Vista, Arizona, in Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s district. Titled ‘Biden’s Border Crisis: The Consequences of Failing to Secure Federal Border Lands,’ the hearing is expected to focus on the environmental and national security impacts from hundreds of thousands of immigrants entering the United States from the southern border with Mexico. Ciscomani and Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, have also scheduled a Friday tour of the University of Arizona’s San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory that will focus on workforce challenges facing the mining sector amid growing demand for critical minerals.” [Politico, 2/5/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

 

Feds Settle On ESA Status Quo For Some Gray Wolves — “The Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that it found no need to change the Endangered Species Act protections for certain populations of the gray wolf but instead pledged to develop a first-of-its-kind comprehensive plan to recover the species. In a highly anticipated and politically fraught decision, the federal agency announced the northern Rocky Mountain population that spans several states will stay off the ESA list of protected species. A larger decision on wolves in other states could now occur by a Feb, 16 court date, the agency said. The agency in a news release said it will develop what it called a ‘first-ever nationwide gray wolf recovery plan.’ This would be completed by the end of 2025 and ‘provide a vision for species recovery that is connected to site-specific actions for reducing threats and conserving listed species and their ecosystems.’ The FWS also highlighted that its ‘analysis indicates that wolves are not at risk of extinction in the Western United States now or in the foreseeable future’ and that ‘the population size and widespread distribution contribute to the resiliency and redundancy of wolves in this region. The population maintains high genetic diversity and connectivity, further supporting their ability to adapt to future changes.’ This verbiage tracks language in the ESA concerning species that do not warrant listing.” [E&E News, 2/2/24 (+)]

 

Greens Denounce FWS Gray Wolf Decision — “An immediate lawsuit threat and howling from both the left and right greeted the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Friday afternoon announcement that it will not seek to provide Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf in the Rocky Mountains and in other Western states. The Western Environmental Law Center said almost immediately that it will file a notice of intent to sue Monday. ‘A handful of states are standing in the way of wolf recovery nationwide, espousing an outdated, anti-science, eradication mindset,’ said Kelly Nokes, attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. ‘Aggressive state policies promoting wolf killing in the northern Rockies especially, are primitive relics that must change for wolves to reestablish their rightful place in the wild.’ The new round of litigation would follow the Fish and Wildlife Service’s rejection of two petitions involving wolves across the West. One of the petitions sought relisting of the northern Rocky Mountain population of the species, which haven’t had protections since 2011. Another sought protections more broadly for wolves in the West.” [E&E News, 2/2/24 (=)]

 

Republicans Raise Alarm As Biden Admin Prepares Plan To Protect Wolves Nationwide — “House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee are raising the alarm about a Biden administration initiative they said could lead to expanded protections for the gray wolf species, despite opposition from farmers and western states. Committee Republicans led by Chair Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., informed Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Martha Williams that they were probing her agency’s National Dialogue Around Working Landscapes and Gray Wolves and Thriving Communities and Cultures, an initiative unveiled in December. The lawmakers said oversight was necessary given the significant effect of listing the gray wolf. ‘The facts are clear regarding the listing status of the Gray Wolf in the lower-48 states — the species is recovered, should be delisted, and management should be returned to the states,’ Westerman and eight fellow Natural Resources Republicans wrote in a letter to Williams on Thursday. ‘Delisting the gray wolf in the lower-48 states has traditionally garnered bipartisan support.’ ‘Yet under the vague parameters of the Service’s proposal, the Service could begin to dictate to states what their management approaches should be,’ they added in the letter. ‘Perhaps more concerning, they could utilize this proposal as a proxy to relist wolves in the Northern Rockies without the support of the impacted States.’” [Fox News, 2/2/24 (-)]

 

