Stop Extinction Blog

Via Oceana: It's Endangered Species Day!

2013-05-17T18:39:00.005-07:00

Endangered Species Coalition member organization Oceana posted this great blog for Endangered Species Day:

The Endangered Species Act protects endangered and critically endangered creatures like this loggerhead sea turtle. Still, there is much work to be done.

May 17^th is the day to show your love for endangered sea turtles, whales, dolphins, and all sorts of marine creatures. Why? Because it’s Endangered Species Day! Today is the day to learn and share information about your favorite endangered animals and rally support around the creatures that need it most. This year is especially significant because 2013 is also the 40^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, the law ensuring that protections are in place for dwindling species in the U.S.

Here are some of the ways Oceana has been helping out endangered and threatened marine wildlife lately...read more.

HSUS: A Leader in Endangered Species Protection

2013-05-17T14:54:00.001-07:00

Endangered Species Coalition member organization the Humane Society of the United States marked Endangered Species Day & the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act with a great blog post:

The HSUS is known as an anti-cruelty organization, and many assume that our primary concern is domesticated species. But we also work hard to protect wild animals from a variety of threats, and our work on that front is wide-ranging.

Alamy
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act – one of a raft of visionary animal protection and conservation laws passed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that collectively signified a new approach and commitment to nature and to wild animals. Today we celebrate Endangered Species Day, a reminder that we humans have all the power in our relationship with wildlife and that we must take intentional actions to protect species from a variety of human-caused threats. The ecologist Aldo Leopold explained that the first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts. Here are some of the ways thatwe fight for rare species:

San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf - yet another reason to support endangered species protections (VIDEO) | Sylvia Fallon's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

2013-05-17T10:13:00.001-07:00

Fantastic Endangered Species Day post from NRDC:

San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf - yet another reason to support endangered species protections (VIDEO) | Sylvia Fallon's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

Reflecting on benefits after 40 years of Endangered Species Act

2013-03-27T10:46:00.002-07:00

By Dr. Mark Rockwell

At the discovery of our nation it was important to immigrants and native people to have an abundant fish and wildlife population upon which everyone depended for survival. Wild turkey, fish and many other types of wildlife allowed immigrants to get a foothold on the new continent. Lewis and Clark were dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the new Louisiana Territory and reported back the great diversity and abundance of wildlife in America's heartland and West. Our history rests on the great diversity of fish, wildlife and birds this great land provided, and it continues to be a point of pride for most Americans.

As America became a more industrialized nation, our dependence on wildlife diminished, and we moved to farm and domesticated animals. As we grew in population and industry, our impact on wildlife became one of encroachment rather than dependence. Our actions began to drive many of America's beloved and iconic wildlife toward extinction. Examples are the passenger pigeon, the American buffalo and bald eagle.

In 1973 two congressmen, Pete McCloskey, R-Calif., and John Dingell, D-Mich., introduced legislation that for the first time said we would do all we must to keep American wildlife from going extinct. Additionally, we must act to restore endangered animals to self-sustaining levels. A part of the law designates land needed for survival or critical habitat – a place such animals can call home. This was the first time that a conscious decision to protect wildlife would be backed by a federal law. After near-unanimous support in Congress, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law.

2013 is the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Here in California we have the second-longest list of threatened and endangered species in the United States. Our state has many success stories since 1973 – the California gray whale, southern sea otter, bald eagle, California condor, least tern, peninsula desert bighorn sheep and many others. At times protecting our wildlife heritage can be costly and inconvenient, but the Endangered Species Act makes us think before we act. Will the impacts of our actions result in extinction? If the answer is yes, we have to find other ways of acting.

It is an American value to respect and protect our outdoor heritage and its inhabitants. Most citizens are willing to go the extra mile to make sure all of God's creatures have a place to live. Beautiful art, lifesaving medicines, vibrant color schemes, new visions in architecture and hundreds of new creations are traceable to nature and its creatures. The vibrant color in the hummingbird, the colorful spots in the California tiger salamander, the majestic flight of the bald eagle: all are part of California and America.

As Nixon acknowledged when signing the Endangered Species Act into law, "Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans. I congratulate the 93rd Congress for taking this important step toward protecting a heritage which we hold in trust to countless future generations of our fellow citizens. Their lives will be richer, and America will be more beautiful in the years ahead, thanks to the measure that I have the pleasure of signing into law today."

It is time to reflect on how we all love our state with its vibrant and diverse wildlife and open spaces. We should be proud of the Endangered Species Act and the protections it provides so we can pass this wildlife heritage on to our children and grandchildren. Let's celebrate our collective wisdom for having a law that protects all God's creatures, and helps to preserve a living environment that sustains us all.

Dr. Mark Rockwell is a retired chiropractor, former California fly-fishing guide and outdoor enthusiast. He has worked for the Endangered Species Coalition since 2005 as the California organizer and coordinator.

This piece was originally published in the Sacramento Bee.

2013 State of the Union & the Endangered Species Act

2013-02-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

ESC Executive Director Leda Huta's statement on President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address:

“We are heartened that President Obama will make combating climate change a priority for his second administration. But there other serious environmental issues impacted by global warming that must be addressed and not forgotten. Most notable is the successful Endangered Species Act, which turns forty this year and is our country’s most effective protective shield for imperiled wildlife habitat.

Biologists have concluded that plant and animal species are going extinct at a rate 1,000 times faster than normal, precisely at the same time that corporate suburbanization, natural resource extraction and fossil fuel development continue to accelerate.

We know we can protect majestic species such as the grizzly bear, whooping crane and red-legged frog when we put our collective mind to it.

This year, as the Endangered Species Act turns 40, it’s more important than ever that we do everything we can to save all species, and the natural places that they, and we, rely upon.”

Hope for Gulo gulo?

2013-02-01T11:27:00.001-08:00

By Derek Goldman
Northern Rockies Representative
Endangered Species Coalition

credit USFWS

Although I’ve skied, hiked and climbed extensively through wolverine country in the Northern Rockies over the years (think: mountainous terrain, above and below treeline), I’ve never actually been fortunate enough to spot one of these fearsome critters. Once, while skiing in the Tetons in western Wyoming, I came across a researcher who was setting a wolverine trap in order to live-capture and collar a wolverine for research. The trap was constructed of small logs and thick branches, and looked like a miniature log cabin about the size of a doghouse. I’ve since heard that wolverines’ teeth and claws are so sharp and strong, that they have been known to chew and tear their way out of these timber fortresses.

Two years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) declared that the last few wolverines in the continental United States should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, but that the Service had higher priorities at the time. Thus, these ferocious members of the weasel family earned the dubious designation of “warranted, but precluded” from federal protection.

The fate of the wolverine changed on February 1st, when the USFWS declared that the wolverine would finally be protected throughout its range in the lower 48 states.

Although wolverines are plentiful in Canada and Alaska, scientists believe there are fewer than 300 of these animals left alive in the entire contiguous U.S., with most of them inhabiting Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.

The scientific name for wolverine is Gulo gulo, meaning “glutton.” Wolverines are the largest member of the weasel family, and the home range of single wolverine may span several hundred square miles.

credit USFWS

Wolverine populations have declined, primarily due to recreational trapping. The species now faces another, more ominous threat, however: global climate change. Wolverines require a persistent, deep spring snowpack in order to maintain the dens that offer protection for their kits. Global warming is now beginning to reduce the spring snow levels in the mountainous areas of the U.S., though, and scientists now believe this may impact wolverine behavior. In some cases, mothers and kits may even be forced to abandon their melting dens before the kits are ready for out-of-den survival.

With Friday’s announcement by the USFWS, there is new hope for wolverines, as the agency must now begin the process of drafting a recovery plan for the species, including steps to protect habitat that is essential for wolverine survival. Of course, protecting places for wolverines will be only a temporary and partial solution as long we continue to ignore the warming of our planet. Without a concerted effort to reduce emissions of heat-trapping air pollutants, the places that wolverines can survive will continue to shrink.

San Bernadino Kangaroo Rat Habitat at Risk

2013-01-23T13:33:00.002-08:00

This is a guest post from Dan Silver, MD. Chief Executive Officer, Endangered Habitats League. It's part of a series around the release of the report Water Woes: How dams, diversions, dirty water and droughts put America’s wildlife at risk.

