National News

Federal Government Violated Endangered Species Act by Ending Red Wolf Protections, Judge Rules. “A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated federal law in its rollback of protections for the critically endangered North Carolina red wolf. Chief Judge Terrence W. Boyle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled that the agency violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, according to court documents. ‘The wild red wolf is again close to extinction, with as few as forty wolves identified in the wild in April 2018,’ the order reads. The wolves were designated an endangered species in 1967, one year after the Endangered Species Preservation Act went into effect. In 1980, the species was declared extinct in the wild, according to court documents.” [News & Observer, 11/5/18 (=)]