Biden Admin Backs Off Protections For Apex Predator, Angering Environmentalists — “The Biden administration declined to list the gray wolf as endangered throughout much of the West, a move that would have granted the species sweeping federal protections in the region and which environmental activists have long advocated for. In an announcement Friday, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a ‘not warranted’ finding for two petitions to list gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the Western United States. The agency said it had conducted an analysis concluding that the species is not at risk of extinction in the West now or in the foreseeable future. ‘Today’s announcement fails to alleviate the concerns of the millions of Americans impacted by an unchecked gray wolf population,’ Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said in a statement. ‘The fact that Americans have to worry about ESA rulings impacting their lives and livelihoods time and time again is illustrative of a broken system that allows bureaucrats to make decisions without local community input.’” [Fox News, 2/2/24 (-)]

 

Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves Won’t Get Endangered Species Protections — “Gray wolves that inhabit the Northern Rocky Mountains will not receive protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced Friday. In making this determination, the federal agency rejected petitions from wildlife conservation groups to list the animals under the ESA in the Northern Rockies and the Western U.S. The decision, which maintains the status quo, stems from a comprehensive analysis that incorporated best available data from federal, state and tribal sources, according to the FWS. After modeling various threats to the wolves, including human-induced mortality and diseases, the agency concluded that the wolves are not at risk of extinction in the U.S. West. Gray wolves are currently deemed endangered under the ESA in 44 states, threatened in Minnesota and under state jurisdiction in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and portions of eastern Oregon and Washington, per the FWS.” [The Hill, 2/2/24 (=)]

 

U.S Fish And Wildlife Service Proposes Plan For Gray Wolves, No Longer In Danger Of Extinction — “Federal wildlife officials on Friday rejected requests from conservation groups to restore protections for gray wolves across the northern U.S Rocky Mountains, saying the predators are in no danger of extinction as some states seek to reduce their numbers through hunting. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service also said it would work on a first-ever national recovery plan for wolves, after previously pursuing a piecemeal recovery in different regions of the country. The agency expects to complete work on the plan by December 2025. The rejection of the conservation groups’ petitions allows state-sanctioned wolf hunts to continue in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Federal officials estimated the wolf population in the region that also includes Washington, California and Oregon stood at nearly 2,800 animals at the end of 2022. ‘The population maintains high genetic diversity and connectivity, further supporting their ability to adapt to future changes,’ the agency said in a statement.” [The Washington Times, 2/2/24 (~)]

 

Federal Wildlife Officials To Work On National Recovery Plan For Wolves — “The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service says it will work on a first-ever national recovery plan for wolves, after previously pursuing a piecemeal recovery in different regions of the country. The agency expects to complete work on the plan by December 2025. The Wisconsin DNR says the announcement will not result in any change to the listing status of wolves in Wisconsin, which remain on the federal endangered species list. The DNR says it will continue to follow the guidance laid out in the recently approved wolf management plan for the state, while abiding by the requirements of the wolf’s status on the federal endangered list. Federal wildlife officials on Friday rejected requests from conservation groups to restore protections for gray wolves across the northern U.S Rocky Mountains, saying the predators are in no danger of extinction as some states seek to reduce their numbers through hunting. The rejection of the conservation groups’ petitions allows state-sanctioned wolf hunts to continue in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Federal officials estimated the wolf population in the region that also includes Washington, California and Oregon stood at nearly 2,800 animals at the end of 2022.” [WXPR-Radio, 2/3/24 (=)]

 

 

 

U.S. Forest Service (USFS)

 

Conservation Groups Cheer Feds' Move To Protect Old-Growth Forests — “Groups fighting to protect public lands are praising first-of-their-kind moves to protect old-growth forests on U.S. Forest Service land. The Biden administration is proposing to amend all 128 forest land management plans to conserve and steward old-growth trees, rather than managing them primarily for recreation and economic gain. Ben Blom, director of stewardship and restoration with the Save the Redwoods League, said it represents a big change in Forest Service land management. ‘There has been a long history of logging of old-growth forests on national forest lands,’ Blom explained. ‘Less than 5% of old-growth forest remains, and what remains is incredibly important to protect and steward.’ The forests will still be actively managed with prescribed burns to clear out dead wood. A series of devastating fires a few years ago in California’s Sierra Nevada range incinerated close to 20% of the world’s giant sequoia trees. Blom argued California’s groves of old-growth trees are vital in the fight against climate change. ‘Old-growth redwood forests store more carbon above ground than any forest in the world,’ Blom pointed out. ‘The second most dense forest, in terms of carbon storage, is giant sequoias.’” [Public News Service, 2/5/24 (+)]