San Bernadino kangaroo rat

Living adjacent to inland creeks and washes, the San Bernardino kangaroo rat (SBKR) well represents one of the most depleted of Southern California’s natural communities. But with 96% of its habitat already gone, the remaining 4% irretrievably altered by dams and water diversion, and only three tenuous populations remaining, one would think that today’s focus would be on restoration and habitat expansion. Not so. Instead, we are fighting to stop proposals for massive additional loss of occupied habitat.

The situation is relatively better in Riverside County, where a comprehensive “multiple species” plan was adopted in 2003 that sets conservation goals for the species and provides a framework for management actions. This plan is a “Habitat Conservation Plan” under the federal Endangered Species Act and a “Natural Community Conservation Plan” under State law. While some limited, additional “take” of SBKR is anticipated, there is nevertheless a positive framework to work within. For example, when a water district that was not a participant in the plan proposed significant take of SBKR along the San Jacinto River to facilitate groundwater recharge, integration of conservation actions into the larger framework provided a basis for problem solving. Extensive land protection plus an innovative translocation program into suitable but unoccupied habitat will both be implemented.

But in neighboring San Bernardino County, which has no comprehensive habitat plan, Endangered Habitats League and other groups have been forced to litigate on a project-by-project basis. We are now fighting a disastrous housing development––sited in a floodplain––that could lead to the loss of one of the three remaining populations, that of Lytle and Cajon Creeks. In the case of this project, we believe that a substantial redesign of the project that protects the SBKR is feasible, but the responsible federal and state agencies will need to take an analysis of alternatives very seriously. Encouraging though, is that a new visioning process undertaken by the County of San Bernardino identified a multiple species plan as a goal. This would help the SBKR and the many other endangered species in the region. If you would like to support Endangered Habitats League’s efforts, please go to www.ehleague.org.
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Learn more about threats facing San Bernadino kangaroo rats and California's coastal sage brush ecosystem at www.waterwoes.org.

Saving the Sonoran Pronghorn Will Help Save Us

2012-12-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

This is a guest post from Tierra R. Curry, M.S. Conservation Biologist Center for Biological Diversity. It's part of a series around the release of the report Water Woes: How dams, diversions, dirty water and droughts put America’s wildlife at risk.

In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, one of the most magnificent animals in the world is teetering on the very brink of extinction. The Sonoran pronghorn has survived in the desert for tens of thousands of years, but increasing drought and climate change coupled with habitat loss have nearly decimated its population. Today only about 100 Sonoran pronghorn survive in the United States, making it one of our country’s most endangered mammals.

The Sonoran pronghorn is the fastest land animal in North America, having evolved its rapid speed to outrun prehistoric big cats and wolves. Pronghorn can run at speeds of 60 mph, but they can’t outrun climate change without our help. The Sonoran pronghorn was recently named one of the top 10 species in the country most threatened by water shortage or pollution. The pronghorn was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1967, but to ensure its recovery, actions must be taken to address global climate change.

Though its common name is “pronghorn antelope,” pronghorn are not actually antelopes – their closest living relatives are giraffes. Pronghorn are different from all other hoofed animals because their branched, hollow horns are made from hair, like the permanent horns of goats, but are shed each year like the solid horns of deer. At 3 feet tall and 100 pounds, they are the size of goats. Pronghorn have excellent vision and eyes nearly as large as those of an elephant, which allow them to easily detect predators.

The strikingly patterned pronghorn is a beautiful animal. Pronghorn have long been depicted in petroglyphs. They symbolize the essence of prehistoric wilderness when vast herds roamed across an untamed North American continent. Pronghorn have been culturally significant for tens of thousands of years. Taking action to save them will ultimately help save us.

Drought is a major factor affecting the survival of Sonoran pronghorn adults and fawns, and the increasingly severe and frequent droughts in the Southwest have become a significant threat. During a major drought in 2002, more than 80 percent of the U.S. pronghorn population died. Drought is also inhibiting the herd’s population growth, as fawn survival is highly dependent on the timing, duration and distribution of rainfall. Without rain, there isn’t enough forage for the newly-weaned fawns or adult pronghorn to survive. Federal and state managers currently have to supply water during the driest months to keep the U.S. herd from perishing.

Pronghorn face many threats in addition to water shortage, including Border Patrol activities, off-road driving and development. Roads and other developments fragment the pronghorn’s foraging grounds and block access to food sources, keeping the pronghorn from being able to disperse to greener areas during drought.

Individuals can help save the Sonoran pronghorn by working to reduce their individual greenhouse gas footprint and by becoming politically active in the campaign to protect the sensitive habitat of the pronghorn from off-road vehicle use and other harmful border patrol activities.

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Learn more about water-related threats facing Sonoran pronghorn and other species at www.waterwoes.org.

Endangered Wildlife Reflects Troubled Waters

2012-11-19T08:36:00.002-08:00

As people, we see ourselves living in a community, a neighborhood, a city. We also live in an ecosystem.

Just as we depend on our neighbors in our daily lives, we also depend on the natural systems that support all life: forests clean our air, mountains and lakes provide our fresh water, and soil supports our food crops.

We know something's wrong in our neighborhoods when crime grows out of control or homes burn down without the fire department responding. We know something's wrong with our ecosystems when plants and animals are dwindling, or even vanishing altogether. And the rate at which wildlife is now vanishing in too many places should be a warning that all is not well in our natural neighborhood.

Right now, many of the ecosystems associated with our lakes, rivers and streams are showing signs of distress. Clean drinking water is something we all need every day. Most of Earth's surface is water, but between saltwater and ice caps, only 1 percent of this water is available for drinking, irrigating our crops, and running our fisheries and industries.

When our waterways show signs of stress, we need to listen.

The Endangered Species Coalition just released a report detailing 10 imperiled water-related ecosystems, and the imperiled wildlife that depend on them. Pay attention: there's probably a lake or river near you on the list.

Here are some examples:

• In the Sonoran Desert, near Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., the last few hundred Sonoran pronghorn antelope struggle to survive in one of the hottest, driest corners of North America.
• In the Ozark Rivers and streams of the Eastern United States, the ancient salamander called the hellbender has declined 75 percent since the 1980s. North America's largest salamander depends entirely on cold, clean rushing water.
• In Florida's famous Everglades, some 600 native species are rare or imperiled. One example is the Everglades kite, a beautiful hawk that specializes in eating a single kind of snail.
• In the Colorado River (the river that carved the Grand Canyon) four species of native chub and pikeminnow fish are listed as endangered.
The other imperiled ecosystems -- and information about what people can do to help protect them -- can be found at www.waterwoes.org.

For nearly 40 years, Americans have depended on the Endangered Species Act to safeguard American's natural heritage. Unfortunately, we are now seeing new threats to fresh water, and therefore to native wildlife, that we were only beginning to fathom when the bill was written.

Americans are putting more and more pressure on our waterways through our network of dams, diversions and ditches. Climate change is expected to increase droughts and disrupt the natural flow cycles of our streams. According to scientific models, climate change combined with population growth will result in much of the United States experiencing water scarcity by 2025.

Pollution causes more problems. Our hunger for oil and gas does more than just replace wild habitats with roads and drilling pads. According to an Argonne National Laboratory report, our oil and gas wells produce at least two billion gallons of contaminated water per day.

credit NOAA

For the country's imperiled wildlife, these threats are severe. We've seen massive fish kills, closures of multi-million-dollar fisheries and even the extinctions of plants and animals in the wild. Fish no longer reach their spawning grounds, frogs suffer from chemicals seeping through their delicate skin, introduced plants choke native plants from their habitats, exotic aquatic species threaten native fish, and development threatens the stream-side homes of mammals and birds.

Water is truly in the balance.

Thanks to one of the strongest endangered species laws in the world, we Americans continue to protect our natural heritage. And it is not too late to save our wildlife; across the country, we can all do our part.

Supporting the groups involved in this report and their work to protect wildlife, plants and habitats is important. Standing up for wildlife protections is essential. And at home, we can make a difference by eliminating any leaks in plumbing; by installing water-efficient toilets, showerheads, washing machines, and dishwashers; by planting native plants adapted to our local environment; and by installing rain barrels to capture storm water for watering the garden.

Join us in protecting our country's incredible web of life and that most precious of natural resources, clean water.
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This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

The Power of "We" to Save Species

2012-10-15T09:23:00.001-07:00

Today is Blog Action Day (#powerofwe on Twitter) and the Endangered Species Coalition is honored to once again be a part. We are very excited that the day gives an opportunity for a conversation about the potential for positive change when we come together, or The Power of We.

