Endangered species

Sierra Club, Coalition Partners Will Challenge Governor Fortuño's Cancellation of "Nature Reserve" Designation

November 3, 2009 -- San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Sierra Club and its coalition partners will challenge Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño's proposed cancellation of the "nature reserve" designation held since 2008 by the island's Northeast Ecological Corridor.

Covering more than 3,000 acres in the northeast corner of Puerto Rico, the Corridor had been designated as a nature reserve in 2008 by preceding governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. But late Friday, Governor Fortuño removed the designation of nature reserve in order to allow for large-scale, unsustainable development in the area, including more than 4,500 residential and tourist units and four golf courses.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a Fiscal Year 2010 work plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon that will add economic certainty for local communities while protecting endangered species.

In addition to a proposed schedule of 62 timber sales under the Northwest Forest Plan, Salazar announced that federal field teams will identify future proposed timber sales with high likelihood of being sold and harvested and a special task force will take a fresh look at forest management issues in Oregon.    » read more »

Hawaiian False Killer Whale Population Faces Extinction

LOS ANGELES (September 30, 2009) – The Natural Resources Defense Council today called on the federal government to list the Hawaiian population of false killer whales as an endangered species and designate critical habitat to ensure its recovery under the Endangered Species Act. The Hawaiian false killer whale population is a small and ecologically unique population of 120 animals that has suffered a significant decline over the last 25 years.    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today issued the following statement on the decision of the Federal government to expand the Endangered Species Act in Maine for Atlantic Salmon. The rule includes the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers to the existing Endangered Species Act.

“I am deeply disappointed and concerned that the State’s comments to the draft rule were not incorporated in the final decision of the Federal government. This Federal action ignores Maine’s strong track record in species management and our need for a flexible approach which will enable us to use all our tools to work with stakeholders to manage Atlantic salmon.”    » read more »

NRDC Joins Legal Action to Challenge the Department of Interior's Decision to Remove Northern Rocky Mountain Wolves From Endangered Species List

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (June 2, 2009) – Another chapter in the legal battle over wolves was opened today when the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of concerned conservation groups challenged the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to remove protections for packs in Montana and Idaho.    » read more »

Endangered lynx will need more room to roam as climate changes, groups contend

May 27, 2009 -- Missoula, Montana -- Citing the impacts that global warming will have on the endangered Canada lynx, four conservation groups have filed a legal challenge in Federal District Court in Missoula against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) challenging the agency’s selection of designated lynx habitat.

The Sierra Club, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Native Ecosystems Council and the Center for Native Ecosystems argue that the land area that FWS intends to designate as critical habitat for the lynx is not sufficient to protect the wild cat, making this the first such challenge to rely on concerns over global warming’s impacts to habitat.    » read more »

May 26, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today ceremonially signed LD 66, An Act To Amend Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species List by Removing the Bald Eagle. The bill was ceremonially signed during a ceremony at Capitol Park with Lawrence the Bald Eagle present.

“When you look at this bald eagle, you really get a sense of strength, awe and beauty,” Governor Baldacci said. “Those characteristics are a perfect representation of this great country.”

Bill sponsor Sen. Bruce Bryant (D-Oxford) was in Capitol Park for the ceremony, as was his brother and co-sponsor, Rep. Mark Bryant (D-Windham), and a number of supporters of the legislation.    » read more »

The planet’s largest animal may be returning to pre-whaling feeding grounds

May 11, 2009 -- Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965.

In the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science, researchers from Cascadia Research Collective in Washington state, NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in California, and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans identified 15 separate cases where blue whales were seen off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska. Four of the whales were identified as animals previously observed off the coast of California, suggesting a re-establishment of a historical migration pattern.    » read more »

Underlines Need for Comprehensive Energy and Climate Change Legislation

May 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that he will retain a special rule issued in December for protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, but will closely monitor the implementation of the rule to determine if additional measures are necessary to conserve and recover the polar bear and its habitat.    » read more »

CHICAGO (May 8, 2009) – The Department of Interior announced today that a controversial rule undercutting Endangered Species Act protections for the polar bear would remain in place. The special regulations issued by the Bush administration and generally called a “special rule” or a “4(d) rule” effectively waived many of the protections the polar bear would have received through its listing under the Endangered Species Act.

When Interior listed the bears as threatened last year it agreed with scientists about the impacts of Arctic warming on polar bears, yet the “special rule” excludes greenhouse gas emissions thereby limiting protection of the bears under the Endangered Species Act.    » read more »

May 8, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the Obama administration will not withdraw a special rule limiting protection for polar bears. The polar bear 4(d) rule was issued in the waning days of the Bush administration and would limit the protections afforded to the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.

Earlier this year, Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill that gave the administration the opportunity to withdraw two controversial endangered species act regulations. The deadline for action was listed as May 10.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope    » read more »

May 8, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was pleased to learn that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has decided not to change the existing Section 4(d) rule regulations concerning the protection of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

This decision will provide for continued monitoring and strong protections for polar bears under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and international treaties. This means that subsistence activities and oil and gas development on the North Slope will not be subject to the consultation requirements of the ESA. Governor Palin and the Alaska congressional delegation argued strongly for retention of the polar bear rule.    » read more »

April 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the two departments are revoking an eleventh-hour Bush administration rule that undermined Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. Their decision requires federal agencies to once again consult with federal wildlife experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – the two agencies that administer the ESA – before taking any action that may affect threatened or endangered species.    » read more »

Reversal Signals Renewed Focus on Science at the Heart of Federal Actions

CHICAGO (April 28, 2008) – The Obama administration announced today that they would be dumping eleventh-hour Bush Administration changes to the Endangered Species Act that would have dramatically weakened the landmark wildlife protection law.

The decision will once again require federal agencies to consult with experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before taking action that could impact threatened or endangered species. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups had sued to roll back the Bush Administration changes that have now been repealed.    » read more »

Statement by Francesca Grifo

April 28, 2009 -- Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rescinded eleventh-hour Bush administration changes to Endangered Species Act regulations that allowed federal agencies to decide for themselves if their own projects—such as roads and dams—would threaten imperiled species. Federal agencies again will be required to consult with expert biologists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service before undertaking or permitting new projects.

The rule change was just one of several controversial Bush administration actions that undermined the scientific foundation of the Endangered Species Act, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).    » read more »