 

 

 

Attorney Says EPA Methane Rules ‘Well Fortified’ Against Legal Attack — “A veteran environmental attorney expects EPA’s collection of rules to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas sector to largely withstand broad legal attacks from critics, arguing the policies will be more durable than other flagship climate rules such as greenhouse gas standards for cars and power plants. ‘The methane policies are particularly well fortified,’ Van Ness Feldman attorney Kyle Danish told a Jan. 31 event hosted by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). He cited a ‘good record of Congress telling EPA it has to do these rules,’ including the 2021 Hill recission of the Trump EPA’s methane rule rollback. That argument echoes conclusions from University of California-Berkeley law professor Dan Farber that the ‘unique’ backdrop of lawmakers’ actions in this area bolsters the legal foundation of EPA’s rule, which it finalized in December. ‘It will be very hard for anyone to argue with a straight face that [Clean Air Act] section 111 does not apply to methane or to greenhouse gases in general,’ Farber recently said, citing both the Trump rule reversal and a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that explicitly contemplated EPA methane standards under that section. Similarly, Danish told the ELI event that the IRA ‘created a whole sort of redundancy’ on methane policy, particularly in its new ‘waste emissions charge’ for the sector.” [Inside EPA, 2/3/24 (=)]

 

Exxon Investors Drop Climate Proposal, But Suit To Continue — “The climate-focused investment firm at the center of a court battle with ExxonMobil Corp. said Friday that it will no longer push emissions reductions at the Big Oil firm, but pulling the shareholder proposal that led to the lawsuit may not dissuade Exxon from moving forward with the case. Arjuna Capital said in a statement Friday that it has withdrawn the proposal at the center of last month’s lawsuit, which is seen by some experts as an indirect attack on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s increasingly permissive attitude toward shareholder proposals. Natasha Lamb, chief investment officer at Arjuna, said that the investment firm was disappointed by Exxon’s decision to sidestep SEC review in favor of a lawsuit. But there was ‘no basis for Exxon to continue this attack’ now that Arjuna was dropping the issue, Lamb said. Exxon spokesperson Emily Mir indicated that the company would not be backing down from the suit, saying in a statement to Law360 that ‘there are still important issues for the court to resolve.’ ‘There is no change to our plans, the suit is continuing and we’re evaluating our options,’ Mir said.” [Law360, 2/3/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Exxon Plans Supreme Court Bid To Quash Climate Cases — “One of the world’s largest oil and gas companies is preparing to ask the Supreme Court once again to reject a swath of lawsuits launched by local governments seeking financial help in their fight against the ravages of climate change. In arguments last week in a Colorado courtroom, an attorney for Exxon Mobil said the company plans to ask the justices to review a unanimous 2023 Hawaii Supreme Court decision that advanced a lawsuit from Honolulu that asks the fossil fuel industry to help the city and county pay to combat sea-level rise, intensifying storms and other effects of rising global temperatures. ‘The Hawaii Supreme Court went astray,’ said Daniel Toal, a partner with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, ‘and this decision is going to be the subject of a forthcoming cert petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.’ Toal appeared Thursday in the Boulder County District Court to ask Judge Robert Gunning to toss out a climate liability challenge from Boulder that closely resembles the lawsuit from Honolulu. Gunning had asked whether there were similarities between the two cases.” [E&E News, 2/5/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Clean Energy

 

NY/NJ Offshore Wind Manufacturing Grows, Despite Setbacks — “Despite challenges, offshore wind in New York is thriving. In late 2023, the South Fork Wind Farm off Montauk’s coast began producing 130 megawatts of power for Long Islanders. New York’s involvement in offshore wind goes beyond putting it in its waters. The Port of Albany has been working to help manufacture wind towers. It will produce, store, and deliver tower sections for the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal for staging. Megan Daly, chief commerce officer for the Port of Albany, said it will benefit the state’s move to a climate-friendly future. ‘Not only will this be contributing to solutions for climate change, frankly it is going to be reaching into the adjacent environmental justice communities that will also be able to participate in the labor force and generational careers here,’ Daly explained.” [Public News Service, 2/5/24 (+)]