One of the most important tools in worldwide species protection is the U.S. Endangered Species Act. It represents America's commitment to saving our plants, fish, and animals from extinction before it's too late. It was created and passed on a bipartisan basis nearly four decades ago and has proven itself an invaluable piece of forward-thinking legislation.

What many people are not aware of, is the public's crucial role in carrying out the will of the Endangered Species Act. Species that are in trouble can be designated for protection under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, they can also be nominated for protection by ordinary citizens like you and me, as well as by nongovernmental organizations. This method of deciding which species should be considered for protections under the Endangered Species Act has led to some of America's very iconic species being protected when they might otherwise have not. Species like the Northern spotted owl and the Canada lynx were originally nominated for protection under the Endangered Species Act by the public.

A recent article in Science Magazine examined the question of what species were receiving protections as a result of public action as opposed to being designated by the Fish and Wildlife Service. It found that not only is public input beneficial, but it's absolutely needed:

Contrary to criticisms of citizen involvement in the ESA, petitions and litigation are potentially very important in selecting species worthy of protection. In many cases, outside groups could serve as the only impetus for protection of biologically threatened taxa that would otherwise be ignored because they conflict with development projects and related political pressures or because they are low-profile subspecies.

The Endangered Species Act is an amazing and uniquely successful law. It has helped to prevent treasured species like bald eagles, California condors, whooping cranes, and gray wolves from disappearing from our landscape forever. But it's only able to continue to fill that crucial role with help from the public. Citizen and nongovernmental input is at the heart of what makes the Endangered Species Act the vital tool it has become four decades after its inception.

Stop Seismic Airguns

2012-10-05T11:55:00.001-07:00

We joined ESC Member Organizations Oceana and The Natural Resources Defense Council for a protest outside the Department of Interior on Tuesday to try to persuade Secretary Salazar that deafening marine species isn't good policy.

At issue is a proposal under consideration by DOI that would allow oil companies to utilize seismic airguns to attempt to locate pockets of oil deep beneath the ocean's floor. These seismic airguns produce blasts in ten-second intervals that can exceed 235 decibels. That is nearly twice as loud as a jet airplane at takeoff. They use these seismic airguns around the clock, for days on end.

USGS graphic

You can see in the above USGS image that the blasts produced by these devices travel through the ocean's depths, through it's floor, and back up. On the way, they cross any marine life that is in those waters.

Among the impacted species would be migrating loggerhead sea turtles, and highly endangered North Atlantic right whales. There are less than 400 of these whales left on our planet. Whales rely on hearing, or echolocation, to navigate, identify their surroundings, and to communicate. Seismic airguns can disrupt their migration, breeding, and feeding activities if exposed at a distance. They can even cause permanent deafness or death in marine mammals at closer distances.

By the DOI's own estimates, allowing this seismic testing would injure 138,500 dolphins and whales. As Oceana marine scientist Matthew Huelsenbeck said at the event:

“There is only one word that I can use that sums up this proposal: unacceptable. The levels of impacts to protected dolphins and whales, including critically endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale are simply unacceptable.

Allowing seismic testing to go forward would be a high-stakes gamble with the future of a critically endangered species, and the other marine life it shares the oceans with. In addition, it would put a fishery that supports 200,000 jobs at real risk. All for the mere possibility of finding oil and gas.

Please take action to prevent seismic testing by telling Secretary Salazar that you think we should protect endangered whales--not deafen them with seismic airgun blasts.

Penny Harvest for Endangered Species

2012-09-14T12:50:00.003-07:00

The Endangered Species Coalition is proud to work with schools around the country in helping students to learn about the importance of protecting threatened and endangered species. As part of this effort, the ESC organizes a yearly Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest and has sample art and science lesson plans.

Students and school groups have also found their own unique and inspiring ways to be part of saving species. The students at the Evergreen School in Shoreline, Washington collected 480lbs of pennies as part of the Penny Harvest. Here's what they had to say:

The Evergreen School Penny Harvest roundtable consisting of (11 students from Grades 3-7) met from February to late April 2012. Penny Harvest is a program through Solid Ground, which promotes “service learning activities that help students apply classroom learning to real-world problems.” After collecting and harvesting pennies in the fall, participating schools are given $1,000 to donate to their chosen non-profit organizations. The Evergreen roundtable identified eight to ten organizations that worked around issues that the entire school suggested through a Wheel of Caring project and pie chart. Those organizations serve and advocate for the environment, international food aid, local hunger, and endangered/threatened animal species. After much research and many phone interviews, students selected two organizations to give to, one of which was the Endangered Species Coalition, to which the students elected to donate $400. The whole process was immensely enlightening for our students.

“Endangered Species Coalition organized work to bring a species off the endangered species list and that seemed really important to me.” –AS age 10

“One of our criteria/interests was endangered species and another was the environment and ESC satisfied both of those!”- BR age 8

“I liked the political advocacy aspect of the ESC’s work.”-RF age 12

In donating to the Endangered Species Coalition, the students and teachers at the Evergreen School asked that their support be directed to work in the Pacific and Pacific Northwest saving species that call this region home. The ESC immediately put their generous support into use on the ground in California where we're working to prevent the rapid decline of salmon populations and protect other California and Pacific coast endangered and threatened species. Thanks Evergreen School!

Saving a Place for America’s Great Bear

2012-08-17T10:16:00.002-07:00

By Arslan Ahmad

For centuries, the grizzly bear has held its place in America’s heart as a symbol of the North American wilderness. Although they have a reputation for being fearsome predators, grizzlies are naturally reclusive creatures that like to keep to themselves more often than not. Inquisitive, intelligent, and undeniably fascinating, the grizzlies have more than proven their worth to conservationists nationwide.

Despite their formidable appearance, grizzlies are usually rather introverted. Except when breeding or raising cubs, they are usually solitary. When they are not resting or socializing, they’re on the hunt for food. Grizzly bears are actually opportunistic omnivores – not true carnivores. In fact, only a very small percentage of a typical grizzly diet is fish and meat. The majority of it is comprised of insects and vegetation such as grasses, roots, berries, and even fungi. The grizzly bear’s excellent memory and acute sense of smell allow it to detect and remember where food is located – a very helpful survival skill that normally allows them to thrive in forested ecosystems.

Most grizzly bears live for 20 to 25 years, and females reach sexual maturity between the ages of 3 and 8, although they have very low reproductive rates. Females generally produce a litter of 1-4 cubs, and each cub may have a different father. Cubs stay with the mother for at least 2 or 3 years, after which the mother may choose to mate again. Grizzly bear cubs are curious, active, and usually very playful.

Hibernation is a key element of the grizzly bear’s life cycle. During the late fall, as food becomes less available and temperatures grow colder, grizzlies prepare for hibernation by eating excess amounts of food and storing the energy away. Then, they retreat into a den and essentially become inactive. During hibernation, grizzlies do not have to eat, drink, or excrete waste. They fully awaken in the spring, when environmental conditions are more suitable and food is more readily available. This tactic allows them to survive in a way that other animals cannot.

Grizzly bears are very important keystone species to the ecosystems they reside in. One of their main ecological roles is that of a seed disperser. When a bear consumes something seeded, the seeds pass through its digestive system and are excreted along with its waste, which itself acts as a fertilizer. This allows plants to indirectly transfer their seeds to new locations, thereby furthering genetic diversity. Even in the process of looking for food, bears mix the soil and act as an important component of the nitrogen cycle.

Unfortunately, these bears were all but wiped out during the late 19th and 20th centuries. With an increasing number of humans living in North America, the species has been put into a precarious situation south of the Canadian border. Due to the increasingly aggressive construction of roads and human habitation, grizzly bear habitats have been substantially fragmented, reduced in size and number, or have been degraded in other ways. Since many habitats are disconnected from each other, grizzlies are not able to migrate to new areas to find better sources for food. Their total population in the lower 48 states has fallen from 50,000-100,000 in pre-colonial times to just several hundred individuals over a few centuries. However, thanks to the Endangered Species Act’s protections and funding, combined with the dedicated conservation work of state and federal bear biologists, the bear population in the lower 48 has recently rebounded to around 1,500 today, with most living in and around Yellowstone National Park and Montana’s Continental Divide.