 

Fossil Energy

 

Investors Pull ExxonMobil Climate Motion After Oil Supermajor Sues — “Investors have withdrawn a climate resolution at ExxonMobil after the oil supermajor sued them, in a retreat likely to have a chilling effect on similar forms of shareholder activism. Follow This, an Amsterdam-based green shareholder group, and Arjuna Capital, a US registered investment adviser, said that in response to the lawsuit filed by Exxon last week they had decided to abandon their call for the company to set more ambitious climate targets at its upcoming annual meeting. Arjuna said Exxon’s decision to fight in the courts would result in ‘silencing investors that voice climate-risk concerns’. ‘Not only is the company sidestepping a critical corporate accountability mechanism that has upheld shareholder freedoms for decades, this amounts to tactics of intimidation and bullying,’ said Natasha Lamb, chief investment officer at Arjuna.” [Financial Times, 2/3/24 (=)]

 

Exxon Vs. Activist Shareholders, The Next Phase — “Exxon is pressing on with litigation against activist shareholders pushing the firm to set tougher climate targets, even though they withdrew the resolution that sparked the conflict, Ben writes. Why it matters: Filed in a Texas district court, the unusual federal lawsuit is a new wrinkle in environmental and social governance (ESG) if it continues — or if the prospect of costly legal fights deters more advocacy. State of play: Arjuna Capital and the group Follow This withdrew the action Friday. Arjuna, in a statement, accused Exxon of ‘intimidation’ and ‘circumventing’ the SEC process by going directly to court. The other side: Exxon says activists abuse the proxy process with resolutions designed to diminish the company, instead of improving it or creating shareholder value. ‘We believe there are still important issues for the court to resolve. There is no change to our plans, the suit is continuing and we’re evaluating our options,’ spokeswoman Emily Mir said in a statement. What’s next: A federal judge wants an Exxon status update by today explaining ‘what outstanding claims or issues are before the Court in this action.’” [Axios, 2/5/24 (+)]

 

Bank Of America Pledged To Stop Financing Coal. Now It’s Backtracking. — “Two years ago, Bank of America won kudos from climate activists for saying it would no longer finance new coal mines, coal-burning power plants or Arctic drilling projects because of the toll they take on the environment. The bank’s latest environment and social-risk policy reneged on those commitments. The policy, updated in December, says that such projects will instead be subject to ‘enhanced due diligence.’ Bank of America’s change follows intensifying backlash from Republican lawmakers against corporations that consider environmental and social factors in their operations. Wall Street in particular has come under fire for what some Republicans have called ‘woke capitalism,’ a campaign that has pulled banks into the wider culture wars. States including Texas and West Virginia have passed financial regulations designed to ward off efforts to deny fossil-fuel companies access to banking services. In New Hampshire, state lawmakers have sought to criminalize the business principle known as E.S.G., shorthand for environmental, social and governance.” [The New York Times, 2/3/24 (+)]

 

 

 

California

 

Native American Tribe Seeks Designation Of Calif. Monument — “Native American tribal leaders are calling on President Joe Biden to designate a 390,000-acre section of federal lands in Southern California as a national monument. The Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe announced Friday it’s launching an effort to convince Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to establish the Kw’tsán National Monument in Southern California’s Imperial County. ‘As original stewards of this land, we are asking President Biden to take action to protect this important and sacred landscape by designating it as the Kw’tsán National Monument,’ said Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe President Jordan Joaquin in a statement The tribe also wants the Biden administration to establish an intergovernmental stewardship agreement between the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the lands at issue, and the tribe to jointly manage the new national monument. Such agreements are part of a recent trend, similar to the formal agreement BLM and the Forest Service signed with a tribal coalition in 2022 to co-manage the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. ‘As others see the land as just land and dirt, we, the Quechan people, see the land in our DNA,’ Joaquin said. ‘We come from the air, the water, the land. It’s who we are, and protecting these lands preserves our past while safeguarding our future.’” [E&E News, 2/2/24 (+)]

 

Colorado

 

Wildlife Officials Aim To Keep Colorado’s Wolves From Meeting The Endangered Mexican Wolf. Is Separation The Right Goal? — “A Mexican gray wolf called Asha wandered hundreds of miles across Arizona and New Mexico searching for a mate — no easy task for one of the most endangered mammals in the United States. After five months of scouring hills and arroyos, she crossed Interstate 40 west of Albuquerque in the fall of 2022 and headed into the forests outside of Santa Fe. But when she traipsed across the interstate blacktop, she crossed an invisible boundary set by federal wildlife officials. As part of longstanding federal policy, any Mexican gray wolf found north of the interstate can be relocated — which is why Asha was darted and flown south, as documented in news stories and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports. The Mexican gray wolf subspecies has made a significant recovery over the last 25 years, but government biologists now worry that the reintroduction of the larger northern gray wolf in Colorado could derail that progress, should the two populations mix via wandering wolves like Asha.” [The Denver Post, 2/4/24 (~)]

 

Colorado West Land Trust Launches Forty Forever Campaign For Conservation — “The Colorado West Land Trust (CWLT) on Wednesday unveiled the public phase of its Forty Forever: Seeding the Future Campaign. The CWLT launched the $1.8 million initiative to bolster the land trust’s capabilities in addressing urgent needs — such as warmer and drier conditions, escalating development pressure and a surge in recreational use — and serving the region effectively. The land trust said in a press release that 81% of this goal has been reached and that the CWLT is calling on the public to help raise the final amount.” [The Washington Post, 2/4/24 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Wolves Are Back In Colorado’s Wilderness. Here’s Why That’s Great For Earth — According to Jennie Lay, “Rural western Colorado rang in the new year with a howl. For the first time in U.S. history, a federally listed endangered species has been reintroduced to the wild by the efforts of a lone state. Wolves in Colorado were not a mandate from Washington, D.C.; Coloradans voted for them. One week before Christmas, gray wolves were unleashed on a Rocky Mountain mosaic of public lands, pine and aspen forests, private ranches and beloved recreation areas. Wolves now roam within the realm of world-famous ski areas. Some have already wandered through the creeks, peaks and woods near my cabin at the rural edge of Steamboat Springs, where rugged watersheds pour into the Yampa River’s wide-open valley, flowing downstream from the Flat Tops Wilderness past cattle ranches, hay meadows, the towering Steamboat Ski Resort and historic downtown ski jumps. In the 2020 general election, a slim margin of Coloradans — 50.91% — voted to reintroduce gray wolves to our ecosystem, back to a landscape from which they were exterminated nearly 80 years ago. Thirteen of 64 counties, mostly along the urban Front Range corridor east of the Continental Divide, were definitively supportive. But in the habitat where wolves will reside on Colorado’s less populated, agricultural/recreational Western Slope, the ‘yes’ vote was not as resounding.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/4/24 (+)]

 

Florida

 

TV: CBS News Miami at 6PM (Audience: 105,939) “>>> 2024 may be the year of Everglades restoration. >> I go one-on-one with alligator Ron Bergeron, a cowboy with deep roots in the Everglades. He is on the board of the South Florida Water Management District. One of the projects to restore the Everglades was unveiled by Governor DeSantis late last month. >> How important is this project for Everglades restoration? >> That was a great day for the Everglades. That particular project is extremely important . … It has multiple cells in it, planted with a variety of grass to filtrate and clean the nutrients before they enter the central Everglades and worked their way South into Everglades National Park in Florida have a, which delivers clean water into her beautiful Everglades. >> Reporter: Ron, we have been talking about these reservoirs and cleaning the water as it flows through the Everglades for many years, if not a couple of decades. How frustrating has it been waiting for days like the ribbon cutting with Governor DeSantis to come? >> I will say that under the leadership of Governor DeSantis in the last five years, we have had 67 projects that have been completed under his leadership. I have never seen such momentum. I think that it is important for future generations that we protect the Everglades, protect our drinking water, the most important resource on the planet. >> He is quite the character. Bergeron credits DeSantis for pledging to $.5 million on everglades restoration and water nullity improvements over the next four years.” [WFOR-TV (CBS), 2/2/24 (+)]