Conservationists have known about the grizzly bear’s situation for decades. In 1975, the species was listed as ‘Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, which afforded it a considerable amount of protection from hunters and other human threats. Recovery efforts were put into place soon after. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed their plan in 1982, and a revised copy was finalized in 1993. The plan stated that it would focus on improving human-bear relations, mitigating damage to grizzly habitats, and move populations from one ecosystem to a more suitable one if necessary. The Service’s efforts have largely been successful.

In addition, a specialized organization called the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee was formed in 1983. Its membership is comprised of a number of other organizations, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Forest Service, the US Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. The IGBC focuses on six major ecosystems which grizzlies are known to be integral to: Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, Selway-Bitteroot, Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirk, and North Cascades. By honing in on which habitats are most crucial and how to support bear populations there, the IGBC is well on its way to securing the grizzly’s place in the United States.

Despite these agencies’ efforts, grizzly bears are facing a new threat these days: climate change. One striking example of how this global phenomenon affects them is case of the mountain pine beetle. Due to global warming, many parts of the U.S. are experiencing shorter and warmer winters at higher altitudes. Essentially, this allows certain species of insects to live longer at these altitudes, such as the mountain pine beetle. This species of beetle inhabits several species of pine tree, and has recently begun to kill off large swaths of the high-elevation, Whitebark Pine, particularly in the greater Yellowstone region. The beetle effectively destroys the trees that they live off of by boring numerous holes in them.

During the fall, the nuts of the Whitebark Pine are a major food source for grizzly bears, so when trees start dying out at higher altitudes the bears are forced to move to lower ground to find other food sources. This is where they face the greatest threat of being in an encounter with humans. Since human conflict is the number one cause of premature grizzly bear mortality, conservationists are concerned that conflicts (and dead bears) may increase as grizzly bears spend more time at lower elevation looking for food. Since bears are one of the slowest-reproducing mammals on the planet, a significant increase in bear mortality could potentially threaten recovery efforts. Wildlife officials are currently assessing the potential impact of the Whitebark Pine decline on the greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears, which is scheduled for delisting in 2014.

Since most bear deaths are a result of run-ins with humans, it is important that we learn how to coexist with these wonderful creatures. There are

numerous measures you can take to stay safe in bear country and reduce the chance of a dangerous encounter. Whether you are camping or have a home close to grizzly communities, always remember to leave garbage and other odorous materials indoors or in bear-resistant containers. Try not to camp close to bear food sources, such as berry bushes, and store your own food in proper containers that lessen the odor. Be cautious when cooking, and cook away from your tent to avoid contaminating it with food smells. If hunting, do not leave your carcasses out in the open—move it away from the gutpile and secure it by hanging.

Do not traverse bear country alone, and never provoke or threaten a grizzly deliberately. It is also important to make some noise while hiking, to avoid surprising a bear. Finally, be sure to purchase a canister of “bear pepper spray” if you plan on hiking or staying in areas populated with bears. Bear spray is specifically designed to deter bears if they come into contact with it, similar to how pepper spray works on humans. The spray should only be used in the event of an actual charge or other close encounter, not as a preventative measure.

Grizzly bears are a precious asset to the ecology of North America, and they are certainly not a species we can afford to lose. With patience, care, and peaceful coexistence, it is very possible that we will recover their populations and secure a place for them in the future. For our sake and theirs.

USDA's WIldlife Services Needs Oversight and Reform

2012-08-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

For decades, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture has operated with relative impunity, killing wildlife at an alarming rate in an ultimately ineffective attempt to protect the livestock industry.

Wildlife Services is a $30 million (yearly) program that exists, in their words, "to provide Federal leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist." What this means in practical terms is more than 100,000 animals killed annually with little regard to safety or good science.

Thanks in part to a hard-hitting Sacramento Bee exposé, this secretive agency is starting to see the light of day. This series by Sacramento Bee Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Tom Knudson described the demonstrably indiscriminate and inhumane methods Wildlife Services employs in the name of livestock protection.

Among the most indiscriminate are baited head snares, leg-hold traps, body grips, and a poisonous sodium cyanide projectile device called an "M-44" (infographic). All of these are deadly to numerous non-target species. The Bee found that this haphazard approach has led to the accidental killing of more than 50,000 animals since 2000. Wolves, bald eagles,endangered California condors, golden eagles, and multiple family pets have been accidentally killed by Wildlife Services.

Wildlife Services M-44 Sodium Cyanide Device

The series further shows that the agency's approach is ineffective. An 8 year, $500k Wildlife Services operation in Nevada that killed 1,000 coyotes and 45 mountain lions in an effort to boost mule deer populations"didn't make a difference", according to a biologist tracking the project.

People are also at risk. Members of the public, and WS employees have been exposed to cyanide when they've accidentally triggered spring-loaded poison cartridges meant to kill coyotes.

Despite public pressure, USDA has steadfastly resisted any attempts to reform Wildlife Services. Congress needs to hold oversight hearings and bring this agency to account for its ineffective, and occasionally illegal activities. Please email your Member of Congress today and urge that they support Representatives DeFazio and Campbell's request to investigate Wildlife Services.

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Take Action: Tell Congress to investigate

USDA's Wildlife Services!

Irresponsible Exploitation: Shell’s Plan to Drill for Oil off Alaska’s Northern Shores

2012-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

By Arslan Ahmad

With growing support from the Obama Administration, aggressive lobbying, and attempts at diplomacy with Alaskan natives, the Shell Oil Company is doing everything in its power to increase offshore drilling near Alaska – something that would inevitably spell disaster for both local wildlife and the Inupiat Eskimo tribe inhabiting the region. But with all the obvious risks, it’s just not worth it.

Photo courtesy NOAA

The region of the Arctic Ocean off the shore of Alaska is, without a doubt, important to a wide variety of groups. However, it is apparent that each of them has a different vision for its future. The Shell Oil Company, a leading multinational corporation dealing in the production of oil and natural gas, in addition to the sale of gasoline, is eager to exploit the shores of Alaska for its oil through the process of offshore drilling. In opposition to Shell’s bold prospects, environmental advocates and concerned Alaskan residents claim that these invasive drilling procedures would undeniably threaten the delicate ecosystems contained within this region. Although many of the inhabitants living in the proposed vicinity of the drill site - namely, the Inupiats - depend on the production of oil for employment purposes, they also see the ocean itself as a source of food and a cultural treasure.

Alaska is a state that has relied on oil production for over 50 years, and it is only behind Texas and North Dakota in terms of total oil and gas production in the entire United States. This provides certain Alaskan residents with special benefits, such as employment in the oil industry, exemption from state income taxes, and annual subsidies of $5,000 per family of four from the Alaska Permanent Fund, a company primarily supported by oil revenues. In 1989, in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster, public opinion of oil production and drilling among local Eskimo tribes changed drastically. These apprehensions persist to this day, and have only been bolstered by the more recent Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s largest and most serious oil-related catastrophe to date. Many of the tribe’s members relied on the Arctic Ocean and its whale communities for food, and they began to worry that offshore drilling, along with the associated risk of a major spill, would disturb the whales and force them to relocate elsewhere.

Bowhead whales are already an endangered species, with a dangerously low population of only 10,000. Their numbers have been reduced over the years due to irresponsible practices such as illegal whaling, as well as by rising global temperatures that melt and destroy their natural habitats. As a species, they would be in great danger if offshore drilling were to be allowed near their homes. Any sort of aquatic drilling operation could drive them away due to noise, and they would be at a greater risk of colliding with the equipment or ships – a situation that would be dangerous for both the animals and the workers involved. Whales feed by taking in large quantities of water and filtering out the food they need, so if a spill were to occur there is a significant chance they could ingest the oil and suffocate. These majestic creatures are an integral part of Inuit culture in the area, as well as a source of subsistence for them. Risking their lives for oil should not be a real possibility.

Polar bears, an iconic species symbolizing the plight of endangered species worldwide, also reside in this part of the Arctic. For this reason, they are also in danger of being affected by offshore drilling. The survival of this species depends entirely on the suitability of their habitat. Like bowhead whales, polar bears have also been forced to deal with melting ice caps due to global warming. An oil spill would double the danger they are already in. Polar bears cannot properly regulate their internal body temperatures if their fur is covered with thick oil, and any of the oil that they accidentally consume due to grooming or preying on other oil covered animals could prove fatal.