 

Kansas

 

With Resurgence Of Endangered Black-Footed Ferret, A Reason To Cheer In Kansas — “As op-ed writers, we often find ourselves writing about something negative, trying to inform the public about a problem that needs fixing. But I wanted to start 2024 with a win, to find a story to be hopeful about in the coming year. So I looked to a swath of privately owned ranchland in the western part of the state, where this past November a cadre of volunteers including biologists, veterinarians, students, and zoo personnel headed into the dark of night looking for the ‘eye-shine’ of one of North America’s most endangered mammals. The black-footed ferret is a bit of a mystery. Members of the weasel family, they are a slender bundle of both endearingly playful antics and black-masked ferocity. They are predators, nocturnal, and live most of their lives underground, so they are difficult to find and even more difficult to study. Much of what is known about them is learned in captive breeding centers, which the species has been dependent upon for survival because not once, but twice, has the animal been considered extinct, a victim to its own vulnerability to disease, the systematic eradication of its primary food source and loss of its prairie habitat.” [Kansas Reflector, 2/5/24 (+)]

 

Michigan

 

Warm Weather Forces Moose And Wolf Count To Pause In Remote Michigan Park — “A stretch of unusually warm weather has forced federal officials to temporarily halt researchers’ annual count of wolves and moose in remote Isle Royale national park for the first time in more than six decades. Isle Royale is a 134,000-acre island situated in far western Lake Superior between Grand Marias, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada. The Michigan park is a wildlife biologist’s dream – it offers a rare opportunity to observe wolves and moose without human influence. Researchers have conducted an annual survey of the park’s wolf and moose population since 1958, every year except 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced its cancelation. Scientists from Michigan Tech University returned to the island on 19 January, planning to survey the wolf and moose populations from the air through March, said Sarah Hoy, a Michigan Tech research assistant professor who leads the project alongside John Vucetich, a Michigan Tech forestry professor, and Rolf Peterson, a retired Michigan Tech ecology professor.” [The Guardian, 2/2/24 (+)]

 

Utah

 

After Millions In Taxpayer Money Spent On Anti-Wolf Lobbying, Lawmaker Wants More Oversight — “Utah lawmakers are once again considering funding efforts to scale back the protections granted to wolves under the Federal Endangered Species Act, with the group Hunter Nation requesting an additional $500,000 during an appropriations committee Thursday. Confirmed wolf sightings are rare in Utah — since 1995, the Utah Division of Wildlife says there have been between 15 to 20, most recently a gray wolf that killed a rancher’s calf in Rich County in 2020. But with the recent reintroduction of 10 wolves to the western slope of Colorado, experts say it’s only a matter of time before they creep into the eastern part of the state. That includes Don Peay, a hunting activist and founder of the group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, who presented Thursday to the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee.” [Utah News Dispatch, 2/3/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Extreme Heat, Wildfire Smoke Harm Low-Income And Nonwhite Communities The Most, Study Finds — “Extreme heat and wildfire smoke are independently harmful to the human body, but together their impact on cardiovascular and respiratory systems is more dangerous and affects some communities more than others. A study published Friday in the journal Science Advances said climate change is increasing the frequency of both hazards, particularly in California. The authors found that the combined harm of extreme heat and inhalation of wildfire smoke increased hospitalizations and disproportionately impacted low-income communities and Latino, Black, Asian and other racially marginalized residents. The reasons are varied and complicated, according to the authors from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Structural racism, discriminatory practices, lack of medical insurance, less understanding of the health damages and a higher prevalence of multiple coexisting conditions are among the reasons.” [Associated Press, 2/3/24 (+)]

 

 

 

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