In addition to bowhead whales and polar bears, others species such as ice seals, beluga whales, and walruses also thrive in this area of the world. They would all be in great amounts of danger if Shell’s drilling plan were to come to fruition. These species are already losing their home to the effects of climate change, so another danger heaped on top of the ever-present threat of melting ice caps is entirely unwelcome and unnecessary. Their homes are being attacked on all fronts.

Photo courtesy of Kristjan Laxfoss/KUCB

Shell’s plan is already in motion, and two of its drilling ships in the Arctic today. President Obama, having been incessantly pressured by fossil fuel industry lobbyists over the course of the campaign year, has already shown support for the plan. There is no question, however, that what Shell proposes to do is extremely risky. The region of the Arctic Ocean around Alaska is known to be especially tempestuous and unpredictable, and such a remote region of the world is harder to reach in the event of a disaster. Also, Arctic ecosystems are known to be some of the least resilient in the world in terms of withstanding catastrophic events.

In a recent statement, Captain J.J. Fisher of the U.S. Coast Guard explained that an oil spill in the Arctic would be a “nightmare scenario”, since workers would have to work in extreme weather conditions with limited resources – and cleaning up oil in ice-covered waters would be an extremely difficult task even in optimum conditions.

With such an extensive list of risks involved, is the oil really worth it? Not only would a spill damage the ecosystem and the livelihood of the Inupiat tribe - it would also further damage Shell’s tarnished reputation. It is a fact that neither Shell nor experts like the Coast Guard are equipped to handle such a disaster if it were to occur. For this reason, it seems to be in everyone’s best interest not to allow them to go through with their plan. The fate of the Arctic and its valuable wildlife is balanced on this decision.

Together, we can do our part to prevent offshore drilling in Alaska and preserve the lifestyles of both its wildlife and its people. You can take action by asking the President to suspend any new Arctic drilling and supporting the Endangered Species Coalition's work to save the Arctic.

TED(s) Save Turtles

2012-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

The nets used by the shrimper that caught the shrimp in your bisque are having an enormous impact on the survival of threatened and endangered sea turtles.

In the 1980's, it became apparent that modern shrimp fishing and sea turtle populations were increasingly unable to coexist. The United Nations then estimated that the U.S. shrimp fleet was catching over 47,000 turtles yearly. This led the United States to enact legislation requiring shrimpers to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TED) on their trawlers.

A TED is a metal grid of bars similar in appearance to a grill that attaches to a shrimp trawling net. It has an opening that allows large animals and objects to escape as the net is dragged by the trawler. This not only benefits turtles, sharks, and other large fish that aren't targeted by shrimpers, but protects their nets from being damaged by marine debris.

Image credit Sea Turtle Restoration Project

Properly used, TEDs reduce bycatch by up to 60% and are 97% effective at releaseing sea turtles unharmed. Obviously, they only work if they're used and while federal law mandates their use on most shrimp trawlers, the use of TEDs is not universal. A loophole in the law exempts trawlers using skimmer and try nets from the requirement. It was thought that shrimpers using these kinds of nets would bring their trawls up frequently enough to prevent ensnared turtles from drowning but such is not the case.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) the roughly 2,500 skimmer trawls in operation capture as many as 28,000 sea turtles every year. In 2011 alone, 3,585 sea turtles washed up dead on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts during the shrimp season due to drowning. Skimmer nets are so hazardous to marine life that they're banned in Texas and the Florida has mandated the use of TEDs. Thousands of shrimpers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama continue to use skimmers without TEDs and thousands of turtles are ensnared and drown as a result.

NMFS is considering a policy that would close this loophole and save thousands of sea turtles annually. We have until July 9th to weigh in. You can take action by sending a message from our action page or share your own words by going to the regulations.gov comment page.

Does Water Flow Downhill or Toward Money? You Decide

2012-06-15T11:24:00.002-07:00

By Mark Rockwell

California Field Representative

Endangered Species Coalition

The battle over water in California took an interesting turn at the end of last month when the Governor announced that the state would move to secure an “interim” permit to construct a 15,000 cubic foot per second diversion facility on the Sacramento River. The facility is not a new idea, as the state and federal governments have been working on getting it approved as part of a package of actions under section 10 of the Endangered Species Act - a Habitat Conservation Plan - called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, or BDCP of short. That process has been going on for 5 years now with countless meetings, negotiations, behind the scenes efforts in Washington D.C. by well connected water contractors, and various mandates designed to achieve the bottom line ask of “more water to San Joaquin Valley agriculture and Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles.”

What has changed is that these well financed and connected water contractors were not getting what they wanted in BDCP - more water. After many months of work the consultant doing the biological impacts report called the Effects Analysis (EA) completed their task, and released a report that actually said that several listed species would be worse off, not better, as a result of the Habitat Conservation Plan (BDCP). Following this EA release, the state and federal wildlife agencies did their own analysis of the Effects Analysis and released a long letter, called the “Red Flags Evaluation”, that detailed the many flaws in the plan as currently being proposed. It simply would not work to qualify as a valid HCP. Huge problem for corporate agriculture and Los Angeles based Metropolitan Water District.

photo credit Dan Blanton

So, water contractors must have asked, “What do we do now?” Well, in steps the Governor. Rather than have to meet the environmental requirements of a Habitat Conservation Plan, it is easier to get an interim Endangered Species Act section 7 biological opinion, do what’s needed to get federal wildlife agency approval, and build the facility. He has stated that “we will spend 10 years to lean how to operate the facility.” Are you kidding me? How do fish and wildlife survive over these years?

This new facility will be located on both public and private land, with eminent domain seizures likely, and will negatively impact a National Wildlife Refuge, Stone Lakes. It will be on 200 acres of land, have 5 intake locations, each 3 stories in height, each supplying 5,000 cubic feet per second of water, all feeding 2 underground pipes buried 150 feet under the ground. Each pipe will be 33 feet in diameter, larger than the “chunnel” between England and France. In total they will have the capacity to divert 90% of the average Sacramento River flow, and will be carried 40 miles south to the pumping stations in the South Delta. All this water will no longer be available to the Delta fish, wildlife or people.

It’s an end run for sure and panders to the large, economically powerful interests in other parts of the state. It leaves out the fish and wildlife that have found their way to near extinction as a result past water diversions. It also leaves out the Delta people, communities, businesses and farmers. The state funded Delta Protection Commission in their report, Economic Sustainability Plan for the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta (http://forcast.pacific.edu/desp.html) made two stark statements:

1. the conveyance plan with 15,000 cfs facility has large conflicts with Delta economic sustainability...

2. Continue the current through Delta water conveyance...

There is no doubt that what the Governor is trying to do would be disastrous for fish, wildlife and Delta communities. It would result in greatly higher water bills for people in southern California. Is there a better way? Absolutely. They have been put forward for the past 5 years, but few are listening because it doesn’t meet water contractor expectations. Solutions are in: California Water Solutions NOW, (www.ewccalifornia.org)

Update 6/19: Late last week the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, released the first and only Benefits vs. Cost analysis of the new diversion facility being proposed in the Habitat Conservation Plan (BDCP) for the San Francisco Bay-Delta, and now pushed by Governor Brown. Though this very necessary analysis has been asked for by both environmental groups and state legislators, it has been missing from the decision process since BDCP began. Now, an independent academic group has finally given all of us an educated and well organized approximation of the benefits and cost impacts of this proposed new facility. In the report the costs are 2.5 times more than the benefits, and in the words of the report,

".... the gap between benefits and costs is so large that it seems unlikely that the tunnels could be economically justified in any future scenario."

Since this is estimated to be the largest infrastructure project in California history, many would say the benefits MUST out-weigh the costs, but as you can see that is certainly not even close to being true. Since much less expensive alternatives are available, this is another reason they need to be considered before decision are made. Governor Brown must address this glaring problem before he commits California taxpayers and water rate payers to additional financial burdens. Let's not forget - California has the largest state deficit of all 50 states.

Celebrate Endangered Species Day!

2012-05-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

May 18th, 2012 is the seventh annual Endangered Species Day! Started by the United States Senate in 2006, Endangered Species Day is observed annually on the third Friday in May.

There are over 130 events being held from coast to coast through the end of the month. Here in Washington, DC, we'll be at the United States Botanic Garden for the Endangered Species Day Festival. There will be educational booths, children's activities, tours of endangered plants and more! Please stop out if you're in the city or if not, go to endangeredspeciesday.org and find an event near you.

Endangered Species Day is a unique opportunity to both celebrate the successes we've had in protecting and recovering threatened and endangered species, and to learn about everyday steps we can take to protect at risk plants, fish, and wildlife.

If you can't make it to an event in person, there are fun ways to take part online this year. Listen to some of our Endangered Species Day podcasts, watch live video from the U.S. Botanic Garden Endangered Species Day Festival tomorrow and follow our Species of the Day on Facebook.

You can help spread the word about the importance of saving species by sending a free ecard, tweeting, posting to your Facebook wall or changing your profile picture for the day.

Here's a tweet from US Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) marking his support for Endangered Species Day:

Happy #ESDay! Co-sponsored Senate Endangered Species Day resolution and will keep fighting to protect wildlife and open space.
— Frank R. Lautenberg (@FrankLautenberg) May 18, 2012

However you celebrate, thank you for being a part of Endangered Species Day 2012!

Proposal Threatens to Lower the Bar on Northwest Forest Protection

2012-04-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

This is a guest blog post by Steve Holmer, Senior Policy Advisor for the American Bird Conservancy.

The Obama administration has unveiled a draft critical habitat proposal for the Northern Spotted Owl which the public may comment on until June 6. The proposal marks a significant departure from the standards and guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan, weakens habitat protection for the threatened owl, and does not reflect the best available science.

The draft critical habitat rule notes that the Northwest Forest Plan “…has been successful in the conservation and recruitment of late-successional forest and associated species on Federal lands (Thomas et al. 2006. P. 283) (p.52), but then proceeds to recommend its dismantling based on two main justifications, that commercial timber harvest from matrix lands was insufficient, and the lack of active restoration in areas that may contain “uncharacteristically high risk of severe fire,” or in moist forests where early seral habitats are lacking.

A number of recent studies and timber sale data raise serious questions about these justifications. The final Northwest Forest Plan was a political compromise that under-delivered on old-growth protection by placing 42% of the remaining acres in the matrix, and overpromised on timber volume. The plan’s billion board foot estimate was never realistic because it is predicated on logging old-growth, which is not supported by the public and that in practical terms has generally been ruled in violation of wildlife protection laws. The estimate was also completed prior to the designation of the riparian reserve network which turned out larger than anticipated. The Bush Administration recognized these factors to a degree, and lowered the estimate to 800 million board feet.

A look at timber sale output in the Northwest Forest Plan region reveals the agency is at a sustainable level and meeting the volume targets budgeted by Congress. Since 2003, the budget approved by Congress and the Administration has called for 4,668 million board feet from the Northwest Forest Plan area. The agencies have offered 4,507 board feet, or 96% of the planned budget. In addition, exports from the region are skyrocketing. In 2010 over 2 billion board feet of logs and lumber were exported from the West Coast. In 2011 it topped 3 billion. There is no shortage of logging in the Pacific Northwest.

While early- seral habitats are desirable for some species, logging is not the best means to establish early-seral habitat. We recommend that agency utilize natural disturbances. Simply refraining from post-fire logging has the potential to create abundant high-quality early-successional habitats. It is not acceptable to convert nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl to early-seral. Under the Northwest Forest Plan restoration of owl habitat, when it occurs, should hasten creation of owl habitat, not set it back by many decades. This provision is unrelated to owl recovery or sound forest management and should be removed from the final designation.

Active Management in Critical Habitat

The draft Critical Habitat rule includes extensive language supporting active management in all areas of owl Critical Habitat, including regeneration harvest in moist Westside forests. The draft goes so far as to suggest that forest management goals can take precedence over owl conservation, and that the conservation of this endangered species must be “compatible with broader landscape management goals”:

This approach has raised the concern of Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society, and American Ornithologists’ Union who wrote:

“These proposed policy changes have the potential to adversely impact federal lands in the Pacific Northwest to the detriment of spotted owls and other federally threatened and endangered species….we are especially concerned about the potential habitat impacts of adopting untested “active management” forestry technique.”

The groups are asking the Department of the Interior to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to prepare a scientific approach to test active management forestry’s impact on spotted owl prior to being used at a commercial or landscape scale.

Adverse Modification of Habitat

The draft Critical Habitat rule further states that if projects have considered ecological forestry principles, that in general these activities would not be considered adverse modification of owl habitat by FWS. As a result of this provision, the normal protections provided by critical habitat to address adverse modification may not apply at the discretion of FWS.

Presidential Memorandum

President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar stating that logging should be allowed and considered an acceptable practice in all owl Critical Habitat.

Importantly, the proposed rule recommends, on the basis of extensive scientific analysis, that areas identified as critical habitat should be subject to active management, including logging, in order to produce the variety of stands of trees required for healthy forests. The proposal rejects the traditional view that land managers should take a "hands off" approach to forest habitat in order to promote species health; on-going logging activity may be needed to enhance forest resilience.

Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society, and American Ornithologists’ Union raised concern about the President’s memo stating:

“We are concerned that this memorandum overstates the quality and quantity of scientific research on the potential benefits of active forest management, especially in the Pacific Northwest on a federally threatened species. In particular, we are unaware of any substantial or significant scientific literature that demonstrates that active forest management enhances the recovery of spotted owls.”
Changes are needed to modify the draft as follows:

Active management in owl habitat should be considered experimental, conducted on a small scale, and monitored to determine its impact on Northern Spotted Owls. The necessity and benefits of active management in owl habitat remains in dispute. We recommend FWS develop an environmental impact statement to devise a research strategy that addresses this question. The Northwest Forest Plan allows for management experiments in the designated Adaptive Management Areas; we recommend that these projects be limited to those areas.

The proposed definition of adverse modification of habitat is not supported by the best available science. We recommend that the standards and guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan be used to preclude inappropriate or unsustainable management practices. The Northwest Forest Plan allows for restoration and provides standards and guidelines that are more protective of owls and better suited to experiments in ecological restoration.

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Take action! Tell President Obama to protect old growth forests vital to the survival of Northern Spotted Owls.

Shoot Down Polar Bear Trophy Hunts and Other Radical Proposals

2012-04-13T12:23:00.001-07:00

This post is a guest blog from Michael Markarian, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

As early as next week, the U.S. House of Representatives may consider H.R. 4089, the so-called “Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012,” a highly controversial omnibus bill that combines several radical hunting proposals into one awful package. Among other things, the legislation seeks to allow importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada; mandate that the Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service open nearly all federal public lands to hunting without regard to the impact on wildlife and other resources; and strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate toxic lead. Each one of these component parts would warrant our vigorous opposition, but to combine all of them into one package, is a disgrace and the House should reject it.

The measure would undermine several current federal wildlife protection and environmental laws, further imperil already threatened species and the environment, and undermine federal agencies’ ability to carry out their wildlife and public lands management obligations. I want to demonstrate why this bill, in all of its component parts, is such a disaster:

POLAR BEARS: H.R. 4089 would amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow the importation of two classes of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada. First, it would allow import of polar bear trophies taken in Canada before February 18, 1997, regardless of whether the polar bear was taken from an approved or unapproved population. Since prior to 1997 there were approved populations from which U.S. trophy hunters could take bears and import their trophies, only trophy hunters who killed polar bears from unapproved populations would benefit under this provision. We shouldn’t reward these trophy hunters who killed polar bears in contravention of the MMPA and now seek to benefit from their unlawful behavior.

Second, H.R. 4089 would allow import of polar bear trophies taken in Canada and only from bears hunted from approved populations before the May 2008 Endangered Species Act listing took effect. In practice, it would treat trophy hunters who killed their bears before the ESA listing took effect as though the listing had never taken effect. The trophy hunting community was aware that the ESA listing would take place for over 16 months prior to its effective date, and trophy hunters were repeatedly warned by federal agencies and hunting associations that the final listing would cut off imports immediately. These individuals knowingly assumed the risk that their trophies might not be approved for importation, and allowing them to import those trophies now would constitute an unfair bailout.

The MMPA prohibits the sport hunting of polar bears in the U.S. and it prohibits the import of any marine mammal, including dolphins, whales, seals, sea lions, and walruses. The law should be consistently applied, and we should not have a special carve-out for a few trophy hunters who shot polar bears in Canada, knowing full well that they may not be able to import the trophies under U.S. law. While some argue this is just a small number of trophies, it encourages hunters to continue killing protected species in other countries, store the trophies in warehouses, and simply wait for their allies in Congress to get them a waiver on the imports. It sets a dangerous precedent, and encourages more killing of threatened species and protected marine mammals, which flies in the face of the ESA and MMPA.

FEDERAL LANDS: H.R. 4089 would open sensitive and primitive wilderness areas to recreational hunting and shooting activities, despite the fact that these areas have been long protected from invasive human recreational pursuits. Further, H.R. 4089 would open up national park lands to recreational hunting even though such activity is generally prohibited by law.

H.R. 4089 would also exempt all federal agency decisions concerning recreational hunting or shooting activities from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. No analysis of the impacts of these activities to target and non-target wildlife, habitats, or any other aspect of the environment would be permitted. These provisions of H.R. 4089 are entirely antithetical to the science-based principles of sound wildlife and federal lands management.

H.R. 4089 explicitly requires federal agencies to facilitate recreational hunting opportunities on all federal lands. This will raise serious safety concerns, and create significant conflicts with the non-consumptive activities, such as hiking and wildlife watching, of other public lands visitors who contribute significantly more to the U.S. economy than hunters. If H.R. 4089 passes, virtually every decision by federal agencies to restrict hunting and shooting activities would be subject to expensive lawsuits as to whether the decision is “necessary and reasonable.”

There are millions of acres of federal lands currently open to sport hunters who have the opportunity to participate in recreational hunting on many national wildlife refuges, national forests, and other federal properties. The activities mandated in H.R. 4089 are already disproportionately favored against the interests of other larger outdoor user-groups.

LEAD AMMUNITION: H.R. 4089 would also eliminate the jurisdiction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ammunition, under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already banned the use of lead ammunition for waterfowl hunting—a policy which has been in place for more than two decades yet waterfowl hunting still thrives in this country due to the many forms of non-toxic ammunition available—and the National Park Service prohibits the use of lead ammunition by agency staff and contractors, with both agencies’ decisions being based on the known deleterious effects of lead. Such decisions should be left to the discretion of federal agencies based solely on the best available science on the impacts of toxic substances such as lead.

This omnibus measure includes several highly controversial pieces of legislation that would severely roll back federal conservation laws and set a dangerous precedent for the management of wildlife and the environment. Please call your U.S. Representative today at (202) 225-3121, and follow up with an email, asking him or her to vote “No” on H.R. 4089.
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This post originally appeared on Animals & Politics, a blog by the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

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Take Action! Tell your Representative to oppose H.R. 4089.

Motivation in Washington

2012-04-06T10:08:00.003-07:00

“Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.”
Johann Gottfried Von Herder

Sometimes you need a jolt to fire you up – a little motivation so you can continue to do the work you do.

I got that jolt last week when I had the pleasure of running around the U.S. Capitol with 26 other wildlife advocates to talk with our members of Congress about the importance of wildlife funding.

Federal spending on all land, water and ocean and wildlife programs comprise less than 1% of the federal budget. Yet, wildlife and habitat conservation programs are threatened by draconian cuts. Cutting these modest but important programs will not address the problems with the federal budget but will have real and severe impacts on our nation's fish and wildlife,millions of outdoor enthusiasts, and the economies of local communities around the country.

The Wildlife Funding fly-in was made possible through a truly collaborative effort on the part of The Endangered Species Coalition, AmericanBird Conservancy, Association of Zoos & Aquariums, Audubon, BatConservation International, Defenders of Wildlife, League of ConservationVoters, National Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, The WildlifeSociety, Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Wildlife Fund.

I have to admit, I've been doing this work for over 25 years and sometimes I forget how important it is for our Representatives to hear from their constituents and how empowering it is for the constituents to meet with their member and share their personal stories. The participants that came to DC represented small businesses, bird watchers, refuge and zoo volunteers, hunters and anglers, and local conservation groups. And their stories were powerful!

The schedule we had was a bit grueling. A half a day of preparation and training and then we hit the ground running. In one day 27 participants of our wildlife funding fly-in, representing 17 states, visited over 70 Congressional offices!! That evening we celebrated with a wildlife reception at the Capitol Visitor Center. Special thanks go out to Senator Cardin (D-VA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Representative Fitzpatrick(R-PA) and Representative Moran (D-VA) for hosting the reception. And to Representative Heinrich (D-NM), the Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service- Dan Ashe, and other officials from the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service for also attending.. It was great way to wrap up the fly-in and it provided a nice opportunity for all of us to come together, share our stories from the day, celebrate with our champions on the Hill and talk with members of the Administration.

I was truly inspired by all of the advocates that took time out of their daily lives, left their work and families, to travel to Washington DC to help raise awareness about why wildlife is important to them.

The feedback we've received has been overwhelmingly positive from both the offices we visited and from the advocates themselves.

I want to personally thank all of the team that came in to DC – your enthusiasm and motivation fired me up!!

Cheers,

Tara Thornton

Program Director

Endangered Species Coalition

Making a Difference

2012-04-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is a guest blog post by Maggie Howell from the Wolf Conservation Center.

Wildlife and its habitat are valuable national assets. Wildlife-related recreation is an industry that generates $122 billion a year in the U.S. Protecting wildlife and its habitat also supports healthy natural systems that provide clean air and water, food, medicines and other products. The value of benefits provided by natural habitats in the U.S. is estimated at more than $2 trillion per year. (The Economics Associated with Outdoor Recreation, Natural Resources Conservation and Historic Preservation in the United States)

As a member of the Wolf Conservation Center’s education team, road trips are not an uncommon part of my job. I’m often on the road traveling throughout the northeast to educate young and old about the importance of wild wolves. My adventure earlier this week, however, was different from most. I was traveling solo without my most impressive co-workers including Atka the wolf!

Defenders of Wildlife, American Bird Conservancy, Endangered Species Coalition, Bat Conservation International, National Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Sierra Club, The Wildlife Society, and WWF invited over two dozen U.S. citizens representing seventeen states to participate in a two-day advocacy marathon to help secure funding for wildlife programs. My fellow participants hailed from all walks of life. I joined hunters, anglers, bird watchers, paddlers, hikers, wildlife lovers, and business owners to meet with our Congressional representatives about the importance of funding for wildlife programs in the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.

Our diverse group met at Defenders of Wildlife’s Washington DC Headquarters to meet our cohorts and for an overview of the current status of wildlife appropriations. We reviewed crucial programs that support wildlife and habitat conservation within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Multinational Species Conservation Funds. Several members of the host organizations delivered compelling and educational presentations re: the severe cuts that threaten many federal wildlife and habitat conservation programs. We then split into teams and were assigned “Sherpas” to help us navigate the though the halls of Congress.

I was paired with James Brumm, a fascinating fellow and the Chair of the American Bird Conservancy, and together with our super Defenders of Wildlife Sherpa, Marcia Lesky, we prepared for the mission. Our team was the busiest of the bunch, Marcia scheduled seven meetings in all with representatives from both New York and Connecticut.

During all the meetings, the focus of my message was the importance of keeping the Endangered Species Act (ESA) strong. The ESA is one of our nation’s cornerstone environmental laws and has helped prevent the extinction of treasured wildlife including the bald eagle, Florida manatee, and California condor. It exists because of the citizens of this country and a bi-partisan Congress almost 40 years ago had a vision of responsible stewardship of the Earth. Thanks to the ESA, the reintroduction of wolves to our Nation’s landscape has helped to restore vital ecological processes and continues to impact our environment in positive ways scientists are only now beginning to realize. Wolves and other wildlife supported by the ESA have also proven to have great economic value. The wildlife-related recreation industry generates $122 billion annually here in the U.S.. Seems to me that wildlife is a great investment on many fronts.

At day’s end we gathered for a nice reception with all the amazing staff from the hosting organizations, some Congressional staffers, their bosses and more. It was an educational experience that I would welcome to repeat and I hope that our personal stories will have a positive impact on the future of our Nation’s natural treasures. Do you have a story you would like to share with your representative?

Visit http://www.senate.gov/ to contact your Senator and http://www.house.gov/ to contact your Congressperson. Please remember that we all have a voice and the right to use it in order to safeguard our planet for generations to come.

Ocean Action Plan Streamlines Ocean Policy, Benefiting Species

2012-03-21T13:39:00.001-07:00

image credit NOAA

For decades, ocean policy decisions have been made on an ad hoc basis in the United States, leading to both disjointed policy and inefficiency. The Obama administration sought to change that through the 2010 creation of the National Ocean Council to help oversee ocean policy implementation. The creation of the National Ocean Council coordinates the work of the more than 20 different agencies that oversee activities affecting our oceans, coastlines and the Great Lakes.

As part of President Obama's National Ocean Policy, the National Ocean Council recently released the draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan. This plan lays out the 50+ actions the Federal Government will take to improve the health of our oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes. The final Implementation Plan is scheduled to be released in spring of this year and Federal agencies will then coordinate with state, local, and tribal authorities and with NGO's to implement the actions.

image credit NOAA

The Plan is guided by four themes, including the adoption of "ecosystem-based management". This is defined in the plan as, "an integrated approach to resource management that considers the entire ecosystem, including humans." Importantly, it calls for the consideration of all elements that are essential to ecosystem functions, treating ecosystems as a whole, rather than managing their individual uses or pieces. In finding that ecosystems are not constrained by political boundaries, it brings collaboration among all state, federal, and regional agencies into the process of making policy.

The implementation of ecosystem-based management is a major shift in how the United States considers uses of marine ecosystems and potentially beneficial to imperiled species. Some of the biggest problems facing ocean species -- including acidification, pollution, and habitat loss -- can be better addressed if approached holistically. It's important that this them of ecosystem-based management remains in the final Implementation Plan.

The National Ocean Council is accepting public comments on the Draft Implementation Plan through March 28th, 2012.

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Take action! Urge the Obama administration to finalize a strong Ocean Action Plan.

Large Agribusiness Threatens States Rights, West Coast Fisheries

2012-02-28T15:11:00.001-08:00

By Dr. Mark Rockwell

California Representative

Endangered Species Coalition

California Bay Delta

This week Congress is voting on a dangerous bill that would turn upside down 150 years of Western water law. House Resolution 1837 (HR 1837), the so-called San Joaquin Water Reliability Act, removes all environmental protections for the Delta and Central Valley rivers of California and allows destructive exports of water from California’s beleaguered Bay-Delta to politically connected San Joaquin Valley farmers.

If enacted, H.R. 1837 would set an unprecedented standard of state preemption, environmental disregard, and the privatization of a public resource for the benefit of a select few. It would prohibit California from adhering to its own water code and State Constitution when managing its water resources (Section 108(b)). Additionally, it would deem that all requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would be met through a 1994 Bay Delta Accord agreement, ignoring the last fifteen years of science demonstrating the negative effects of this accord on fisheries. (Section 108).

Chinook Salmon courtesy FWS.gov

Of great importance here is that this law is not limited to only California. All states are open to the precedent established in this bill. Hence, several states have filed letters of opposition to HR 1837 - Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado and California. Hundreds of letters have been filed with the House of Representatives asking them to vote against this bill. This is simply a bad bill - for states rights, for environmental quality, for privately negotiated local agreements on water.

California is a state with nearly 38 million citizens, 2/3 of which live in the southern 1/3 of the state. Water has historically been the center of controversy since William Mulholland dried up the Owens valley in the eastern Sierra and shipped the water to Los Angeles in the early 1900s. this started what has been known since as the “California Water Wars.”

In recent years because of increasing water demands south of the state capital in Sacramento, the central California Bay-Delta, the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas, has been under siege. Fish and other wildlife have all declined in population, and many have been placed on the state and federation Endangered Species Lists. Since 2001 the efforts to save the Bay-Delta fish and wildlife has been pitted against large economic interests in other areas of the state. Seemingly forgotten are the tens of thousands of lost jobs in the north state due to closures of both the recreational and commercial salmon fishing industries in 2008 and 2009, and minimal openings in 2010.

California Bay Delta

During this time California was in a 3 year drought, and suffering from the global economic collapse. Unemployment was high throughout the state, including the central valley farming regions. Some large farmers in the San Joaquin valley started blaming the water cutbacks to protect fish as the reason they were not able to farm, forgetting the drought or economic problems. A report from the Economic Forecast Center at the University of the Pacific clearly states: “We estimate the San Joaquin Valley has lost 8,500 jobs from reduced water exports in 2009 with roughly 2,000 of these attributable to the endangered Delta Smelt, and the rest to the natural drought.”

In June, 2011 House members Nunes, McCarthy and Denham introduced HR 1837, a bill that would undermine more than 100 years of California water law. This legislation repeals existing law regarding the use of water from the Bay-Delta and its tributaries, and reallocates that water in a way that elevates agricultural uses above all other water needs, including cities, fisheries and environmental uses.

In reality this is a huge water grab by economically advantaged large agribusiness landowners and developers in the southern parts of the state. Proponents try to ride the emotions around job loss and family farms, and blame all the problems in the valley on government regulations. Facts are hard to avoid, however, and while helping themselves to public trust water, they risk further destruction to the salmon fishery that has supported thousands of fishing families and coastal communities since the 1800s. Data shows that 23,000 jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009 in the fishing industry, and a loss of $1.4 billion each year to California’s economy. These are all truly “family” business, and many are gone today because they could not weather the closures resulting from impacts from mismanagement of the Bay-Delta.

If we are really concerned about the economy and jobs, there is much more to be gained by recovering the Bay-Delta through cutbacks in water diversions. Families are important. Fish and wildlife are important. Our children and grandchildren will benefit from a restored Bay-Delta, its fisheries and its wildlife. California is a great place because we have such fish and wildlife diversity. We need to protect it for future generations. Its part of what makes California a great place to live.

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Take action! Call your Representative and ask them to vote NO on HR 1837.

Please follow up with an email after your call.

Mussel Atrophy

2012-02-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

This is a guest post from John Motsinger, a Communications Associate at Defenders of Wildlife.

How coal is killing America’s freshwater mussels

Mussels act as a water filter, keeping our rivers clean and healthy. But species like the tan riffleshell can no longer keep up with coal pollution. More than a third of freshwater mussel species are critically imperiled or already extinct.

Who cares about some little mussel that inhabits a few rivers in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia? Well, if you happen to live in the area, news that the tan riffleshell is on the verge of extinction could mean that your water isn’t safe to drink. For the rest of us, it’s yet another sign that pollution is taking a very serious toll on the environment.

These endangered mussels are the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” for Appalachian rivers, and they’re just one of 10 species identified in a new report released today called Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink.

Like all freshwater mussels, the tan riffleshell makes its living by eating small particles in the water. These so-called “filter feeders” remove sediment and other pollutants, thereby keeping our streams healthy enough to support other plants and animals, including ourselves. So when these little shellfish start disappearing, that means one of nature’s vital water filters is broken and can longer keep up with all the pollution being dumped into the river.

North America once boasted some 300 species of freshwater mussels, according to the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society. But as a result of land development, over-harvesting and chronic pollution over the last 200 years, 38 mussel species are already thought to be extinct and another 77 are considered imperiled.

Today, the greatest threat to mussels comes from various by-products of coal mining and coal-burning power plants. These pollutants contaminate our waterways with heavy metals and other environmental toxins that can kill mussels as well as countless other plants and animals.

Mussels aren’t the only ones threatened by fossil fuel development, however. More familiar imperiled species include:

Bowhead Whale: The remainder of the endangered bowhead whale population is at risk from contaminants and noise from off shore oil drilling and deadly collisions with ships. An oil spill could easily wipe out the small population of whales, which exists only in Arctic waters.
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle: According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kemp’s ridley is the most seriously endangered of all sea turtles, and they only breed in Gulf waters. In the immediate aftermath of the Gulf oil disaster, 156 sea turtle deaths were recorded – most of them Kemp’s ridleys.

Whooping Crane: There are just 437 whooping cranes in the wild today, after overcoming near extinction in the 1940s. But the proposed Keystone Pipeline would run along the crane’s entire migratory path from Canada to Texas, and could destroy the flock with toxic waste , collisions and electrocutions from power lines, and the risk of oil spills.

Drilling in the Arctic. Spilling oil in the Gulf. Building a pipeline across the country. Removing mountaintops to get at more coal. All of these actions have dire consequences for our land and wildlife. Fossil fuels are dirty and dangerous, and they’re pushing many at-risk plant and animal species toward extinction. Oil company executives take home millions of dollars every year while the rest of us have to clean up the mess. It’s time to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and rescue these species from the brink.

To learn more about the top 10 U.S. species threatened by fossil fuels, visit http://fuelingextinction.org.

Read more about the importance of freshwater mussels on Defenders blog and in our magazine.

Watch the interview below with “mussel man” Monte McGregor, a malacologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources:

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Take action for the tan riffleshell!
Ask the Obama administration to close the mining waste loophole!